Tandem Tom

So my black Tubus racks are getting a bit sorry looking. Wondering if anyone has refinished them and if so what did you use?

fietsbob

Hire a Powder coaters service .. that is what was on there maybe an epoxy instead of the polyester that they probably used.

the heating a room sized oven , to melt the stuff [440v 4 phase] electricity is the expensive part.
so more pieces you have to do, the lower the combined cost.

I got a steel Brompton bag support frame modified to have a 9" deep base to haul more stuff ..
it went into a big pre christmas wreath frame project batch
they did a powdercoat of the wire rings so they didn't drip rust down people's doors .

then my piece in that whole thing was near nothing in cost (knew people who knew the people with the ring project )

I've got a couple-3 small pieces in the Queue at a different Local Powdercoater waiting till another Black Job is to be done
then he will do those pieces , also way below market cost. just need patience then..

Philly Tandem

+1 on the powdercoating. I did this to some Bruce Gordon racks that I had and they turned out great. I also have a set of Tubus f/r racks that I need to have done. I forget exactly how much it cost, but I'm thinking it was around $25 per rack.

seeker333

Most racks are painted, especially the inexpensive Al ones. Paint comes off the Al rod pretty easy, doesn't wear too good. Paint peeled off my JandD rack pretty quick. Spray paint is the quick, cheap way to touch them up.

Tubus racks are powder-coated. After damaging it in a crash, I sanded and sprayed my Cargo with 4 bux worth of satin black rattle-can Rustoleum from Walmart. I was able to do this with the rack still mounted to bike, using newspaper to mask the fender/wheel/frame. Looks fine, seems to be wearing OK.

rifraf

I went with Tubus Cosmo and Nova in order to avoid this very dilemma.
I figured the stainless steel option would keep better aesthetic appeal in that there would be no rust or scratched paint to contend with.
They would pay for themselves in that with use, a standard chromoly rack would get scratched fairly quickly and those scratches would rust after the first or second exposure to rain.
Being a little fussy, I'd feel obliged to get said rack blasted and repainted fairly promptly and then within a year the process would need to be repeated.
Getting the unpainted stainless was a no brainer for me knowing that my initial purchase costs over my second choice of Tubus Cargo, was cheaper than a blast and repaint, not to mention the time involved.

bradtx

I've sanded and repainted using Automotive Trim Black (different brands) on racks and aero bars. The touch-up is invisible.

Brad

Clem von Jones

The only kind of paint worth considering is a two-part epoxy but they're expensive. You'd have to go a specialty automotive paint store to find them.

elcyc

I have JandD for both front and rear (bought new over 18 years ago; recently switched to Iberia for rear, but the JandD was going strong ... except paint!) Not sure what JandD uses as OEM paint????
Not sure how to restore paint on aluminium. I've used back marker pen for touch-up, but it won't last.
Spray might be good option. But what about brush ... get it on nice and thick.
BTW: I have tried black duct and electrical tape. It will dry rot, though. And that gummy mess is very hard to get off!

veganbikes

Just FYI this thread was from 2014 and hasn't been active since then.

himespau 

I wonder which of the fixes from 8 years ago lasted. How many of those racks are still on the road.

Tourist in MSN

The OP is still around, but he is still working on his racks, has not found a permanent solution yet.
https://www.bikeforums.net/touring/1...intenance.html

himespau 

I thought this thread seemed familiar.

staehpj1

So did they get painted or powder coated back then and are just getting fussed over again now after wearing off new bare spots?

In any case my preference would be to look at the rubbed off patches to be signs of a well used item and leave them be. All the tape, stickers, and split tubing are uglier and just unnecessary IMO. If you must have it looking like new re-powder coating is the answer, but if my local powder coater's pricing is any indication it will cost as much as a new blackburn ex-1 rack (which I find good enough).

Try to look at the bare patches as normal wear. Maybe even consider them a badge of honor.

himespau 

My only concern would be rust at those spots leading to failure, but I suppose you can keep an eye on them and replace at some point.

elcyc

From Jandd , David Sisson [reply to my email query about remaining their racks: [i]Jandd bike rack (black re-paint recommendation needed)]:

Hmmm .... not sure the orig. (brand new) racks -- front and rear -- I purch'd directly from Jandd were powder coated in mid 2004?