Road Bike - Paint

This was an experiment with DIY painting with rattle-cans (and perhaps the value and place for a professional finish).   This is not meant to be my rattle-can success story, or recommendation for the method, just what I did, and how it worked (and didn't).

First I used Duplicolor grease and wax remover on a rag.  This may have been a mistake.  There were a few places where I got paint on the rag.  I wasn't prepared to sand down to bare metal, so I just wiped with a rag once dry, and proceeded.


For primer I used Duplicolor etching primer, and Duplicolor high-build primer.

The etching primer because there were some bare spots, but I ended up coating the whole frame...  After the etching primer (I used the whole can, with about 5 minutes between re-coats), I sanded with 400 grit, and again cleaned with the degreaser.  After the high-build primer I didn't sand.  I kind of liked the flat/coarse texture, so I decided to leave it.

For the top coat, I used a can or Rust-Oleum flat white, covered with Rust-Oleum Pearl Mist (can't find a pic of this).

I really like the look.  It's kind of shimmery, not as "clear" or "fine" as the pearl white on my Toyota van - it's kind of creamy silvery...  There are a few spots with small runs, a few spots with some rough texture to the finish, and a few spots where dust is in the paint.  If someone is interested I'll give some thought to what I. could have done better.  For me, my tests are:

1. Does it look better from a distance:  Yes!
2. Does it look better up close:  Yes!

I didn't like the old paint, so from a distance wasn't hard.  Up close, my few scratches, drips, rough spots, etc. are better than the scratches, peeling stickers, etc. that preceded them.