As per the title...

I was in the middle of selling if my IndyFab Steel Deluxe in Reynolds 853 and true temper tubing. But have had a change of heart and i stead going to have it resprayed. Generally the paint is in good order but it does look shabby around the chainstays as the previius owner suffered alot of chainsuck!

I want a good finish which I can be confident of will last. Originally I thought I had nailed it as Bob Jackson seems to have very competitive rates. But looking online the reviews of their work is a littlw hit and miss. The other option would be Argos but though I would come here to find out if anyone has had a decent job done from the framebuilders/repairers in Yorkshire area!

Another thing is that I wouldnt want the original Independent Fabrication decals being removed or not reapplied in some way. Am I asking too much and does anyone have any good experience of the sorts...???

I'm afraid I can't help with suggestions for the respray, but as it's Reynolds tubing they sell replacement decals for that bit of the work. You'll need to supply details of the bike including frame number to be able to get them which I find reassuring as hopefully it means eBay isn't full of fake bikes claiming to be Reynolds tubed frames.

http://www.reynoldstechnology.biz/faqs/general/

If you are near London, mario vaz is very reasonable....used to work for a lot of quality frame builders in the past....his brother winston uses the workshop too and used to build for top marques....

have a look at cromaworks. they're in sheffield.

http://cromaworks.com/

not had first hand experience but the work i have seen looks top notch.

Was going to get my mather resprayed by them but cash issues prevented it happening.

Not local to you, but Tom Sturdy of Sturdy Cycles is good with the paint gun (and can do repairs)

Thanks for all the input guys. Some of the above dolook expensive and not sure if Argos wouldn't just be cheaper. I did try and contact a guy called Chris Marshall who's apparently meant to be a legend but no one answered the phone he has up on google...

Might give some of the closer suggestions above a call to see on prices. Although my number one priority isn't artwork but rather the ruggedness of a tough paintjob and knowing it will last at a cheap (ish) price point. I also would want my decals leaving on (but i suppose thats near enough impossible to just strip the rest of it to bare metal and leave the area of yhe decals undisturbed to laquer around!???

Another thing is... which is the reason why i was selling up the IndyFab in the first place (to go back to a full susser). The full susser I was thining of was a transition bandit or covert (used off course)... Would I definitely regret the decision as my IndyFab is probably been the sweetest ride I've had and Ive had a fair few (GT Zasker/Avalanche/Aggressor; Cannondale f800; Boardman pro HT; Spesh Enduro; Turner 5spot).. Probably the only other bike which I really missed riding was the Santa Cruz Superlight!...

Apologies for the long post but what better way than to air it out in the open with a bunch of quality hooligans (I did mention it to the girls at work that my frameset was the only one worldwide on e ay at the present time but it just went over their head and they probably thought "what a !"...

Ahem. Over to you quality biking people...

I know someone who makes custom vynal stickers. I can ask if she can re-create your decals?

Can't indy supply you with new decals? Leaving them in situ and working round them wouldn't be something I'd like to attemp and I imagine most sprayers wouldn't either ... well, not if you want a good job and they're going to put their name to it

Before you sell it (although you may now have decided not to), consider that fashions come and go, more travel, less travel, single pivot, Horst link, VPP, etc, etc, etc, which to a degree makes any modernish full susser a disposable item ... but your indy fab will always be a classic piece of bicycle craft.

Ian. Thanks for that and I might just take up that offer if Indy cannot supply some decals.

Bearbonesnorm wrote:but your indy fab will always be a classic piece of bicycle craft.

Boss... amazingly said... like pure poetry are them there words sir. What got me thinming was when Dekerf (the Dekerf) contacted me via ebay and asked after the geometry.

The decision has been made. The monster will remain with me (monster cos I might try 140mm Talas on it or maybe even the 100>130>160) and I shall go ahead and continue the search for that cost effective sprayer. Maybe I'll give IndyFab a call now!...

Phew

redefined_cycles wrote:Ian. Thanks for that and I might just take up that offer if Indy cannot supply some decals.

Pm links to photos of them and I'll send them over

sean_iow wrote:I'm afraid I can't help with suggestions for the respray, but as it's Reynolds tubing they sell replacement decals for that bit of the work. You'll need to supply details of the bike including frame number to be able to get them which I find reassuring as hopefully it means eBay isn't full of fake bikes claiming to be Reynolds tubed frames.

http://www.reynoldstechnology.biz/faqs/general/

Thanks for that. Although the original didn't have the 853 decals it would be nice to slap one on. Reynolds have been emailed...

I have used Mercian Cycles in Derby a couple of times, not far from South Yorkshire. Done a good job although probably not the cheapest. Regarding decals I got Gil (?) who I stumbled across over on STW who made up a set of original style Kona ones for me which looked great and Mercian used those.

Woodrup near Leeds have had a good reputation in the past, no idea about nowadays.

Thanks Blackhound. I've spoken to Fatcreations so far. Roughly £225 (give or take) will get me a paintjob plus painted on decals with custom made srencils they will make themselves using the original decal specs! Sounds good but pricey...

Woodrup, I heard of them and gave them a call the other day too (before I had heard of Fatcreations) and they seemed nice but not sure about how much extra the decals would cost me.

So, so far the fact that Fatcreations would paint on the decals by hand seems a winner winner!

I'm still all ears (in the meantime I may acquire a new Surly from one of the top lads on here!)...

If you do use Mercian, call them first as they have put a note on their website that they are only doing work on Mercians at the moment as they are so busy. I hear good reports about Argos, but it's only paint so I am sure anyone with a bit of nous could do a nice job

I was in Mercian a couple of weeks ago. Someone was asking about a frame build and was quoted 11 months if I heard correctly! I had assumed that painting was the usual month or so. Clearly not.

Thanks people. Clearly I won't be going to Mercian then. I spoke with FatCreations and the wuote is around 225 give or take (sorry if I've already said that) and includes handpaitned decals that they recreate from whats on my frame already. 25 quid posted back so a grand total of at least 250 if not more.

Today I emailed lots of pics to Cromaworks as theres no number on the site and just an email address. No response as yet and I imagine they're busy. I also spoke to someone down south...

Colour-Tech and he claims to be the body shop for many pros as well doing the paintwork for Condor. Quoted me £180 and only 15 quid posted back to me. This includes handpaitned/reproduced decals. Seems a fair price if it is indeed a good job. Sounded like a nice easy going bloke that was happy to let me talk (I do talk alot sometimes!) about what I wanted. After the jobs finish he'll send me 3 pics and confirm payment... Anyone heard of them or had work (Colour Tech!) done from them?