Question Oppo

"S65" (granthp) 07/12/2016 at 20:45 • Filed to: Paint

1

20

Would Rust-Oleum be good for painting a bicycle frame?

The Rust-Oleum question:

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Steve in Manhattan > S65 07/12/2016 at 20:47

0

Can you strip it and spray it?

Slant6 > S65 07/12/2016 at 20:52

0

Depends on what you mean by good. You can change the color of the bike no problem, but it will probably not look that great.

S65 > Steve in Manhattan 07/12/2016 at 20:53

0

Does it matter how I strip it?

PorkchoPlissken > S65 07/12/2016 at 20:53

1

Yeah, but you’d want to strip existing paint,and prime first.

Steve in Manhattan > S65 07/12/2016 at 20:54

0

Dunno - there is sandblasting, then priming, then paint. If Rustoleum can be sprayed to get an even coat, why not?

S65 > Slant6 07/12/2016 at 20:54

0

Well what would be better?

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > S65 07/12/2016 at 20:55

0

Yes. Prep with 600 grit and then some rustoleum primer and you’ll be golden. Stuff that isn’t a large flat surface is easy to get a good result with.

Slant6 > S65 07/12/2016 at 20:55

1

Not painting it.

smobgirl > S65 07/12/2016 at 21:01

0

My little sister painted her beach cruiser with gold rustoleum 10 years ago and it isn't rusty. But it looks like s bike that was painted with rustoleum.

S65 > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 07/12/2016 at 21:05

0

Like this?

http://www.homedepot.com/p/3M-9-in-x-11…

S65 > smobgirl 07/12/2016 at 21:15

1

Is that a bad thing?

TheRealBicycleBuck > S65 07/12/2016 at 21:24

1

I’ve used both rustoleum and krylon for repainting old bikes. Both are fine as long as you prep the frame properly and don’t try to put it on in one coat.

S65 > TheRealBicycleBuck 07/12/2016 at 21:27

0

Ok.

smobgirl > S65 07/12/2016 at 21:46

2

I have an old steel 10-speed that might be getting the rustoleum treatment soon now that I know it comes in pink glitter.

InfinityAero > S65 07/12/2016 at 22:02

1

People paint motorcycle frames with spray cans— it’ll be fine for a bike frame. Couple layers, then a few layers of clear coat, sand the clear coat down with 800, 1200, 2000, polish, should look better than most factory jobs.

PotbellyJoe and 42 others > S65 07/12/2016 at 23:50

1

I’ve painted at least 8 bikes. I used to get the cheap at garage sales, clean them up and sell them when I went back to college. So I occasionally had to strip and paint them because they looked terrible otherwise.

The best paint I ever did was an automotive spray. I wanted a Victory Red bike and the shade of Krylon, that I usually used, just wasn’t right.

I sanded the old paint and prepped the metal. It takes time, but it really made a difference when the paint was applied. I primed the frame, followed instructions and laid down the paint.

Rustoleum orange peeled or had too many holidays for my taste, or at least I wasn’t as good at getting an even coat out of Rustoleum.

Moral of the story? It’s going to look like you spray-painted a bike regardless of brand unless you are willing to pay for crazy paint. The best way to avoid that is to add details with a second or third color and taping it cleanly. Then it will look like a design and intentional, not just sprayed blue.

If you love the bike and are keeping it for a long time, I would ask around to some powder-coaters to see if they can do it affordably.

Classic paint w/ panel styles to avoid the obvious rattle-can look. Not my handiwork, just an example of the motif I found easy to replicate.

S65 > PotbellyJoe and 42 others 07/13/2016 at 00:09

1

Thanks for the advice

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > S65 07/13/2016 at 00:30

1

Yes, that should be fine.

PotbellyJoe and 42 others > S65 07/13/2016 at 00:33

0

PS in my area powder coating is $70-125 depending on the frame and how much work the shop has to do.

So I wouldn’t suggest it for a garbage, throwaway bike, but if you’re interested in keeping it for a long time and having it look really nice, it is ~2-4x more than a prime/color/clear of good spray paint.

TheRealBicycleBuck > S65 07/13/2016 at 07:49

1

I went digging through some of my old photos. Turns out I wasn’t good about keeping pictures of old bikes I refurbished. It’s amazing the difference having a camera on your phone makes.

This is one of the bikes I sanded and painted, then converted to a cheap single-speed. It was originally red.

The quality of the results are a direct reflection of the time and effort put into the job. Getting everything well sanded and clean is critical. Some of my first paint jobs were pretty awful because I was lazy about this.

Most of the paint jobs that look bad are because someone tried to lay the color on in one thick coat. Use the same technique one would to paint a car - a few light coats instead of one thick one. If you really want a good shine, sand it smooth between coats and do a proper color-sanding and buffing at the end.

Or you could do what the cool kids do these days - dip it.