evergrey2018

I have a Nashbar carbon Cr4 bike, about 4 years old. The bike is now all-Ultegra, down to the brakes and hubs on the Mavic wheels that I had built in Oregon. I really want to make the bike look better, know I can't have it powdercoated, and know I really do not want to try to paint it myself, because KLUTZ.

What I think I CAN do is plasti dip the bike, using rattle cans. The stuff peels right off if you screw up, and the only thing you are out is some time...

I was looking for anyone here with experience using the product, did a search, and really found nothing. Hell I am not even sure this is the proper forum for the question...but thought experienced mechanics might have SOME thoughts.

Has anyone here dipped their bike? If so, what do you think of the process and the results?
Thanks.

Andrew R Stewart 

I wouldn't include plasti dip in the same breath as "looking good". The only few I've seen in person had rather bad looking results. I'm sure someone has done a best job with the stuff and that this is the interweb they will crow about how great their coating is. But there's a reason why you don't see much reference on line, few do it and fewer want to let the world see their great idea. Andy

Troul 

It has to be thinned out a lot, & then applied in many many many thin coats. Automotive wheels took almost 10 thin coats after being thoroughly prepped.
The labour is pretty close to actually painting something. Being cf, you really are left with no cheaper option than dipping it.

grizzly59

If Plasti Dip is like the stuff on my plier handles, your bike frame will gain about 5 lbs when your done.

Troul 

Its to cover the bike frame, not insulate from electrical shock like applied on your pliers.

Colnago Mixte

I had a Trek MTB that had a pretty ugly paint job that I just wasn't digging. So I stripped off most of the parts and plastidipped it a desert tan color. I liked it. I have also seen some pretty awesome-looking plastidipped cars on the internet. There are all kinds of metalizers and glossifiers, and a lot of tricks to making it look better. There are a lot of Youtube videos on the subject.

Here, the BF hive mind has still not accepted plastidip as a legitimate way of painting a bike, and I have found that a person will get nothing but wisecracks, scoffing, and drive-by insults if they bring up the topic here. For whatever reason, I think many people here are genuinely bothered if someone goes against whatever conventional wisdom is the "consensus" opinion is on a given topic. Dissenters must be punished, and they definitely are here.

I say, it's your bike, do what you want with it. I guess if I had one criticism of plastidip is that it's not "permanent", and you can't really put any decals over it. So the results you end up with are something like you'd get using rattle can paint (another huge no-no around here) except that you can't put decals over it, and you can only expect it to last a limited number of years. I'm not sure how long that is though.

Here is my plastidpipped camo MTB, which I have since given to my nephew. I thought it looked fine, and everyone I showed it to seemed impressed. It was just one coat of straight tan camo plastidip, no glossifiers or anything else.

02Giant 

There are more youtube videos of Plastidip than you can count.

There are various top coats that can be applied for different looks. And, it is easily removable if tiring of it.

SquidPuppet

It'll look like CRAP and be about as durable as butter. Why bother? I'm serious.

evergrey2018

Why bother?
I don't have enough posts to add pictures, but the frame is a matte black thing with spots where the decals should have gone--there is a reason why the bike was so cheap...Ultegra 6800 cranks, front, rear derailleur and shifters on a bike that cost 999$

And it looks it. I figured, worst comes to worse I can just hang the parts on another bike...but the damn thing rides so well. I just hate to look at it.

Painting it will cost me 400 bucks minimum, because I live in South Florida. Plasti dip has a store about a half hour from my house where I can get any color imaginable, with clear coat, for about 30 bucks.

Don't get me wrong, I can afford the 400 bucks. It isn't that. I want to do this myself and do NOT want to have to try regular paint...if it does not look good I am in for a total crapshow trying to get the paint off.

Colnago Mixte

Gotta disagree with you on the durability a bit. I have part of my car plastidipped, and it's been through the brush-type car wash probably 50 times, without damage. A lot of people plastidip the rims of their cars, and these cars also routinely go though car washes without problems. That seems tough enough for use on a freakin bike. I would think.

grizzly59

The Plasti Dip camo MTB looks great . Learn something new every day.

Well, that depends on how you ride-

PdalPowr

Those people are hilarious.

rpenmanparker 

Why is it called Plasti-Dip if you have to spray it? That makes no sense. Is it like the rubbery sealant material that goofy guy advertises on TV. The ads where he builds an air boat out of window screen and then seals it the rubbery coating and goes screaming through the swamp.

Colnago Mixte

I hate to sound like The Official Plastidip Spokesman, but yeah, it comes in spray cans. I have never tried Flex Seal, but it sounds like a similar product.

And it's some pretty amazing stuff. They even have a "chameleon" color that changes depending on what angle you are looking at.



(skip to around the 5 minute mark)


Plus you can take the stuff off with Goo Gone anytime you want, and your original paint is perfectly preserved underneath. What's not to love?

Would I paint my bike with this stuff? Hell yes, I did and it worked great for me.

HillRider

First, I don't know that plastidp as a painting technique has ever come up before in the Mechanics Forum. I'm a fairly long time member and don't ever recall seeing the idea until this posting. So, there is no record of "wisecracks, scoffing, and drive-by insults" I'm aware of.

Also, rattle can paint jobs aren't recommended because they aren't very durable and are difficult for an inexperienced painter to do well. Pointing out the difficulties, are facts, not "punishment".

dsbrantjr

I found the "hive mind" crack kind of insulting to the folks here who give lots of their time and advice to strangers FOR FREE.

Colnago Mixte

All my insults also come at no charge to the customer.

Are you rude, aging, bitter, never-ride-my-bikes-anymore, retired, pot-bellied beer-guzzlers gonna start charging for your "advice" now?

Because if you are, I'm so outta here.

Shimagnolo

The UK accents make it sooo much better!

leob1

Gotta pay for retirement somehow.

See Ya!

leob1

I don't know if I'd 'dip' a CF frame, it would add more weight than I would like. But to change up a steel or AL utility frame? Ya got me thinking about a new project for the spring.

woodcraft

Originally, the idea is that you dip tool handles into the container to coat them.

TimothyH

I don't know. I'm skeptical.

Maybe the product has gotten better but all the plasti-dipped parts on cars I've seen inevitably wind up looking like crap.

It is one thing to say that plasti-dip can be removed from an entire automobile without damage, or an entire bike for that matter, and another thing to actually do it. Can anyone show me a car or bike which has had plasti-dip removed and tell me how long it took? Not trying to challenge but sincerely asking if it is really that easy.

I hope the OP has better results than what I have seen in the local motorsports community.


-Tim-

SquidPuppet

Something about "removable" seems to conflict with "durable".

Maybe it's just me.

squirtdad

my experience overall with quick and dirty solutions(in any endeavor) results in less than aesthetic, results, functionality, durability.

it did get me curious and I did a little searching.

as always prep and following instructions is key, cleaning, masking and coating........ and it appears that wd40 can be used to remove the stuff

personally I would just get some nice stickers and put them on

Shimagnolo

Damn!
I didn't know you could get a gloss finish like that, and he even claims you can wax it!