reginaspears

I have a Polar Blue Electra Townie 7D. For a short fat chick i ride a lot and travel with my bike frequently. There is no way to avoid nicks and scratches, they just happen. In a way i think of them as badges of honor, but even though i store my baby indoors, i worry about corrosion. I mean, I paid $500 for this thing! I'm not going to just let it rust away. I've been to Hobby Lobby and tried to find model paint to match. I now have teal colored splotches all over my bike that match the detailing, but not the body color. Townie refuses to issue touch-up paint. They say it's factory applied paint, like they aren't all... My local dealer doesn't carry touch up paint. I haven't tried nail polish because honestly, i don't have time to stand in the beauty isle for hours going cross eyed. i get shampoo and deodorant and get away from those blank stare vapid Barbie look-alikes ASAP! SO...has anyone ever been able to find a decent color match for a polar blue Electra Townie? if so, where?

roadscrape

Townie used to supply touch-up paint with their bikes, before Trek bought them. But, it was really thin stuff, took several layers and didn't always correctly match the factory paint, which was powder-coated. A whole different thing than a bottle of paint.

That Polar Blue shouldn't be that hard to match. Don't let someone sell you Robins Egg blue - it has a bit of yellow in it. Polar Blue is a white base with a few drops of blue added, IMHO. I know that from resto-modding a mid-70s Bridgestone which I painted a light blue that would have been very close to the Townie Polar Blue.

So, you have a few of choices. Instead of perusing the nail polish section, swallow your pride and go to an actual nail salon, one that does a lot of business. The best colorist can come up with something pretty darn close for not much money. Ask some friends or acquaintances that go to nail salons for recommendations.

The other choice is go to a car or motorcycle painting place. They have scanners that can determine a pretty close paint match. They'll charge you to mix it, or you can ask for a call when they paint something of similar color.

A third choice is to find a car that is a near match - a parking lot, a dealer, in someone's driveway. Write down the make and model. Try to find out the year, too. There are color-match places online that have duplicate colors for factory paint which you can look up by car model and year. You can get the touchup paint in small vials, as a touchup pen, or a small bottle of paint. Prices I've found run $15-20 for a pen. There is a brand called Duplicolor that is carried by many auto supply stores that would be a good place to start.

If you really want to match the paint, it's going to take some effort and humbleness. Now go for it!

Cheers,
Bill in Roswell, GA

FrenchFit 

Well, we have an $1700 pre-trek Electra and it didn't come with any touch-up paint, and it chould have. Ticino 20D | Electra Bikes It's a truly great bike, otherwise.

Nail polish is the smart solution. Otherwise, tear the bike down, take frame and fork it to a powercoat shop and have the entire bike redone, then re-build it.

The pre-trek Electras have a very thin paint, it chips easily.

GaryBeaton

This is an older thread but for the record on the matter of optical computer color scanning there is insufficient flat surface on a bicycle to get an accurate reading. If the bike has a fender would be the exception but otherwise a flat surface about the size of a typical business card is required.

cudak888 

Bottom of the kickstand plate.

-Kurt