Recently I was fortunate to acquire an unbranded (non Chinese) Toray 700 matte UD frame.

My specific question regards which type clear coat noted above would best interact with the carbon in a nondestructive way?

If any of you can share insight regarding a pigmented base coat (gloss black for example) I'd be really interested in your experience/recommendation in that regard as well.

Thanks in advance -- Rick

Lacquer contains solvents and will chemically interact with the base layer on your bike.
Urethane is a two part clear coat that cures by hardening and not by evaporation of solvents.
Safest bet would be the urethane clear coat.

Hi,



To the best of my knowledge no type of clearcoat could possibly intrewract with CF in a destructive way. CF composites are pretty inert to chemicals except for toluene.
However, any acrylic based paint/clearcoat can interact badly with un underlying non-acrylic (aka synthetic paint) coating.

Ciao,

_________________
Being a snob is an expensive hobby.

Thank you for your responses. They're highly valued.

Unless some retired NASA type weighs in I'll go with the following solution:

http://www.repaintsupply.com/pd_2_part_2k_aerosol.cfm

There's an interesting video found there illustrating it's use. A key benefit from my perspective is it's turn key nature. No pots, mixing, clean-up, etc.

The bigger issue is durability. Lacquer is cheap to buy and dries fast, but it chips very easily. Urethane is far more durable, but it's more expensive and the spray can has a limited time before the paint hardens in the can.

Either product could interact with some other clearcoat on the frame, unless all of it is removed. Urethane is not devoid of solvents. It can be thinned, just like lacquer. One test for compatibility is to put some urethane solvent on the frame to see if it softens the surface or causes wrinkling.

http://www.repaintsupply.com/pd-ru-311- ... educer.cfm

FWIW, even lacquer is now available as a catalyzed product. It's still the preferred clearcoat for interior woodwork in new homes.

It really depends on how much you want to spend and what kind of quality finish you want to get.

If you're in the states check out www.southernpolyurethanes.com, they sell top quality polyurethane clear coats.

I've used them myself for a number of years in the auto refinish industry and have done a couple of bicycles with this
material. My current bike is a Cervelo RS that I sanded down to raw carbon in some places, applied epoxy primer to it, then PPG Global basecoat and SPI production clearcoat, the finish is great and very durable, mind you I must have added 100 grams in the process.

For a raw carbon frame I wouldn't think twice about using straight SPI clear on it, you will need a least a small compressor and a mini gun to spray it, but it might be worth the expense if you do it right, and trust me, chances are that you would do it again on a number of different cycling parts, so it might be worth it down the line.

Check out Bohemian bikes online, he uses SPI exclusively on his bikes as well.

Just my $ .02 from working in the auto body industry and refinishing a couple of bikes and parts.