Re: Cost to repaint bike?

07-09-2003, 06:33 AM

"MadeUpName" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
news:[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]...
> I recently acquired a Schwinn "Midget" (16") Sting-Ray that needs to be
> repainted. Can anyone tell me what I might expect to pay?

Dave, repainting a bike can be as cheap as the cost of 2 cans of Krylon; but
I don't recommend it (unless you don't mind touching it up frequently, or
don't care much about the bike.)

Powdercoating is the paint of choice for bikes. It's also comparatively
cheap. Dig around in your local phone book and see if you can find somebody
who does powdercoating in your area. You might have to "network" with some
machinists or auto racing/rodding folks to find a good source. You'll
probably find that powdercoating is somewhere between $50 and $100 for a
single color. Probably not too many color choices, either; but the
resulting finish will be indestructible. Oh, I forgot to mention: You
don't have to strip the paint off the frame. Powdercoating always includes
media blasting to remove all paint - so that's a *lot* of effort saved.

Wet spray is the domain of auto body shops. Most of 'em will shoot some
paint on your bike pretty cheaply if you strip and prep the frame first.
Warning: Auto paint is insanely expensive. My recommendation is to ask the
body shop to let you pick some paint from their leftover paint pots.
They'll have dozens of colors on hand, most likely, since they hate to throw
away a pint of paint that costs $400/gal when they can use it for other
jobs. You can even have them mix up a custom color from the leftovers. I
did this, and the tab came to $60, cash on the barrelhead. (Make sure that
they know up front that you're paying in cash dollars. Make it easy on 'em.)

There are many other options; but they're all much more expensive. If you
want a showpiece, you can't do any better than Spectrum Powder Works in
Colorado Springs, CO. Don't expec this kind of quality from a local paint
shop unless you're swinging some big $$$

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HTH, YMMV, etc

Barry