cudak888 

I've come to understand that the paint on the top tube of my '75 Raleigh Pro has had it and it needs the skills of a pro (pun not intended) to fix it.

That said, it's been a while since I've been in the C&V field and I know a lot of painters have come and gone. Hence, I'd like to pick the brain of the forum, as I have some reasonably specific demands of the person chosen for the job:

• The painter has to be skilled in the ability of doing a top tube respray between lugs.
• The painter has to know how to mask off lugs correctly so the new paint doesn't clump at the lug edge.
• The painter has to know how to match the original color passably.
• The painter has to know how to spray THIN single-stage that looks more or less like the crap paint that Raleigh used to spray.
• No flakes who can't keep a deadline.

Anyone known for thick and/or over-glossy paint jobs need not be a consideration, because that's hack work IMHO.

Examples would be great - leads to contact the painter, even better.

-Kurt

smontanaro 

I've never had a frame painted, partial or complete. That said, these two names come up frequently:

• Ed Litton
• Franklin Frame

You may know Bob Freeman from Classic Rendezvous (now retired owner of the closed Elliott Bay Cycles in Seattle). I believe for the past couple years he's been sending most/all his restorations to Franklin for paint. You'll have to pick through things, but Bob's Flickr albums are full of his restoration work. I suspect some of the descriptions will identify the painter.

delbiker1 

Just curious, are you willing to ship it to get the job done?

merziac

Litton is Merz's go to but Jim gets very good service if you know what I mean.

Spectrum, Waterford, Chester Cycles and Yellow Jersey also come to mind.

Black Magic, Hot Tubes, Joe Bell and Cycle Art as well.

Yep, Bob uses Franklin.

AngryFrankie

Don't be surprised if high end painters tell you they won't do that, paint only the top tube. They can't very well be known for doing it right if they let customers tell them how to do it.

cudak888 

Perfect, thanks.

Yes. I certainly don't expect to find these skills available locally. Granted, Gary Cole was local, but he's retired.

I'll weed through these, thanks! Question though...Waterford would do a Raleigh?

P.S.: CycleArt's jobs usually look like they're dumped in clear honey. Not a fan.

It's been done before, and I've seen a few examples of just that by Gary Cole. I'd rather let the individual painter tell me what their personal recommendations are given the particular bike and its paint damage.

-Kurt

merziac

I think so, maybe not, agreed on Cycleart.

AngryFrankie

Good luck. That is one bike that I'd love to own one day, one of those Raleigh Pros. The paint aesthetics are a very big part of their attraction, the color and such.

jeirvine 

I though Pro MkIv's had pretty aggressive geometry?

And of all the painters mentioned, I can personally recommend Franklin. They do a great job.

cudak888 

That's why I wound up with this one. It took me 8 years to wind up with a Mk.V that I found locally, and it took another 6 for the Mk.IV to make itself known, and I've been aching to have one since I saw one.

I'd rather it have all the scrapes and dull finish that I'd expect from factory. But hey, I'd be farting around with a 1972 Colnago Super if I had one. But I don't.

Anything but. They were ancient holdovers of the 1960's when they were being sold in the 1970's. Relatively speaking, I'd say it's relaxed - with lots of fork rake.

The Mk.V's were much more aggressive - and if mine is of any indication, it feels like it too.

-Kurt

rccardr 

Al Wanta in Clearwater. He repainted the top tube of my Pelizzoli after brazing on cable guides and did a perfect job. Impressive, especially when you consider that the color is a Euro-only Daihatsu color.

cudak888 

That's some glowing praise right there - also saw some of his work on his site. Looks excellent.

I reached out to him. Kinda like the idea of it being in the same state...easier to chase after him if it goes wrong

-Kurt

TenGrainBread 

Waterford just posted a Raleigh Pro they restored.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BzMfJpVF...=1w7gy6z8awqcl

merziac

cudak888 

Looks very nice, if a bit glossy - but not distractingly so. Very beautiful. Wonder why they omitted the gold headlug lining.

Still...shame on them for that dull, Craigslist-fresh headbadge and those screws in place of the factory rivets. That's a huge oversight after all that work on the frame, and it's front and center in this picture

If anything, I'm partial to the job they did on the Lou Sebo '60 Paramount for @Ct03911 (https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...early-60s.html). If there's one thing Waterford does know, it's their heritage.

-Kurt

nesteel 

Trust me, if he and I had lived in the same state after I recieved my Merckx back, he'd still be pulling it out...................

merziac

H**Y CRAP!, no kidding, hopefully the headbadge isn't done, a simple cleaning and even some smaller screws would go a long way.

speedevil 

For C&V paint touch-ups, I highly recommend Duane at chestercycles.com. He's done several frames for me, including one full repaint and his work is superb. He's in southern Wisconsin now, just moved from the Chicago area.

Here's a before and after of his work:



UPDATE: The three Duane touched up will be at Coppi, 2 Lemonds and a Masi. The full repaint he did on the Pinarello will be there too. Duane is planning to be there as well, so you can talk directly to him.

cudak888 

DM sent. Not sure I follow.

I wonder how badly the screws have galled the holes where the blind rivets belong (interesting how Carlton used blind rivets, but Raleigh used solids for the most part).

Will touch base with him. Thanks.

-Kurt

mechanicmatt

Al Wanta is extremely good people. I have never used him for a paint, but he hooked me up with restore decals for a Bruce Gordon I have. Extremely good to deal with and his portfolio is really great.

Wanta Frames

I like Groody Bros in Kansas City as well. Powder Coat though, it'd be a total paint job.

smontanaro 

I believe Duane retired and moved out of state. I contacted him a couple months ago about installing some decals. He said he was closing and moving out of state in a couple weeks.

Either that or he didn't want to install my decals.

speedevil 

Duane moved to Wisconsin and was initially going to do only touch-up. He's now got a paint booth set up and told me that he will do a limited number of full repaints in addition to touch-up work.

He was winding things down in anticipation of the move, I had to hurry and get my frame to him so he could finish it before the booth was disassembled.

He's definitely still doing the work. And great work it is.

smontanaro 

That's good to hear.