Paint My Bike...stripping a carbon frame

[Gripo]

Anyone used Paint My Bike business in Briso...considering buying a frame and having the gloss paint job removed back to the original carbon.

Looking for feedback on the process and costs...or negative experiences.

 

[Boom King]

Haven't used them but have heard nothing but good reports.

 

[Cropduster]

A mate of mine works there, he used to own his own shop painting motorbike parts but he decided on a change and as he's heavily into road cycling went to "paint my bike" i've had them do work for me, expensive, but top quality job, i would happily use them again.

 

[slippy]

They repaired a carbon rim for a mate of mine and the work was top notch.

 

[whodesigns]

When most people think of bare carbon they actually mean having the laminate visible with a clear coat layer.

The clear coat is there to protect the carbon laminate, real bare carbon is not recommended. The resin will get degraded by UV and moisture and significantly reduce the life of the frame.

Also most frames use fillers at the joins, which are often painted to be less obvious, these areas can look quite ordinary when the fillers and paint are removed.

It is also difficult to remove the original paint without damage to the laminate, unidirectional plies can be down to 0.05mm thick. Paint strippers and blasters can damage the laminate so it is usually done by hand sanding. This makes the process very labour intensive and thus expensive.

 

[Cropduster]

When most people think of bare carbon they actually mean having the laminate visible with a clear coat layer.

The clear coat is there to protect the carbon laminate, real bare carbon is not recommended. The resin will get degraded by UV and moisture and significantly reduce the life of the frame.

Also most frames use fillers at the joins, which are often painted to be less obvious, these areas can look quite ordinary when the fillers and paint are removed.

It is also difficult to remove the original paint without damage to the laminate, unidirectional plies can be down to 0.05mm thick. Paint strippers and blasters can damage the laminate so it is usually done by hand sanding. This makes the process very labour intensive and thus expensive.

If your reply is in response to my comment that they are expensive please know that i understand good quality work costs, i was happy to pay and meant nothing negative by it. I mentioned it because some believe it's possible to get a quality job at a bargain price, if that's the case look elsewhere because they're always busy so they don't need to charge anything other than a fair price for their work.

 

[MarioM]

If your reply is in response to my comment that they are expensive please know that i understand good quality work costs, i was happy to pay and meant nothing negative by it. I mentioned it because some believe it's possible to get a quality job at a bargain price, if that's the case look elsewhere because they're always busy so they don't need to charge anything other than a fair price for their work.

No , his response is from actually working with carbon every day if my memory serves correct . It is interesting as after a while some frames clear coat can perish so if sanding is not viable then what is ?