Paint or Powdercoat?

Probably been asked before, but interested in your opinions? Have inherited a bike I would like to restore, but the frame is too chipped. :-D

Paint, powdercoat is too thick and loses a lot of the detail of the frame.

Re:

It depends, imo, as powder-coating is less costly and somewhat more durable ... albeit thicker. So, if you're building a regular rider and aren't worried about minute detail ... p/coat will get the job done; but if you're building a show-bike or rare collector's gem ... have it custom painted by a reputable craftsman/artist.

As already said, it depends on the frame. Frames with more details such as lugs etc would benefit from paint as powdercoat is thicker and can "smooth over" some of those details.
But, if it's a cheap lugged frame then maybe a professional repaint isn't really cost effective.
So, I guess its your decision!

Re:

Some pictures?

Re:

I've just finished repainting my sbike503. It had quite a few superficial scratches in the body of the frame so it was taken back as far as possible then I used a high build primer to fill in the scratches. This worked a treat filling in the little imperfections without the need for filler. Today it was finished with new decals and 2k lacquer over the top to preserve the decals. A good tip is to use a heat gun about 40 cm from the frame in between cotes all over the frame. It seems to give a more even and flatter finish

Both but depends on how much you want to pay, what use the bike will get.


Its poissible to get a decent job using rattle cans at home.

Re:

Thinking of going down the rattle can route, but worried about weak paint and chipping. Can you still get paint matched? Is it Halfrauds that do it now? Have had one powder coated and yes for 30 quid is cheap, but quite thick and tough

Re:

Almost any car accessory shop will make up a spray can of paint to match your choice of car manufacturers colour. However I don't think they can random colour match if you see what I mean. I recently bought a can and it cost about £ 15 .
You might be able to spray a frame with the one can ( 300ml ) ??? however you would need a suitable primer if going back to bare metal
I have previously used an airbrush to spray a frame using air drying Humbrol Craft Enamel with good results

I would always choose a stove enamel paint system over powder for any quality restoration, however the cost of 'wet painting' is considerable
particularly so if you go for a clear lacquer finishing coat on top of decals/stickers etc and I know that I will probably never recover this cost if I decide to sell the bike/frame. But I will have had the pleasure of a restoration project done as well as possible which for me is as
important as the actual riding ( why would you want to get it dirty after all that effort !!!!!!!!!! )

Re:

powder coat can be quite brittle, if its not donw correctly, also if you get moisture under it bubble, looks a mess and eventually flakes off, its also more difficult to touch up.

wet paint all the way imo