Top 5 custom paint resprayers (recommendations pls)

Wasn't sure where to post this thread so this area seemed the most obvious option. A few years ago I'd considered having my Indy Fab repainted and managed to get hold of one of the shops somewhere around London that used to/does paint jobs for Condor.

Pretty sure he told me that he could even get hold of the appropriate decals from Indy Fab. Not neccessarily needing him but thought to ask the question about frame painters.

Current frame I'm thinking of painting is another roadie Indy Fab. Carbon rear stays. Chipped all over and some rust spots. I'd want a decent job, stripping it down I could undertake myself. But I might also want some internal 'noggins' adding to have internal cabling and the welded 'thingies' removed for external cabling.

Whats my options please.. Obviously I want to keep the costs down but also want a good job (erm... surely that sort of thing is still available these days right).

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Argos are V Good.

I'd consider vaz.. his brother will do the fabrications in-house too. Probably the best value for money.

Rourke in Stoke are also doing amazing work.

Mercian is another option.

Who's Vaz pls... Any links?

Rourke and Mercian probably a bit too expensive for me at the mo as I'm trying best to keep budget close to £200 (maybe 250 to 300 with the fabrication)

Search for Vaz Finishes

I'm hoping to use him a bit later this year, I've have heard its best to call him, or pop in.

Actually, maybe not. Winston is an external cabling kind of framebuilder.

Are you sure you need internal routing? If you’re on a budget ... better off buying something that already has.

https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/128085/
Is it this Vaz we're talking about. Doesn't sound too promising from the first few blurbs 😊

Skully, I already have the frame: that Independent Fabrication up there. Chipped all over so after riding it around a bit and if it's as good as it should be, I'll be stripping and getting painted.

Internal routing only so I can use my bikepacking bags a bit easier with it but it's not a deal breaker...

Edit: just read the more recent posts on there. Fair enough and sounds a good chap. Probably not for me though as I'll need to post via mail and seems he's difficult to get hold of to coordinate things 🙂

Try sixfourframeworks.com
Former lead builder at roberts so he knows his stuff. Prices seem reasonable.

Colecoatings

Sounds promising, thanks..

I asumme 'gear tunnels' is what they referring to with internal cabling...

Jack Kingston does some really nice stuff

Can you really get wet paint for £200 in London? I don't think I'd see change out of $600 in NYC for even a single colour with no logos...

Yep you can.. im surprised the US is expensive, I know relative that got a whole car resprayed for a fraction on what it'd be here.
Jack and coles don't do frame modifications but there work is top. And the style suits modern carbon frames more the steel imo.

Respraying cars cheaply here is done on an industrial scale, principally by Maaco. It’s cheap, but looks it.
Bikes are another realm, a niche in which you need to charge a lot to make any money at all. Rent, prep and materials add up quick. I don’t know any painters here that would accept you prepping the bike for them - they usually have their own specific process, and don’t like the customer trying to cut corners for them.

There was a time not long ago, you could get a frame sand blasted and powder coated locally for well under hundred quid. I Cant remember exact price now.
Once you get into multi colours and lots of masking and even fadez price rapidly escalates.

Powder coating is far cheaper than paint here. I had my Pompino blasted and powder coated for $150. Powder coating also only works on metal - Carbon is a no-no.
Wet paint isn't comparable, cost-wise.

A few years ago I'd considered having my Indy Fab repainted and managed to get hold of one of the shops somewhere around London that used to/does paint jobs for Condor.

Surely this is Crayford's famous Colour-tech?

https://www.colour-tech.co.uk/

The budget seems opportunistic/unrealistic.

I should have been clearer. Winston Vaz is former framebuilder at Roberts. Varonha frameworks. Worked there 28years I think it is. He’s not keen on internal stuff, but is a very experienced stick-togetherer of metal tubes.

His brother Mario is Vaz Finishes. Wet paint. Wet paint chips to hell, whoever puts it on, since paint got less toxic and became basically crap. I think the crappy things said on that thread are due to fixielords wanting very cheap paintjobs, Mario being the cheapest, then corners getting cut, etc. tbh he can be a bit slapdash with decals & stuff. Colourtech had a much better reputation at the time, but in the end it all chips. 2k is better for fancy stuff they say, and powdercoat for a basic rock-hard one-colour covering.

Their workshops are diff floors in same building, as well as them being brothers.

@wildwest I am under the impression Winston was Roberts’ most experienced builder when they shut. Who is the builder now called sixfourframeworks.com?

Edit / hah OK so he’s got a ‘website’. Also worked at Roberts for 28 years. Heh.

Not sure of surname but his name is Adrian... met him at the roberts rendezvous vous while back now.
He was a frame builder prior to that too. So he's got a fair few frames under the belt and he's pretty sure he built mine.

Yep Adrian, saw that on the site. Just seen Winston, I should have asked about Adrian! Doubtless they worked together.

You mean mine... yeah you're probably right and I might just have to try and do it myself...

Agree with what Skully said re Mario Vaz. Have had a few bits resprayed by Mario over the years. Its cheap but its worth going to Colourtech over Mario if making the trip to south of the river even if its a bit more expensive. The finish is still not perfect but worth the few extra quid if you can make it there.

I would recommend Jason, getting something done by him soon so not seen his work first hand but from what I have seen online, the finish is much better than anyone in the same price bracket in or around London.

If you do it yourself I'd invest in the 2k epoxy primer and lacquer. You will end up spending £200 if you factor in time and materials though.

GLWS - good luck with sprays