Powder Coating
Powder coating originates from the USA and is applied as a factory finish by many established and respected marques. Long gone are the days of basic primary or muddy industrial livery-pretty much every colour in the rainbow (including chrome effect) is available now.
The quality of finish is dependant upon sprayer skill, powder used and therefore reflected in the price. An industrial “job lot” firm may charge £25 for frame and forks but in my experience, fail to mask threads, apply a layer of chromate and/or lacquer topcoat. Moreover, it is likely to be rushed through with office furniture. Sometimes you get lucky but I’ve known cases of internal cable guides melting uselessly inside the curing oven, braze-ons damaged by over zealous blasting etc.
Vastly superior are project finishers who will explain the process at each stage and the options available. Aluminium frames should only be aqua blasted to avoid extensive pitting, although minor dent/repairs are addressed before painting. This latter group commonly specialise in wet-spray techniques such as two-pac, which can be applied atop powder for some really exotic effects. Maldon Shot blasting & Powder Coating have refinished several of my framesets to a very high standard at very reasonable cost and while powder is well suited to winter/hacks Klein, Rossin and similar frequently arrive for makeover.