powdercoat vs. poly-urethane bike paints

I understand powdercoat is a more durable bicycle finish than the classic
poly-urethane paints. How much more durable?

I ride about 3500 miles/year and seem to need a new paint job on my steel
road bike every two or three years.

Love to get your opinions....

Casey Keller
Valencia, CA

I had my wife's bike Powder coated.I does take a licking for a Mt bike but
was a pain on installing some parts .The coating is thicker than paint I
mean a lot thicker
It work but a good paint job would have been easier to put some parts back
on .
I had a friend send his frame out to get it anodized and that was really
nice .
JMO good luck

I had my wife's bike Powder coated.I does take a licking for a Mt bike but
was a pain on installing some parts .The coating is thicker than paint I
mean a lot thicker
It work but a good paint job would have been easier to put some parts back
on .
I had a friend send his frame out to get it anodized and that was really
nice .
JMO good luck

On Tue, 31 Aug 2004 04:41:32 GMT, "Casey Keller"
wrote:

I understand powdercoat is a more durable bicycle finish than the classic
poly-urethane paints. How much more durable?

Durability varies both with the type of damage that is expected, and
the specific paint-vs-powdercoat vendor pair under discussion. In
many cases, paint can be touched up (for rock chips, etc) more
successfully than powdercoat. My personal experience with powdercoats
is in other fields where they were a continual disappointment to say
the least. On the other hand, I've got a powdercoated frame coming in
via UPS tomorrow, so I may have to change my opinion if it turns out
to be better in this application.

I ride about 3500 miles/year and seem to need a new paint job on my steel
road bike every two or three years.

If it's due to dings, chips and scrapes, I'd personally stay with
paint. Other riders may have other recommendations.
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

On Tue, 31 Aug 2004 04:41:32 GMT, "Casey Keller"
wrote:

I understand powdercoat is a more durable bicycle finish than the classic
poly-urethane paints. How much more durable?

Durability varies both with the type of damage that is expected, and
the specific paint-vs-powdercoat vendor pair under discussion. In
many cases, paint can be touched up (for rock chips, etc) more
successfully than powdercoat. My personal experience with powdercoats
is in other fields where they were a continual disappointment to say
the least. On the other hand, I've got a powdercoated frame coming in
via UPS tomorrow, so I may have to change my opinion if it turns out
to be better in this application.

I ride about 3500 miles/year and seem to need a new paint job on my steel
road bike every two or three years.

If it's due to dings, chips and scrapes, I'd personally stay with
paint. Other riders may have other recommendations.
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

I ride about 3500 miles/year and seem to need a new paint job on my steel
road bike every two or three years.

Sounds extreme. Keep your bike squeaky clean, wipe it down with Pledge or
Pedro's Bike Lust after riding, etc. and that paint job should last many, many
more years.

My #1 bike, a Ti Merckx AX, has/needs no paint ;-).

My '96 Bianchi is still practically in showroom condition, aside from the
chipped paint in a few small locations.
with ~15k miles on it. BTW, I'd rate the quality/durability of Bianchi factory
paint below average compared to that of other bikes I've had.

Last year I stripped, primed and spray-bombed my touring bike, also a Bianchi,
and it's held up fine -- but that's just one year.

My current fixie, a mid 1980's Univega that has never been babied or repainted,
is still on its original paint and looks fine except for scratched downtube
decals.

This is anecdotal but may lead you to wonder why you only get a few years out
of a paint job. Good luck.


Mike Yankee

(Address is munged to thwart spammers.
To reply, delete everything after "com".)

I ride about 3500 miles/year and seem to need a new paint job on my steel
road bike every two or three years.

Sounds extreme. Keep your bike squeaky clean, wipe it down with Pledge or
Pedro's Bike Lust after riding, etc. and that paint job should last many, many
more years.

My #1 bike, a Ti Merckx AX, has/needs no paint ;-).

My '96 Bianchi is still practically in showroom condition, aside from the
chipped paint in a few small locations.
with ~15k miles on it. BTW, I'd rate the quality/durability of Bianchi factory
paint below average compared to that of other bikes I've had.

Last year I stripped, primed and spray-bombed my touring bike, also a Bianchi,
and it's held up fine -- but that's just one year.

My current fixie, a mid 1980's Univega that has never been babied or repainted,
is still on its original paint and looks fine except for scratched downtube
decals.

This is anecdotal but may lead you to wonder why you only get a few years out
of a paint job. Good luck.


Mike Yankee

(Address is munged to thwart spammers.
To reply, delete everything after "com".)

"Casey Keller" wrote :
I understand powdercoat is a more durable bicycle finish than the classic
poly-urethane paints. How much more durable?

Casey,

Powdercoating will probably hold up longer for things like rust prevention
and big chips. However, the overall powdercoating shiney finish is kind of
sensitive. It can get scrached and look dull.

Having said all of that, I have powdercoated all of the suspension/engine
pieces on my V8 Volvo conversion. The powdercoating has held up over much
driving, brake cleaner, extreme heat, etc. You can see what my parts look
like he
http://simondodd.home.comcast.net/volv8/

Good luck with your decision.
-simon

"Casey Keller" wrote :
I understand powdercoat is a more durable bicycle finish than the classic
poly-urethane paints. How much more durable?

Casey,

Powdercoating will probably hold up longer for things like rust prevention
and big chips. However, the overall powdercoating shiney finish is kind of
sensitive. It can get scrached and look dull.

Having said all of that, I have powdercoated all of the suspension/engine
pieces on my V8 Volvo conversion. The powdercoating has held up over much
driving, brake cleaner, extreme heat, etc. You can see what my parts look
like he
http://simondodd.home.comcast.net/volv8/

Good luck with your decision.
-simon

"Casey Keller" wrote in message . com...
I understand powdercoat is a more durable bicycle finish than the classic
poly-urethane paints. How much more durable?

I ride about 3500 miles/year and seem to need a new paint job on my steel
road bike every two or three years.

Love to get your opinions....

Casey Keller
Valencia, CA

Like for like, powder coating is much much tougher than paint. Also
much thicker. Done properly it should last forever (at a first
approximation).