Re: [CR] Matching Gios paint

Hugh and everyone,

Regarding the Gisa blue color; first of all it appears in a wide range of shades. How bright or less so the color in question is, depends on the age and care of the frame, what kind of exposure to sunlight it had, and even to a degree what clear was used on the frame. It seems that one type of clear tends to yellow quite a bit and cause the blue to begome darker than the original. It can appear quite dark. Other frames seem to maintain the clearer and brighter blue of the new original bike. I suspect the frames looked differend from one another even when new, meaning that one clear was clearer that the other right out of the can. I see this exact range of colors with the Colnago blue. That matters on account of the blue toner that makes the brilliant and beautiful Colnago electric blue is the same toner that makes the darker and less "electric" color of the Gios. The difference is in fact the base coat it's sprayed over. There is a toner that works wonderfully for both Gios and Colnago. Once one has that, and knows what to do to make it usable after that, the paint job is no more difficult than any other flam paint job. The thing is, a good flam paint job takes skill in addition to using the proper materials in the proper way. Which shade are you going to match? The new one will never change color due to modern materials. Piece of cake, right?

Brian Baylis
Vintage Cycle Studios
El Cajon, CA