# Best method for repainting a handlebar?



## eicca (May 9, 2014)

My bike is black and green. My bars are black and red, because budget. Thinking of sanding old paint off and having them powdercoated flat black. 

Open to other suggestions


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## Guest (Apr 30, 2016)

If you getting them powder coated, you might consider having the powdercoater media blast the old paint. It won't take off any metal and leaves the surface with some "tooth" for the powder coat to adhere to.


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## RonSonic (Jan 8, 2005)

Have you tried removing the red stuff? Most bars are anodized and immune to normal solvents. Acetone usually does a good job of removing the usual logos and decorations and you can do it selectively and leave things like alignment lines and such.


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## SHowley2003 (Feb 21, 2008)

Am I the only one thinking that painting handlebars is a very bad idea? Won't the paint interfere with the clamping of stems, shifters, brakes and grips? I can't say I've ever seen painted handle bars. Are you talking about removing logos or actually painting the entire handlebar?


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## AndrwSwitch (Nov 8, 2007)

I don't think a 0.005" thick layer of paint would be that big a deal. It might not look awesome right around the clamps, where it might be damaged.

I'd want to make sure that the aluminum's heat treatment wouldn't get messed up by the powder coating process. Bike frames are powder coated, but maybe they don't finish the aging process until they're ready to cure the paint too.

+1 for letting the powder coat guy remove the old coating. They probably won't trust you to give them a clean enough part and will do it anyway.


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## RonSonic (Jan 8, 2005)

Really, try just removing the wrongly-colored stuff first. 

It's usually not difficult and often very easy. And it ends up looking like it should, a murdered out black bike part. Save the extreme and expensive measures for if it doesn't work.


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## Jak0zilla (May 16, 2010)

eicca said:


> My bike is black and green. My bars are black and red, because budget.


Unless you have an amazing deal on powder coating available to you I don't see how that would be the budget option. When I've talked with powdercoaters about doing parts runs for me they usually have something around a $100 minimum fee. (And I'm talking about doing gloss black, not a custom color. They probably already have their gun loaded with black once a week anyway.)

Trade or sell your bar. Or save up and put all of your money into an upgraded quality of bar, instead of just changing the color of what you already have. just my $.02 worth of opinion.


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## eicca (May 9, 2014)

I might have to give that acetone thing a try


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## blkangel (Aug 8, 2014)

Agree once you pay $20 or $30 bucks for the powdercoat, plus the cost of the bar you could have bought a different bar.


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## customfab (Jun 8, 2008)

AndrwSwitch said:


> I don't think a 0.005" thick layer of paint would be that big a deal. It might not look awesome right around the clamps, where it might be damaged.
> 
> I'd want to make sure that the aluminum's heat treatment wouldn't get messed up by the powder coating process. Bike frames are powder coated, but maybe they don't finish the aging process until they're ready to cure the paint too.
> 
> +1 for letting the powder coat guy remove the old coating. They probably won't trust you to give them a clean enough part and will do it anyway.


Powder coat is way thicker that .005", more like .020". Since it's a manually applied coating it can vary quite a bit. It's typically cured at ~400 degrees which isn't hot enough to mess with the heat treat of an aluminum part.

Cerakote would be best for a handlebar. It's got good adhesion like powder but it's super thin <.001" so it won't mess with all the clamping surfaces.

I'll agree that a new handlebar might be cheaper than going down the road of custom coatings. It's not like all black bars are hard to come by in all sorts of price points.


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## Joe Handlebar (Apr 12, 2016)

eicca said:


> I might have to give that acetone thing a try


I've removed logo's/designs from lot's of bars and stems with acetone. Super simple, just use a few cotton balls (and make sure to do it in open air) and rub it on. I keep a bottle in my tool inventory. Probably the last bottle I'll ever have to buy, and it was $1.


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## eicca (May 9, 2014)

Dang, acetone works like a charm! I had a buddy that was going to trade me bars but a few minutes with some acetone and a cotton swab and now I don't have to worry about redoing my cockpit for the fourth time and I probably shaved a gram or two off to boot!


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## Mr Pig (Jun 25, 2008)

SHowley2003 said:


> Am I the only one thinking that painting handlebars is a very bad idea?


Nope. Considering that your odds of end up with a crap finish are high and the cost of new bars is low I would just replace them.

To be honest, if too much stuff on your bike is colour matched it looks stupid anyway. Like Elton John made the bike! Just embrace the slight mismatch and go ride :0)


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## watts888 (Oct 2, 2012)

Mr Pig said:


> To be honest, if too much stuff on your bike is colour matched it looks stupid anyway. Like Elton John made the bike! Just embrace the slight mismatch and go ride :0)


Because nobody could combine colors in a matching outfit like Elton. King of pink sunglasses with blinking lights.

Is this a single speed by chance? Because pink with blinking lights work with single speed bikes.


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## eicca (May 9, 2014)

Before:








After:


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## Guest (May 2, 2016)

eicca said:


> Before:
> View attachment 1067718
> 
> 
> ...


yup the red had to go.


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## eicca (May 9, 2014)

Now the next thing I want to learn is how to get some of that paint stuff back on the bars if, say, I wanted a green Cannondale logo on the left (non-drive) side


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## watts888 (Oct 2, 2012)

If you want a little accent paint, I've had good luck with model car paint and an airbrush. Cut out the stencils/tape you want, mix up some green enamel and airbrush a couple light layers. The paint won't be strong enough to handle a clamp on it, but for looks, it works well.


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## Joules (Oct 12, 2005)

SHowley2003 said:


> Am I the only one thinking that painting handlebars is a very bad idea?


I'd bet almost anything that buying it the color OP wanted in the first place would be cheaper than buying something else and having it painted.

Moreover, I think worrying about the color of something on your bike to the point you're even considering doing this is a terrible idea.


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## watts888 (Oct 2, 2012)

Joules said:


> Moreover, I think worrying about the color of something on your bike to the point you're even considering doing this is a terrible idea.


Did you see the picture the OP posted? I don't normally care about any sort of color matching, but that was bad. I'd have wrapped it in electrical tape or bought a new bar if I couldn't get that red off.


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## banditpowdercoat (Aug 13, 2015)

If the powdercoater doesn't blast first, stripped or not.... Find another coater!!! PC adheres best to a blasted finish. And you positively can not PC over paint. Large production shops do a chemical dip cleaning and ever wondered why the powder coat on your lawnmower deck comes off in sheets. Because it wasn't blasted.


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