Bike painting techniques: for a beautiful and lasting result

In this article, essential to provide some basic notions to all those who have the project to apply Stardust Bike bike paint, we present here the main steps and specificities of the techniques applied to bike painting.

The techniques for preparing substrates and applying them to paint a bicycle are directly modeled on that of body painting. Painting a bike (successfully) means first of all choosing a professional paint, in a can or in an aerosol (not to supply yourself with consumer products and prefer professional paints) and to follow a precise set of steps and rules to be scrupulously respected, otherwise the nice idea of repainting your bike can turn into a fiasco.

So take the time to carefully study the instructions on our complete bike paint and kit product pages.

Here is the summary of the steps, then the instructions explained below:

Step 1 ► Complete disassembly of the bike

Step 2 ► Degrease with a degreaser

Step 3 ► Sand the varnish and remove the stickers with a dryer or a heat gun. Sand with P320 without stripping

Step 4 ► Hanging the frame and fork from the bike

Step 5 ► Paint the bike with a specific filler or primer*. Dry 2-4h

Step 6 ► Sand with P500 sandpaper

Step 7 ► Paint the bike with the different layers of colors, 1 hour drying, sanding with P500 then masking between each color.

Step 8 ► Varnish with a bi-component varnish for bicycle paint.

Saw a cool video on YouTube and it looks easy? The truth is that if you are not a professional painter, achieving a beautiful painting without studying or carefully preparing your project will be very unlikely.
It is therefore better to take the time (5 or 10 min) to study the implementation, contact technical support if necessary, and thus put the odds on your side in order to achieve a beautiful and durable bike paint job.

How to paint on a bike? The steps from preparation to varnish

With the aerosol or the gun, it doesn't matter, because the process will be the same and the result will be there, because the products are the same in pot or in aerosol. Whether you are a weekend painter or a professional painter, everyone can succeed because it is above all a story of preparation, care and meticulousness.
The steps will form a multi-layered system:
• Substrate preparation (this includes the priming phase)
• Paint (normal or multilayer for effect paints)
• Varnish

The preparation
Painting or repainting your bike is 80% preparation and 20% action! When you take good care of the preparatory stages, you usually don't have any unpleasant surprises. Preparing also means anticipating and imagining the stages of painting on the bike, with ingenuity when there are graphic patterns, different layers of colors, and adhesives to put on the frame.

Step 1 ► Disassemble
It is necessary to completely disassemble the bike and “stuff” the holes in the frame or bottom bracket. It's hard to do a job well done without a teardown.

Step 2 ► Degreasing and stripping
It is important to remove all presence of contaminants and grease before sanding and afterwards.
It is possible to do a chemical stripping using an aerosol stripper of the carbon bicycle frame, or a complete sandblasting of the metal frame, if you want to save 250 to 400g of weight.

We advise not to strip and not to remove the primer made in the factory by the manufacturer of the bicycle. When you bare a bike frame, then you have to paint your bike again with a specific adhesion primer for carbon, aluminum or steel.

Step 3 ► Sanding
It is important to sand the varnish, before painting a bike, simply so that the paint can hang, but above all to be able to remove the plastic adhesives which are present under the varnish. Using a heat gun makes adhesive removal easier. We often end up with a kind of hole, which we will have to reduce by sanding with P320.

Step 4 / 5 / 6 ► Hang and prepare
Care must be taken to suspend the frame by wires (this is what the pros do) at eye level. In order to create a smooth surface and of a homogeneous color, we apply a filling primer or surfacer which will make it possible to cover all the defects and to create a thick layer which we will be able to sand with P320, then P500 (no more! ). Our primer has a good grip on steel and carbon. However, its role is to fill and smooth, more than to adhere. For a guarantee of maximum hold, first use a thin layer of a specific adhesion primer just before the primer.
The primer dries quickly (2 hours at 20°C) and can therefore be sanded with water and a P500 abrasive sheet. A sanding block can be used on the defective areas, where there is unevenness, in order to sand correctly and in order to obtain a flat and smooth result.

♣ Can you imagine a simple painting to do in one coat? Yes, it's called a "direct gloss 2C" finish, but in this case, we are closer to the basic, opaque and glossy paint of the time, and we must forget in this case most of the pearlescent and metallic effects. .

Painting the bike frame and fork

Once the preparation is done, it is necessary to ensure that the sanding is well done, but also that the surface is dry, dusted, and degreased.
From this step and for all subsequent steps, the sanding should never be finer than P500, otherwise the level of grip or adhesion will be weakened between the different coats.

Step 7 ► paint and decor

Which paints for a bike?

All the decorations are made with single-component paints called “matt bases to be varnished”. These are ready-to-use paints, really simple to use, quick drying and very thin.
For those who own a spray gun, there is a range of over 100 colors in 125ml among the Graphic series and the Sparkle series.

To successfully paint a bicycle, there is the gesture of the applicator, but not only: the weather conditions are important, it is strongly recommended to paint in dry weather, without dust and with a moderate temperature of 15 to 25°C.

What tool to paint a bike?
Painting with aerosols and obtaining good results is quite possible, but it is not economical (the gas is 75% of a spray paint can).
It is not possible to paint with an airbrush, as this is a tool reserved for small parts. The ideal is both a paint gun or a mini paint gun, which is more manageable and allows you to pass inside the frame. With a single gun, you can paint primer, paints and varnish at the same time. Dilution allows the use of any nozzle.

The strategy

A plan has been drawn up, if the decor includes an overlay of several colors or “layers”. A strategy is therefore essential.

►When making a simple decor, place light and bright colors (example: white, red) first, then dark colors in the end.

►When using Diamond, pearlescent, metallic, Chameleon, holographic, fluorescent effect paints, then respect the application of a specific background color.

The overlap rule:
Here is a fundamental rule in painting. When we respect it, we ensure the cohesion of the layers and any risk of detachment becomes just impossible.

1C solvent-based paints can be varnished, or covered, for 30 minutes after their application (at 20°C). Beyond this period, the grip "wet on wet" is no longer guaranteed and must be sanded before covering.

When making decorations or needing time to apply stickers, each painting must be left to dry for 1 or 2 hours, then sanded (with P500) before covering it with the next paint or varnish. .

Sanding with paper or abrasive sponges?

Sanding is done with sandpaper on primers, classic paints and varnishes. It must be done only with a gray abrasive sponge on all paints with pearlescent, metallic, chameleon pigments.

♣ Tips and Tricks:

To obtain an optimal quality of application, result and grip, it is recommended to apply multiple thin coats, rather than thick coats.
With a gun, it is necessary to paint thin layers.
With an aerosol, you have to paint in quick layers.
This process is particularly effective for painting pearlescent and metallic colours.
On the contrary, do not apply layers that are too thin, especially in dry and hot weather.

The final thickness must be as small as possible, for two reasons:
• constitute the least total dry weight
• better resistance to breakage and detachment.

Make stencils, logos, and decorations

On the background color sanded at 500, it is possible to make any simple or complex decoration:
It is necessary to have a scalpel and different masking adhesives, of the classic type for covering and masking, thin PVC adhesive lines, or even adhesive transparent film, which make it possible to transfer a logo or lettering, either from a screen by tracing, or by cutting with a "plotter" type printer.

When should stickers be applied to bike paint?

Often, we have to put stickers: these are positioned on the paint and under the varnish. Any printer can produce your logos on adhesives. These adhesives are still compatible with professional varnish solvents, so there is no need to worry about that. The stickers must be applied to the dry and sanded paint, if time is needed. If the installation is simple, it is applied on the freshly painted paint and dry to the touch (15 minutes), just before varnishing. It is important to have very clean hands during application and pressure. Typically, bike paint professionals apply two coats of clearcoat and that's enough to cover and level the thickness of the adhesive.

Applying varnish to a bike

Step 8 ► the varnish
This is the final step that crowns the work of the painter. The varnish makes the paintings shine and sparkle, in addition to protecting them.
The varnish is applied directly after the freshly applied paint (after 10 minutes and before 30 minutes), or on the dry and sanded paint.
The varnish is applied with two beautiful coats: the objective is to have a maximum of "tense" and shine, especially avoiding drips!

Which varnish to choose?
The choice of varnish should always go to a two-component varnish, whether it is matte or glossy, flexible or hard. It is not necessary to save on the varnish and it is advisable to choose a varnish of durable and resistant quality.

A glossy, light and very hard varnish will be recommended on racing bikes. The hardest varnish ever designed to date is the ST8900x ceramic varnish.

In the case of a cross or mountain bike, a resistant and flexible varnish will absorb impacts much better, without cracking or peeling off.

How many layers?
The rule is clear: 2 coats of varnish must be applied. This creates an optimal thickness of 50 microns dry, which will give a beautiful shine and good protection. A varnish is painted in 2 glossy coats spaced 10 minutes apart, then allowed to dry and harden for 24 hours.

Contrary to what is assumed:
When painting more than 2 layers, the gloss does not increase. On the contrary, it drops. On the other hand, the more a large number of layers of paint and varnish are applied, the greater the thickness and the more this set of layers will be likely to crack, crack and therefore peel off in the event of impact with a stone.

Revarnishing and correction
It is always possible to redo the varnish, when it is not shiny enough, not perfectly successful, or if drips have been obtained. In such a case, it is necessary to carry out a superficial sanding after the through-drying, then to apply again one or two coats of varnish.

How to paint a car?
How to paint a motorcycle?
How to paint a helmet?
How to paint a quad?
How to paint a boat?

Stardust Spray Bike
Bike paint for spraygun
Bike paint primer and filler
Special varnish for bike paint
Bike paint tools and accessories
Special effects for bike paint

How to repaint your racing bike ?
What paint to paint your bike ?
How to repaint your bike without dismantling it ?