My Cannondale mountain bike has seen abuse through the years. I have decided to get it repainted and asked a bike "pro" where I can go. He said the best thing is to strip the paint and send it to someone to get it powdercoated. He asked if I knew what that was and I said, "yeah. I'm thinking about powdercoating my AR mags." He had no idea what I was talking about, but what he said is interesting. He said it should cost less than $100.
If any of you know a place I can send my frame off to, please show me a link, phone number, or something. I want my bike looking nice and pretty. Also, you guys have any other suggestions on refinishing my bike? It is an aluminum frame (if that matters).

I'll paint any damn thing for $99.99 [:)]! Haven't you seen the Earl Schibe commercials? Seriously though, go to an automotive paint specialist. They have the best paints and equipment to paint stuff.

i'd be very surprised if you could get this job done for 100.00. to do it correctly the components would need to be removed and the frame stripped, prepped, and painted. and if you are going to strip the frame you might as well replace any worn parts or cables when you rebuild after painting. lube and grease as needed. so consider it a total rebuilld of the bike.

if you have the tools and can already can do that yourself, than you'll save some money. you could try borrowing tools too. but buying them can get expensive and unless you use them all the time, probably not worth the expense.

after the strip, the frame would need to be prepped. i beleive "beadblasting" (using tiny glass, plastic, beads) is the recommended blasting media for aluminum. using anything agresseive can do a problem to frame integrity so i wouldnt  turn just anyone loose with a home sandblaster on an aluminum bike frame.

then powdercoat or paint -automotive paint w/clear coats is pretty durable. the better paints are expensive and toxic to spray so consider a pro for that job unless you have all the proper safety equip.

at best, i'd say close to 100.00 for each of those stages. perhaps your experiences will be different.

if you are on a budget or just don't want to spend the money on non gun items, id encourage you not to repaint. as aluminum, it's not going to rust. or how does the idea of touching up the bad areas in some creative way sound? with a contrasting or complementay color, you could paint those areas yourself -little X's, tiger stripes, dots, whatever...you get the idea.

Why not go with a hard coat anodizing and maybe top it off with a tactical black teflon? That and a couple of Surefires and you would be ready to go....

You can get a bike frame done for around $100.
I had an aluminum motorcycle frame done for $200. I did have to do the inital prep work though.

You will also need to identify if the metal of your bike will withstand the heat of the powder coating process.

If you powder coat you will need to identify the areas where you do not want powder coat. Bearing race insert areas are just one place. Trust me, if they powder coat in an area where you don't want it you will spend lots of time and elbow grease getting the powder coating off of it.

Powder coating is like spray-painting a very fine, dry plastic powder paint onto a metal surface. As the powder paint leaves the spray gun, it is charged with static electricity. The charge attracts the powder paint to the part that requires coating. The part is then placed in an oven, where it bakes at up to 400 degrees Fahrenheit for as long as 10 minutes. While in the oven, the powder paint melts and flows into the final finish.

Let us know how the mags come out - but isn't powder coating pretty thick?  I didn't know you could use it and have them still fit OK.  Would you cover the holes from inside, or are you doing them inside and out?

I just love the look of powdercoating on the axles and frames of the hot rods.  Drool!

I don't know if you want a production powder coating job, but that may be the cheapest way to go. Just find a local company that powder coats a lot of parts and ask them to throw yours on the line. The process starts with an acid bath, then a fresh water rinse and through the oven to dry then through the paint booth for the color of the day and finally back through the oven to bake. I don't know the start to finish times, but is probably over an hour, maybe 2. Also, I'm not sure the aluminum frame is compatible with the acid bath. That possibly be skipped if the aluminum was properly etched for bonding and inserted before the first oven. Figure out some way to protect the places you don't want painted. You just need to decide if production colors will meet your needs. A quick web search came up with dozens of places that will do custom powder coating.

Fred

If this is the only time you will be doing anodizing don't botter with doing it yourself. It's not worth the trouble.

Check out www.finishes.com
 and the sample finishes on their web site. Read the FAQ.
They are based in L.A. Cal.

http://www.airglowpainting.com/



http://tronworx.tripod.com/PaintHelp.html


http://members.aol.com/biketune/paint.htm

These are some bike painting sites.
I would go to MTBR.COM and post this question on their forums for more places.  I would also go to Cannondale directly or shop that sells Cdale and see if they offer the service of repainting.




[IMG]http://www.gopfun.com/images/superw.gif[/IMG]

Thanks for the help guys. I got the frame stripped from almost all the parts. I sanded a bit of the frame (where the heavily scratched areas are)and am thinking of just getting the rest bead/sand blasted. I'm going to look around my area tomorrow and see what I can come up with. I'll post some pics once this is done.
I was thinking of powdercoating a few of my mags in a greyish color. I don't know if anyone has ever done it, but I was looking for a different look. I was thinking of using some of the same stuff they use for automobile engine parts. I'll post pics of that too if I still do it (the picture in my head looks good, but I don't know about in reality).
Can't wait my my baby to get a makeover!!!

Kalifornia,
I don't know where you are in CA, but I thought you might want to check these guys out.
[url]www.electrotechcoatings.com/custom.htm[/url]

coyote3

Check out Santa Cruz bikes.  They build some very good full suspension bikes (Heckler, Super Light, etc.) and powder coat or anodize all their frames.

Come to think of it, I wonder if I have a powercoat finish on my Gary Fisher Supercaliber.  I've turned it into a fun bike with WTB tires, Manitou Xvert 4" travel fork, and riser bars.  I'm too old (don't let Ned Overend hear that [;)] ) to have delusions of cross country grandeur -- now I ride it off walls, drop-offs, down stairs, etc.  With all the abuse the bike has seen, the frame still looks great.  It's a brushed burgandy color.  I wonder if that's what I have?  If it is, go for it -- it's a durable finish.