The Cycling Adventurer

   How To...

Paint a Bike Frame — Step 1   

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Intro | Step 1 | Step 2 | Step 3 | Step 4 | Step 5 | Step 6 | Step 7 | Step 8 | Step 9

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The colour — yes, pick it first!

The number one rule is: Pick a colour in the can a shade or two deeper than what you want on the bike.

This applies especially to reds, yellows and light blues (and probably greens, too). I think that bike frames, because of their round tubing, tend to wash out colors to the eye (except black, of course). Yellows are also regarded as a very difficult colour to achieve the same, even tone throughout the finish.

Both black and white aren't... well, black and white. Anyone who has tried to match these colours in house painting knows this. White varies depending on the amount of other trace colours it has, and the "purer" the white, the starker it can appear.

If you want to try to visualise what a few different colours might look like, try to do a computer rendering showing those you wish to use on a bike frame similar to yours. Remember, too, that the colours you see on the screen will be somewhat different in shade to those in the can.

Have a look at a few bike manufacturer/distributor websites for ideas on what is the "in" colour scheme. But, the use of different colours requires masking, first of all to create the required lines, and then to prevent overspray marring the surround paint. Masking can become very fiddly, and there is nothing worse to discover a mistake such as rough edges when lifting off the mask — you'll find you can't do anything about it except sand back and start again, or put up with it.

A bike with one colour throughout is much easier to paint, and you can add accents with automotive pinstriping or thin sign-writing vinyl cut to shape. This is discussed in Step 9.

As you consider the cans on the shop shelf, read the instructions carefully. They may decide how long your project will take. Take note of things such as the time that must be left between coats, and what primers and etch coats (for aluminium) are required to ensure the finish coats actually do stick.

Speaking of base coats, you will need to put them on your shopping list, too. Aluminium requires an etch primer to go over bare metal. Steel needs a primer designed for steel and to prevent rusting.

You may also need to consider the colour of the primer. I usually opt for grey rather than brown because it is compatible with most lighter colours. But brown may help darken the tone as discussed previously.

I have gone the cheap spray pack route on several occasions. The paint in the cans is usually a tough-enough enamel. You should bypass the automotive finishes because they tend to chip quite easily, they are more expensive, and the thinners they use may not be compatible with the primer pack you use.

The basic painting kit for the tricycle project. I chose to go with the darker blue. The grey is a primer. Sandpaper is in the top right corner, and the wire brushes in the bottom left. Tremclad is a North American brand and is probably the equivalent of Kill-Rust in Australia. The primer can be applied directly over rust and is claimed to help
prevent its spread.

You could try fancy finishes, such as a hammered look, but my experience suggests they are too much trouble if you want to achieve an even appearance.

Paint seems to be more forgiving than most people think. The graffiti artists know this, and some of their "works" endure bad weather on poorly prepared surfaces for years. And they usually use really cheap spray paint. But, if you want a good-quality finish that will last on a bicycle, taking heed of the manufacturer's instructions, even on cheap cans, is a good starting point.

A little point about paint coverage. Don't put too much store in the coverage specifications on the can. You might be banal enough to work out the surface area of the bicycle's frame, but you will have a lot of waste because the tubes are thin... and the spray quite wide. In fact, you find a layer of dry paint particles on the floor and over some of the items close by that you will need to sweep up or clean off after applying the first coat of primer.

Your shopping trip should include a few other items:

• A wire brush to remove some paint and rust.
• Rust remove/converter if the rust is stubborn, or has caused deep pits.
• Masking tape, although if you only need to mask the inside of the bottom bracket shell and the inside of the headset. good old household sticky tape can do the trick just as well.
• Sandpaper, and automotive wet-and-dry is a good starting point; you might pick up a pack with graded papers, from coarse to fine.
• A bucket, some dishwashing liquid, and a sponge, for assisting with wet-and-dry sanding and washing down the bike.
• Wire or cord to hang the frame to be painted.
• Rags to wipe down the frame after sanding and washing.
• A face mask to avoid breathing in the overspray paint droplets.