Paint your own bike - spray paint vs powdercoat options

[oddsaabs]

Used Spray.Bike to paint by Boltcutter Peacemaker last year. It was easy to use and allowed a high level of creativity. It's not professional painter quality by any means, but it's a gravel bike and I had fun doing it, so win/win!

[Hank Scorpio]

This is the second or third time I have done it in the past few years. I would say if you are going to do it yourself test all sprays with each other first to be aware of any chemical incompatibilities. Nothing like laying down clear over a perfect basecoat to come back in 15 mins to find a gatorbackd wrinkly mess. Last time I used Montana cans flat black, Montana cans holographic sparkle clear with Spray max 2k over the top. Still sorting the wiring so disregard that mess.

[Deanhorsfall]

It really depends on how artistic and hardworking someone is when they spray paint a bike. The important detail is doing proper frame preparation. With an aluminum or steel frame they could be sand blasted to make the process a lot faster. A carbon fibre frame requires hours of wet sanding.

Spray painting has a cost involved as well. High quality sand paper, primer and paint add up to roughly $120 a frame. If you are going to spray paint a frame using a two part epoxy clear coat will protect your work and help avoid chipping.


The powder coating industry is tricky for a lot of their work is industrial and a frame is never a priority. Asking a local frame builder for a recommendation is wise and it’s worth shipping a frame to a reputable powder coater. With powder coating a number of issues can arise from the process. Usually proper frame preparation is required after like facing a head tube and bottom bracket. One frame I had powder coated needed to be aligned after I got it back. I’m not sure what happened or if it was from the heat in the oven?

[charliedid]

Originally Posted by oddsaabs

Used Spray.Bike to paint by Boltcutter Peacemaker last year. It was easy to use and allowed a high level of creativity. It's not professional painter quality by any means, but it's a gravel bike and I had fun doing it, so win/win!

Originally Posted by Hank Scorpio

This is the second or third time I have done it in the past few years. I would say if you are going to do it yourself test all sprays with each other first to be aware of any chemical incompatibilities. Nothing like laying down clear over a perfect basecoat to come back in 15 mins to find a gatorbackd wrinkly mess. Last time I used Montana cans flat black, Montana cans holographic sparkle clear with Spray max 2k over the top. Still sorting the wiring so disregard that mess.

Those both look great....how much prep/sanding did you do on these?

[binouye]

My wife really wanted a fade, so I used spray.bike on a frame for her. Looks good from a few feet away, but its clearly not a professional job. Nonetheless, now its colors she likes, so that is what counts. I thought the spray.bike was pretty easy to use -- watched a few videos, waited for a day with good weather, hung the frame from a tree branch in the back yard and then let it "cure" for a week in the garage. So far its been pretty durable.

[Gasman1440]

Originally Posted by kppolich

Here my experience with spray paint, not spray bike products though.
Prep work, prep work, prep work. Patience, thin coats, cure time.

https://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=194476

Thanks for the info

[merlinmurph]

I had my wife's bike powdercoated locally this past spring and we were both extremely pleased with the result.

Have a look.