Powder coating - Aurum / Vaz / Armourtex / Respray gallery

Yes, picking it up today. I'll get some photos up later.

Just got back and put her together, gotta say this colour is luuuurvly!!
This bikes a surprise for my girlfriend and its torture try to keep quiet about it.
Rubbish pics for now, I'll get some better ones when shes finished and the suns shining.

For reference this is RAL5024 with lacquer. + lacquer on polished aluminium forks (lost a little bit of gleam but still looks great)
frame, forks x2 (originals done in blue as well), 3 piece brake and bars all in for 75squid at Armourtex job done.

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c144/asurfaceinbetween/armourtexflyer.jpg

Does the heating of a steel frame to 400 degrees not do some damage??

Not if you let it cool before you ride it

sorry shit joke

Only if your frame is Reynolds 501

nervous laughter

Only if your frame is Reynolds 501

nervous laughter

Had my girlfriends 501 frame done by Armourtex a couple of weeks ago.... turned out really nice.

Yeah I'm seriously considering it now too. If it does not explode in the process... ;)

Just piked up my frame from Armourtex after much deliberation about whether to have it sprayed or powdercoated. Very pleased with the results - better than i expected really (and i are a fussy cunt). Thought i'd share some of the accumulated learning to help others in their decision making!

A couple of points to consider if your thinking about doing the same:

•Because powdercoating is thicker than enamel, it's much more forgiving in hiding blemishes if you've done any DIY removal of braze ons/ frame repairs etc. (I bodged a new break bridge and it's barely noticeable).

•If you have chrome Armourtex are getting better at masking it, provided it's not on fancy lugs, but they will clearcoat over it unless you ask them not to!

•When you paint your frame the undercoat shows up any holes in the metal (especially if it's an old frame) which can be filled before the final colour is added. This won't happen during powdercoating, so don't be surprised if that you find pin pricks in the finish that were hidden under the original paint job.

•Powdercoating is nasty to remove. Unlike enamel you can't just shotblast it off because it's nails. It needs a chemical bath before removal. (Worth considering when picking your colour! Best get it right). It seems bike re-sprayers hate the stuff because it's such a 'mare to remove....your likely to pay over the odds if ever you do need it re-done/resprayed . Just worth remembering!

•Ask about the different clear coats. They have loads and it'll add a deeper dimension to the cheep flat standard colour to stop it looking cheepo (if your feeling arty).

•At the end of the day it's only £70 really. In comparison to the proper jobs (Argos, et al) it's good value provided your not looking for the depth of a Flambo paint job with stripes and panels.

Will post up pix when i get a mo'. Hope someone finds this useful........

Armourtex are great, top blokes, very helpful, fast turnaround and the powdercoat is beastman strong.

Does anyone know how much extra they charge for the metallic finishes? And also if they still charge double if you want to get your forks a different colour?

hell yes nice one dude.

Can Armourtex mount decals (successfully) before clear coating ?

you have to bake powdercoat at very high temperatures, so i doubt it.

powdercoat comes off quick with nitromores

Does anyone know how much extra they charge for the metallic finishes?

£2 on top of the cost of lacquer they told me

Can Armourtex mount decals (successfully) before clear coating ?

I dont think so, lacquer requires same heat as the colour coat

powdercoat comes off quick with nitromores

Good to know!! Tar.

We did all the ghost bikes with Armourtex and they did a fantastic job!
the finish was amazing. the only downer was they looked too good and some scabs knicked half of them

But they know there stuff!

I dont think so, lacquer requires same heat as the colour coat

If I wanted decals under a clear coat, I'd have to go down the stove enamel route I guess then ?

nice!

I like that a lot bigfoot.

Just a word of warning - i picked up my girlfriends frame from Armourtex last week, lovely finish RAL7042 with sparkle finish - it came well wrapped in bubble wrap, so i just put it in the boot and took it home. Consequently i missed the dent in the top tube that wasn't there when i took it in. I had it at home for two days before i unwrapped it, so it felt a bit pointless complaining as they would probably deny all knowledge.

**so the highly annoying lesson is: take off all the bubble wrap and inspect your frame before you leave the premises **

^^ sorry to hear about that..
Any chance of pics to see RAL colour?? :D

Just a word of warning - i picked up my girlfriends frame from Armourtex last week, lovely finish RAL7042 with sparkle finish - it came well wrapped in bubble wrap, so i just put it in the boot and took it home. Consequently i missed the dent in the top tube that wasn't there when i took it in. *** I had it at home for two days before i unwrapped it, so it felt a bit pointless complaining as they would probably deny all knowledge.

---

**so the highly annoying lesson is: take off all the bubble wrap and inspect your frame before you leave the premises **

I think you should contact them - they are nice guys, and i am sure there wouldnt be a prob - they would be far more concerned that you mentioned the incident them on here without telling them the problem, and giving them a chance to rectify the issue - after all they generate a lot of work from this forum.

beastman strong

:D

Hey, I got my bike done by Armourtex in a matt finish called 'grey/brown'. It looks the business. A really deep chocolate brown that has some charcoal black also mixed into it, and the finish comes out with an eggshell sheen. Everyone comments on it. Would recommend it for those thinking of going matt black.

some pics will be nice