Here are some pics of the second frame I just finished painting. This is my personal road frame made from S3 Superlight tubing. Its a solid all-around ride that I put aside in order to test out the carbon frame. However with this new, schweet paint job I may have to rebuild this one and do a little carbon to steel comparison now that I have a good feel for the carbon frame. I wish I had both bikes built up so I could compare them equally but I don't have that many components.
This paint job was another done with rattle cans but it turned out way better than expected. I got a little bit better feel for working with the stencils, only problem is that the letters have kind of a raised edge on them and I would like to smooth it out a bit. I put three coats of clear-coat on and that smoothed it out a little but you can still feel them. I did have a couple of light runs in the clear but they were easily wet-sanded out with some 2000 grit paper and then I hit them with some everyday wax. Buffing compound would do a better job. Parts of the frame have sufficient clear-coat however there are a couple of spots that it needed to be laid on heavier. Lighting is one of my issues right now. I'm working out back in a storage building that doesn't have much light at all and I can see one side really clear but the back side not so well.
I about lost my breakfast when I realized I forgot to paint the seat cap white. Not that big a deal but I've grown accustomed to the standout seat lugs. They just look so much better.
This frame has a head tube made for an integrated style headset. Little heavier but looks better.
This was a Duplicolor metallic black. Since this was my personal frame I thought I would try a different brand and see the differences for myself. Its about half the price of the stuff I was getting at the automotive paint store but its not quite as good. It lays down nicely though. I do like the more expensive clear-coat though. Some of the specs on this frame are from the metallic paint and the other is dust. For some reason dust was extremely attracted to this frame and it didn't want to wipe off. No clue, but a little Windex helped shine it up.
What the hey...is that a...no way, a cat hair in the clear on my head tube. LOUIE! There are also a couple of pretty good scratches on the head tube where I tried to tape off the head badge and scuffed it with the razor. Little bit more caution next time chief.
This is an old Ritchey stem that I decided to give a little custom paint. It was actually already white and black but it was kinda scratched up so I jut sanded it down and put a couple of coats on it to match the frame. I build custom stems as well but the steel ones are a bit heavier than these. However, they are built for you in your colors and I can even have them engraved for you, not to mention they are built to last a lifetime. I've never had any problem out of Ritchey stems or any other for that matter.
I decided to go with a much simpler paint scheme this time since this is all greek to me. That first frame I had my head in the clouds a bit and tried to do too much. I have another older cross frame that I'm fixing to start on. Haven't decided on the colors for it yet. Thinkin about some Ferrari red or maybe some Black Cherry. Oooh lala mamacita. Remember that time we were going to the races and we stopped and ate at the Dragon Mama's Asian Koozine and later that day you threw up on that guy's leg in the crit. Man, every lap after that the peloton would do a big swerve right in the middle of the finish line straight to avoid that puke. I'd like to see that on video. On second thought, no I wouldn't. Chao.
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