I am building a relatively stealth bike and have installed my sram yaw FD. It is very silver and looks out of place. Has anyone painted similar components? Does it last well? Any pearls of wisdom? Should i just get over it?

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Evo 5.63kg SL3 7.045kg viewtopic.php?f=10&t=110579" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

For this type of thing I use a product that is a catalyzed (2 pack) base coat.
It dries very quickly to a Satin/matte black and is very durable.
I think most body shop suppliers would have a similar product by various makers being sold as epoxy etching primer. This is marketed by Nippon paint here in Asia.
You'll need spray equipment or an airbrush, though.


Good Luck!
Monkeyburger

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http://ocdlikeme.blogspot.com/

As there is some black on the new Sram Red front derailleur I would only paint the cage front/rear and the chain catcher.
But you should know that any paint inside the cage will not last because of chain motion.
Also the color on the bottom edge of the chain catcher will come off where the chain slides on when shifting to the smaller ring .
But this will happen with alloy anodized chain catchers ,too.
So you should tape the cages inner walls and all other parts of your FD so that no paint gets onto links and/or bolts and pins and then paint it black or matte black and then applying a very thin clear coat layer on top.
You may paint the fixing bolts head ,too.

My friend did the same to this part with a Ti cage .Red /Black edition.

Thanks for the replies. Yeah I was only planning on doing the outer cage and chain catcher. I don't have a spray gun. Did your friend sand it down first prior to painting it to help the paint stick?

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Evo 5.63kg SL3 7.045kg viewtopic.php?f=10&t=110579" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Nifty,

Here is the info I have got.

Yes , he sanded the cages outer parts first.
He used a spray can for the gloss black color.
He has a black anodized Token chain catcher so no need for the paint job there.
Then he let the part dry on an electrical heater fo a day.
Sprayed it with gloss clear varnish when the part was still warm.
Then let the varnish dry for a few days before mounting it to his bike.
Hope this helps.

Thanks mate, much appreciated.

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Evo 5.63kg SL3 7.045kg viewtopic.php?f=10&t=110579" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

No problem.

He sent me the link to his bike photos with some detail shots of painted FD and RD.
Looks great IMO.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/76713868@N ... otostream/