Thanks, Tom, for that really helpful posting!
These are the outfits I have been looking for. It's not the quality of the paint job so much. Or the cost. Or if it's done in the UK or the US. Or if it's indicative of socialism, the price of eggs or boxers or briefs. It's just a bicycle paint job, people!
And that's the point. At least with 96 per cent of bikes. At least the ones I've seen. Or own. Or want to own. I have my '58 RRA sitting in front of me, still glistening in her original Raleigh black and white. No "bespoke" paint job. Heck, Raleigh DIPPED the whole frame in black enamel. They did that with everything back then. My Peugeots have their original paint and it's still good. And if was good enough for Simpson and Pingeon, it's good enough for me. The last thing I want is to make my bikes look better than when they left the factory. And I find too many repaints achieve precisely that effect. Too perfect, too glossy, too intense colours, too much topcoat.
I guess I want my bike to look like it was painted at 3.56 pm on a Bank Holiday Friday in Lenton, Nottingham. And I want to spend less than our esteemed colleagues in Japan would pay for a Simplex skewer with the little black plastic wingnut still intact. Well maybe two-thirds of that....
Peter Kohler
Washington DC USA