Bike Painting

IMPORTANT NOTICE

Due to increased demand on my time with regard to my coaching services, I have had to regretably limit the time I spend painting. This means I will do one repaint per month and two touch ups. If no touch ups are in the workshop then there is the possibility of doing an extra repaint. If you know you will have a paint job in the future you would like to be done please contact me and book a time.

ABOUT ME
I spent four years learning my trade as a car painter under John Crowler, who is England’s leading paint refinisher. Our company specialised in Aston Martin, BMW and Mercedes. Everything was to the highest standard possible, and it was not unusual to spend three months on one car.

My passion for my sports turned into a profession and from there overseas. On coming back to NZ, I found a demand in bike shops for somebody who could refinish bikes to the bikes shops’ and customers’ satisfaction. The days where you went to the bike shops and simply had some new paint thrown onto your bike seemed to be over. Customers were after finishes of a higher quality. As the standards and expectations were never met, the level of quality needed to be risen.

I have been painting bikes ever since as there is a constant demand for very high quality bike repaints. Because of my background in sports I understand the customer’s needs better than someone not involved in the sports scene.

What I Offer

Included in the overall paint job is stripping of old paint and rust and basically everything that the job requires to be brought up to the standard needed for painting, e.g. repairing dents etc.
Because of my background in very high standard car painting, my work is of the highest quality. I only use materials of the best quality (paint system is Spartan or House of Colour).

Types of available graphics are prints, vinyl or spray mask. Prints are produced by a Gerber printer, are done with inks and are needed in most cases when reproducing some brands or logos. The standard of what can be reproduced is exceptional. Vinyl is used for over 70% of bikes and is an easy, practical and inexpensive but still a high standard way to produce logos. Spray masks are used for various reasons; the most important is to prevent an edge between the logo and paint around it. There is no difference in surfaces between the graphics and painted area around it because both are the same.

I do have an extensive range of well-known and not so well known logos on my system. However, I sometimes have to scan new logos because the font has changed with new models for the year, which can incur in an extra cost because of extra time involved.

Bikes that are still are in a good condition; only a touch up might be required. Touch ups are mainly done when somebody wants to on-sale his/her bike, which has a few marks or is disturbed by a chip on the frame. Touch ups include colour matching with an exceptional high standard.

All jobs are low baked to produce harder and longer lasting finishes.

Turn around time can be in the range of 10-20 days although with pre-booking with regard to those of us with only one bike to ride this can be brought down. It really depends on the extent of the work that is required on the bike.

What You Need To Do

Consultation beforehand. Contact Walter.
The bike needs to be completely stripped of componentry, put in a cycle box and couriered to me with full contact details and what is required. I recommend the customer use their preferred cycle shop and have them disassemble the bike and send it from there.
Also send full instructions of colour, logos or a picture example of what needs to be reproduced.

Pictures

Replica paint job of Norman Stadlers Kuota

Click on thumbnail to enlarge picture

More Paint Jobs...

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Want to see more? Download my portfolio (1.26Mb)

Pricing Structure

Touch ups: $250.00 + depending on what is required
Basic one colour: $425.00 + gst (includes stripping of paint)
For every colour after this: $45.00
Vinyl graphics: $45.00 to $95.00
Prints: $65.00 to $225.00
Spray mask: $65.00 to $100.00, plus extra $50.00 charge because of extra paint and labour
Custom finishes range from $525.00 to $1000.00.
Courier cost: $15.00 to $35.00 (depending on location)

Article From Cycling NZ

There is a new definition in Quality when it comes to repainting racing bikes. Walter Thorburn seems to have kept his skills pretty much to himself apart those lucky enough to find him and experience the true art of paint refinishing to match or more often exceed any cycle paint job we have been fortunate enough to set our glazed cycling eyes over. He is one of us, who would be rather riding his bike than working. Fortunately, he is just as passionate about perfecting and staying ahead of new paint innovations and techniques that we see coming out on new bikes. His background was forged working on cars such as Aston Martin BMW Mercedes.

He mentioned, his customers were always amazed that they could bring something like a picture of what they want and it could be reproduced exactly the way they requested. He said there was always a lot of work in the background to reproduce jobs with regard to sizing logos and getting the jobs to the same proportions also getting colors exactly right. Again here he excels.

He said painting a high quality bicycle was an art form with regard to different materials that you have to work with and the demands placed on it from getting it built back up to the regular abuse it receives. It not only has to look great it, has to stand up to a lot. After talking to him you realise it is more about what he expects and the high standard he demands from himself that counts.

Morgan Mcarthur, a customer of Walter’s sums up what seems to be apparent here. He has had three bikes custom painted by Walter. “The first was on a project bike, a Corima track bike, which Walter painted in black. The design of this is breath taking and it shines like a grand piano! I don’t ride this bike; I just look at it and after a year it still takes my breath away. Walter also revived an old favorite, a steel Greg Lemond bike in apple red. I get miles of smiles out of my new bike. That candy colour is magic in the sunshine. Most recently I had a custom bike built by Johnny Foster. Walter went all out on this one. He has painted two-tone ghost flames on a black background. Frankly, people should pay to see this bike. Words cannot describe how grouse it looks. Amazingly enough, I gave Walter some pictures I had taken from a website and turned him loose with the paint gun. His work exceeded my expectations; no bike has to be ordinary when you have a Thorburn paint job!”

I asked Walter what is involved in getting a paint job to him. He said it needs to be completely stripped of componentry put in a cycle boxes and couriered to him with full contact details and what is required. This would be on top of consultation before hand. With most jobs he repaints, customers have generally used there preferred cycle shop and had them disassemble the bike and on send it from there. It’s all about making it as hassle free for the customer as possible. Because there can be so much variance between what is required between jobs so can the price. Standard colour paint jobs start at $345. A full on custom can exceed the $700 mark. Walter says that jobs can take anything from 7hrs up to 20 hrs for one offs so you can appreciate the time involved. Turn around time can be in the range of 10-20 days although with pre booking with regard to those of us with only one bike to ride this can be brought down it really depends on the extent of the work that is required on the bike.