what's the consenses on respraying a vintage bike frame

[jagcon]

Hi i will be taking delivery of a 1970s Bianchi Rekord bike and plan to strip it a restore it, I am thinking of having the frame resprayed and have new decals ordered.

Is this a good idea especially if i decide to sell it on after restoration.

Thanks for reading

JC

 

[bigjim]

A lot of People think that it's nice to keep the bike as it is, as long as it's serviceable and not decaying in front of your eyes. I have a Raleigh Royal that has quite a few battle scars but I only use it for foreign tours as I don't trust baggage handlers. This year they managed to put a dint in the crossbar.
However I like my bikes to look as nice as possible and if I could afford it and had a bike that I was very keen on [a keeper], I'd have it resprayed.
Selling it on is a gamble. I would not spend the money with that in mind. I've seen some very nice resprayed stuff go on e-bay for not much more than the respray and build cost, or less!

 

[Bats]

Yeah, resprays only add value if it's something needed to repair the bike, and even then only to the value of one with a good paint job in the first place.

If it's something rare or highly collectible, respraying will probably totally nuke any resale value for obvious reasons.

 

[Nob]

Resprays are good if the company doing it know what there doing & appreciate the original paint but at the end of the day its down to personal choice.

 

[PANZR]

It's only a crime if it were a bike that has a noteworthy racing history and is in the same or similar state that it was in after it's last race IMO

Team replica = okay
Actual team bike = not okay

 

[Ivo]

Non team bikes can also have an interesting history. The more of this history shows on the bike, the more interesting it is. A bike restored to bling bling showroomcondition has no history and no interest.

 

[biggs682]

a tough question as can be seen by answers above .

i have had a few frames refinished by powder coating all of them had been badly hand painted before so all originality had gone .
and in my experience it didnt add a great deal to the value . so if your own pride can stand riding a non immaculate bike then i wouldnt do it .

if you have it done take some before and after pics

 

[Bats]

Something to consider is that it's only going to get more scratches.

You're going to lock it up on lamp posts, or lean it up against the wall and have it fall over when you're not looking.

My own approach is just to stop rust before it starts and bugger anything else.

 

[Old Ned]

It will only have its original finish once. If it has already had a respray or has a structural fault that needs repairing then no problem getting another paint job but my line of thought is to keep it original for as long as possible.

Here's Kevin Sayles restored Bianchi which he bought from USA in a bad and dented condition. He repaired the top tube so had to respray it.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevin_sayl ... 602879476/

 

[glpinxit]

Echo the above. But it also depends on where in the world you are - my impression is that American collectors value originality and "patina" that others would call "wear and tear". This began with old cars and found its way to the UK. But really only relevant if the car/bike has known history.