BoraxKid

I am in the process of over-hauling my touring bike, and after years of all-weather riding, a few falls, and the other usual abuses, there are some minor chips in the paint. I don't want to let the steel frame rust too much, so I'd like to bust the rust and then paint over the bare areas with some touch-up paint.

I'm not going to strip down the frame and rattle-can it or do anything else that silly to this bike. I am just looking for touch-up paint that will work well on a steel bike frame. I'm not even concerned about the color, I just want something that is easy to apply and will be durable. Any good product recommendations?

dsbrantjr

Fingernail polish. It comes in many different colors and has a handy applicator. Most stores will not object to you bringing your bike in to check the color match, although you should verify under sunlight as artificial light can be deceiving.

Iride01 

Auto parts stores have touch up paint in all sorts of colors. I've seen some other's talk about using nail polish as it comes in every imaginable color. Not sure about the UV resistance of it, but might not matter much if you don't leave your bike in the sun every day of the month.

If you aren't really worried much about looks, just deal with the rust, prime it with a zinc or red oxide primer and be done.

BoraxKid

I like the idea of putting down some Zn-rich primer first. I used to work for a coatings company and that was pretty common for painting steel, now that I think about it. I'll probably just shop around for automotive primer + refinish topcoat solution. I agree that nail polish is probably not the best solution for a bike frame, and I would expect it to wear off long before a proper paint does. Thanks!

cxwrench

Auto touch up paint should work great. You should be able to find something pretty close and you can get those things that look like a big pen that have the paint and a clear coat in one container.

easyupbug 

^ THIS ^ and when I have tried it due to a perfect "teal" color and thinned and laid it on in many coats to get it smooth it faded in a couple years and needed to be completely redone.

leob1

Go to your local flea market, find the guy that is selling cosmetics, look in his fingernail polish rack. You'll find a color you like for a few bucks. It can also be used to paint accents on your bike.

rydabent

If you only have a scratch or a small chip, the best place to go is a hobby store that sell small bottles of paint for model cars and planes. Very inexpensive.

Iride01 

Well I didn't mean to imply that nail polish wasn't a good touch up paint. Just mentioning that I didn't know how UV resistant it was. Model paints might be good too as another just posted.

I'm sure all are different, but some nail polishes my wife uses seem to have many of the same easy and forgiving characteristics that old fashioned nitro-cellulose paints from way back when used to have. And if you top coat with a clear automotive or other clear for outdoor use, maybe just as good as anything else.

djb

Re nail polish. About 25+ years ago I had some little dings and paint rubbed off a few places of my touring bike, put some clear nail polish on them and it's still doing fine, no rust ever appeared.
Sure, the bike doesn't sit outside, but the stuff has held up fine.
I still have the little bottle in one my parts and bike stuff boxes.

bikemig 

I just dealt with paint issues on a 1992 Specialized Stumpjumper I'm rebuilding. The frame is sound but it was roughly handled and missing paint in a lot of areas. I got rid of the rust, painted over the bare patches with flat white rustoleum, and then found a model paint that was close enough. The bike doesn't look bad.

Papa Tom

+1 for fingernail polish.

vespasianus

Err, maybe it is the lighting but that looks a little rough. Maybe another coat of yellow?

bikemig 

I kind of like it a bit rough since I'm building a drop bar gravel bike from this vintage MTB with 3 x 7 gearing and bar end shifters. My point was not that this was a great touch up job (it's not) but a quality primer and model paint can make for a fairly resilient touch up that doesn't look terrible.

I may try to mix that model paint eventually to try to find a better match but there is no way this will ever look "right" given how much paint the bike lost.

Crankycrank

Yeah, don't waste your time trying to make it look any better. Nearly impossible for even the pro painters to make it perfect. You accomplished your goal of preventing rust so just ride it and enjoy. Consider the dings badges of honor as an experienced tourer.

bikemig 

Oh yeah. I like to think this is just the right look for a gravel/mtb drop bar bike.

Sy Reene

I always think of the old Testor's brand paints, though they don't get mention much. They seemingly also make enamel paint pens, which strikes me as probably about the easiest thing one could use for small touch up areas.

xKate

Gjjj

djb

clearly kate put the most thought into this topic, thanks love.