mstateglfr 

On a whim i picked up a late80s Novara Trionfo frame and fork that was for sale on the forum a month or two ago. I thought it would be a neat and easy winter project to build up with a mix of modern and period correct components.

The frame is Tange 1 and apparently identical to a Centurion Ironman frame down to the same brake bridge style. There were a ton of filled in pain chips, so it was a perfect candidate to repaint as it was very much worth saving.

I hadnt used Spray.Bike products before, but figured the investment was minimal compared to powdercoating and there are a few dozen colors and accents to choose from, so why not give it a go!
I chose flat black with a Kerin Green flake clearcoat(ironic...colored clearcoat) because the frame was already black and I didnt know how thoroughly the paint covered. Knowing what I do now, I would have gotten another base color because the base colors are really good at covering so my concern wasnt justified.

Spray.Bike can be used on a bare frame, or painted. I got all grime/grease off the frame then sanded it down to smooth all the chips. Surprisingly I took it down to the metal in some spots without even trying- the original paint was pretty thin in random areas.
I did a few coats of the flat black and a couple coats of the Kerin flake on top. Dry to the touch in 10min, but I waited 1-5 hours between coats because of schedule. Its recommended you rub each coat to compress the paint...not really sure how that works, but whatever. I rubbed each coat and it for sure smoothed out the paint since any paint applied too far away hits the frame dry and isnt smooth. Rubbing the frame with a lint free towel removes what paint was poorly applied.

The flat black is quite flat and covered the original decals great. The Kerin flake is subtle in low light and sparkles in direct light(pics dont do justice).
I cant wait to build the bike up thru the winter. I will for sure update the thread once i start riding the bike since paint durability is incredibly important. The bike will never be heavily ridden, which is another reason why I went with this pant- if it ends up not being extremely durable, not a big deal since it isnt used frequently. I expect it to be durable though, especially since there are a couple layers of clearcoat.

Overall, really impressed. It isnt as smooth as wet paint or powdercoating, but its a DIY job and I am happy with the result. Its easy to use, covers well, dries quickly, is easy to fix where needed, and is relatively inexpensive($40).

mstateglfr 

Original frame and fork


Sanding some chips on the fork.


Fork sanded.


Frame sanded(down to metal in some spots!)


Tubing decals covered with paint tape.


Makeshift painting area in a basement storage room. Outside is recommended, but it was too cold.


Frame ready for paint.


Forkends with the flat black paint.

mstateglfr 

Fork blade.


Seat tube.


Head Tube.

Insidious C. 

Looks great! Please share more pics when your bike is back together.

TenGrainBread 

Nice. I'm about to repaint a '98 Klein Navigator with Spray.bike. Differences with my project - aluminum, I stripped all the paint off, and we are doing masking and complex patterns. I'll post a thread.

mstateglfr 

Finally built it up and took the bike for a test ride.
Wanting to keep it inexpensive, i built it up with parts i already had except for some Tiagra 9sp STIs, a tange sekai cartridge BB, and some Soma hwy1 bars. So $110 in parts beyond what i already had.

If i do this again and use a Kerin flake clearcoat, i will work on applying it more evenly. Some of the pics below are posted to help show the result of inconsistent application. I didnt realize it wasnt evenly applied until after the fact. Doing 2 coats, next time i would let the first completely dry before applying the second to know where i needed to focus the second coat most.

From 10', it looks black. From 4' and closer, the green flake appears.

dunrobin

Turned out pretty nice...a clear coat wouldve made the flakes pop even more.

DEW21

Looks great, especially with the silver components. Nice job! I am also interested in how the durability is with this product. Let us know how it holds up after a season of riding.

mstateglfr 

The flakes are actually in the clear coat that i used. I agree that a 'wet' top clear coating would make it pop more. The clearcoat used makes it glossy, but not wet paint clearcoat wet.

nashvillebill

Is there a US vendor for this paint?

Dougbloch 

Most of the reviews I’ve read from spray.bike users and from Manifesto bikes in Oakland said the product is very easy to use but chips much, much easier than other paints. Please post a review after a few months of using it to let us know how well it holds up.

I like how it looks BTW!

tonyfourdogs

Looks fantastic! Well done. I'm considering painting one of my frames this summer, so I'll be back to look again and to get inspired.

RiddleOfSteel

That came out very nicely! Plus, it's on a tall 25" race geometry frame, and as a rider of such steel, I very much approve!

mstateglfr 

Yes, squid bikes, i believe.

Google 'spray.bike' and you will be directed to the US vendor.

droppedandlost 

Is this how we're supposed to take pics of our chains now?

mstateglfr 

Ha, nice catch! It was in the small ring, i saw that and shifted then spun the crank a short bit to get it into the large ring. Clearly i didn't spin the crank enough.

Think of it as an action still shot of a chain halfway thru shifting up front.

Brittney

Looks great, how many cans of the black and clearcoat did you use to coat the whole bike and frame?
You notice any chipping peeling over time?

mstateglfr 

1 can of paint and 1 can of clearcoat. The clearcoat can is smaller and requires fewer coats.

no chips or anything yet. The bike has probably 400mi and 12 or so rides. It hangs when not in use, so not much opportunity for scratches, but still the paint has held well so far.

npsantini

That looks really good. I might actually try this sometime after seeing how well yours turned out.

randyjawa 

My first spray can and home made art effort...


My second spray can effort...


My third spray can effort...


My fourth paint job but not spray can, paint brush applied...


And still trying to get to the color choice and paint application, coupled with art, on this old machine...

WGB 

I now have a Ross (laughter) Aristocrat that I bought strictly for the Shimano 600 drive train. I posted photos of the bike here and was told the frame was not worth much ($75 Canadian). I don't get it, I think it's a well made bike.

I was going to trade it out to the fixie crowd but now I wonder about painting it - Orange.

I see that US Spray has an Orange (https://us.spray.bike/products/fluro-orange-400ml) as does Tremclad (https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/p.r...000406004.html)

Has anybody any experience with using orange paint? Are there any brands anyone can vouch for? Would you recommend brush versus spray or spray versus brush?
I believe I would sand the rust spots at the very least and prime with a specific rust primer before painting - not just use a 2 in 1 paint. Rust is more ugly than bad and worst spot is as shown on the fork. I did remove the Ross lettering on the down tubes as they were rough, might coat the bike store sticker and the head badge and leave them in place.

DIMcyclist

I'd recommend two things:

1) If you have rust issues, get the frame garnet-blasted. This will cost you about $50, but it'll get rid of the rust along with all of the old paint. Handle the frame afterwards wearing either nitrile or clean cloth gloves until it's primed (you don't want the oil from your fingers showing up as fingerprints in your primer coat).

2) Anytime you're going to apply a light or bright top color (like orange, for example), and you want that color to 'pop,' that is, to really stand out, use a white primer. Ideally, this should be an automotive-grade acid-etch primer, not the crap you get at the department store (and you really should wear a mask of some kind while spraying it, as that stuff can sorely mess with your lungs).

Good luck!

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Cute Boy Horse

I'm very interested to see how it holds up after a few weeks or months of being leaned up against stuff. The strongest rattle can paintjob I ever managed was on sanded down original paint just like you. The ones I did from bare metal, with proper steel primer, those ones chipped like crazy. Throwing my foot over the top tube very rapidly wore right through.

This stuff claims to work direct to metal, no primer, which sounds honestly pretty nuts. Direct to metal makes me think of hammerite and crap like that.

DIMcyclist

It sounds to me more like you used an inferior top coat. Personally, I've never had that problem.

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mstateglfr 

Update time-

Im guessing 20+ rides and about 600mi ridden. The paint is the same as when I built up the bike. No chips, flakes, peeling, etc.

What I chose is more of a matte color combo and it continues to look…matte.
Ive wiped down the frame a few times, but otherwise its been hung up with gunk and left for weeks without any sort of corrosion or staining. I wouldn’t expect there to be any corrosion or staining, but just mention it since this is sort of a mysterious product.

I am working with a kid I mentor to build up an old ironman(thanks fleslider) and im pretty sure we are going to use this product for his frame.

If you have a nice quality frame and want to make the effort to sand down a frame and clean it fully, this is a good product to use that seems to be stronger than spraypaint and cheaper than powdercoat.