Best rattlecan paint for bikes?

...From experience hammerite paint is thinner than normal (plasticote) paint and needs to be put on built up in thin layers. The matt black stuff I was using was near impossible to spray on tubing without runs...

Untitled by Matt Power, on Flickr

Untitled by Matt Power, on Flickr

I painted my polo bike with Hammerite spray and it was the worst thing. I keyed the OG paint rather than stripping, primed with Halfords regular white primer and keyed that. I bought three cans of Hammerite red which I thought would be enough, turns out I only needed one can.

Firstly, it takes ages to dry, like two or three days ages. This makes doing multiple coats over a weekend a mega hassle. On the plus side, when you've done all the coats and you have that orange peel effect, you just need to give it a quick wet and dry all and give it one last coat and it looks really smooth.

However, I know I was using it for polo but seriously, the paint just fell off. The primer underneath was more resilient than the Hammerite and even when that rubbed off from my knee pads, the original paint still didn't chip. When I put some PVC tape on to hold my brake cables still, I pulled a bit of that off and it took with it a massive section of Hammerite in one huge flake.

If I bother to do it again I'll just use regular Halfords rattle cans but I'd rather pay the guys at Armourtex. It's way worth it.