Stove enamelling vs powder-coating

[Anthony]

Never really investigated this, but interested by Agency-Scum’s story about his Bob Jackson http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewto ... n&start=15
He took his frame to a paintworks that does both stove enamelling and powder-coating. So they have no interest in arguing either way, and their website seems to point you very much towards powder-coating – “fullest protection against corrosion and resistance to elements, extremely durable, chip-resistant, a re-touchable finish. The finished product will be far harder-wearing than can be achieved with a wet paint finish.â€

 

[Wold Ranger]

Finish

Just a point as an ex roadie, but you are totally wrong that road bikes have an easier life, you must be joking, they inherently cover a lot more miles, get ridden in continuous rain, get leant up against each other a lot and in Winter get covered in salt and road grime. A Summer race bike maybe has an easier life, but generally they need a re spray every year or two.
On the price thing, you get what you pay for in this World and an Argos or Jackson wet finish will firstly be to a far higher level of finish, can't speak for Argos, but Jackson use 9 coats of anti chip in all and come with a 12 month guarantee, they'll make up a new transfer set for you and then cover them in several coats of lacquer, so they don't peel off. Powder coating is also a lot heavier than enamel/lacquer, bit is very tough, although tends to pick up fine scratches that cant be polished out as with enamels.

 

[Wold Ranger]

Orange

Just had a look at the link and to be honest, as an ex Leeds Lad and a Jackson fan, I feel saddened to see that lovely lugged frame roughly coated like that, they havent even smoothed it down, you can see debris under the powder coat. Should have sent it back to its creator, for a full re align, strip(they do it by hand) and a full lug line and twin colour, would have looked mint in flambo red or blue with white lugs picked out in Black or Gold. I have a fillet braze mtb frame with them at the mo' 6 week wait but I know it will be perfect and very tough. Full re alignment, removal of captive seat clamp (I don't like them, mark the post) addition of a Mafac bridge and then custom respray £109 including return insured postage and 12 month anti chip guarantee. I took it to them though

 

[cherrybomb]

With Stove enamelling will give a much deeper gloss finish and will look stunning if done well.

Depending on how many coats are applied, it will be reasonably tough to and can be re-polished, but it will chip.

Powder coating is tough as old boots, will look very nice in a plain colour, cannot be polished as easily and has a slightly 'plastic' appearance.

TBH. Either process will give very good results if done properly, but plastic coating is probably the cheaper option.

The main cost in either process is in the preparation.

 

[Agency_Scum]

It's a bit of a " curate's egg. " A basic one-colour from Argos is £65. Applying decals and laquer pop that up to a " guaranteed finish " of £90 ish.
HOWEVER, they are frame restorers and are pimp-my-ride good at it, plus can do monstrous-but-untraceable* things to your frame to fix it.

*I've used their help twice in this. If ever offered to a trip behind the scenes DECLINE; they are scarey bicycle Frankensteins and it's comparable to a surgeon offering you a peek into the operating theatre while your granny's in there.

Paint wears waaaay faster on a road frame than an mtb. Where to start the list...road salt, sweat, concrete ( lean bike against wall and then a tree-spot the difference ) and the fact that the road and not the forrest is the most hostile envirnment blah blah blah.
Wold Ranger- sorry mate but I was on a budget and I can afford a full strip-down another year but needed a big-@rse rough and ready coat to stop the frame dying ( see " before " pictures ). Also, I'd like to add, Bob Jackson Cycles have the customer skills of Atilla the Hun. They ignored my requests for decals for which I offered to pay the going rate and when I sent them a photo of the finished product praising their amazing skills the head of sales sent me a pissy email threatening me with violation of copyright.

 

[Wold Ranger]

Big Grin

I thought someone might say that about their customer skills, a lot to do with a "local thing" I guess. I talk a lot like them and am typically Yorkshire blunt, probably worse, as I have endured making a living from Farmers for the past 30 years, why say 10 words, when one grunt will do? In a cave man sort of way. I also go and see them, which helps.
They have a long waiting list still as their work is legendary, so I guess this will breed a degree of arrogance?

 

[Anthony]

OK, this is all very helpful, so I’ll summarise:

1. the price difference is much less than it appeared, because it seems that Argos’ actual charges are a lot less than they say on their website.
2. while on the other hand, the £30 that Agency Scum paid maybe didn’t include shot-blasting(?), so no checking the condition of the frame etc. I thought it sounded cheap.
3. and the £109 that Wold Ranger is paying Bob Jackson sounds like a very good price for what they’re doing and largely compensates for the fact that they are seriously unpleasant.
4. but then Wold Ranger says that Tykes do tend to be surly, which is also very helpful information to keep in mind.
5. and roadies are just as prone to chipping their paint as mtbers.
6. but the thing that really surprises me is that Wold Ranger says that powder coating is heavier than several coats of paint and lacquer, I thought I’d read to the contrary.

But there are still many other gaps in my knowledge just waiting to be filled, anybody?

 

[cherrybomb]

As for weight...

My Orange E4 frame is powder coated, and that is a fly weight Easton Elite frame, so it isn't THAT much of an issue.

 

[pinguwin]

6. but the thing that really surprises me is that Wold Ranger says that powder coating is heavier than...

Powder coating is heavier. There was a discussion on the weight wieners forum on mtbr recently.

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=346029

Pinguwin

 

[Wold Ranger]

Powder

Powder coating involves dry coating a positively charged metal object with, well powder paint (in laymans terms), then baking it in the oven, To get a good coverage a thick coat is applied. This is effectively a ceramic process, a bit like firing a glaze in pottery, but not as hot. It is well recognised that powder coating adds quite a bit of weight, certainly around 100 grammes plus or quarter of a pound, but can add over half a pound on a fat tubed aluminium bike like a Cannondale etc. This is why Pace favour anodising as it adds virtually nothing in weight to the frame. Multiple layers of enamel are very thin, so add a lot less than powder coating, which is really an industrial based atmospheric protection system, where weight matters not one jot but corrosion resistance in paramount.