Can anyone give me websites about powder coating aluminum mtb frames?

I seem to remember seeing Al frames that were powder coated on the market. I once had an Al frame I wanted to repaint and looked into powder coating. I wasn't told anything about altering the integrity, but was warned that once I did this, I wouldn't be able to repaint it again as the 'paint' is really an epoxy that melts and bonds to the metal.





This is more of a followup on your first question, but you get more points for being the first to answer.





I'm not an expert in materials, metallurgy, or finite element analysis, but I've been reading and talking about frame design for over 20 years - here's my take on it.





I think the reason the motorcycle manufacturers are hesitant to condone powder coating is that their products are designed to go though repeated heating and cooling when bolted to a rigid surface. If the part were heated up without such support, warpage could occur, minute enough to not be noticeable until the part is mounted and run at the high engine temps, but then either cracking or warping which could result in engine failure if it were a crank case or water pump component.





Bike frames don't have this problem. The welding process puts the joint through temperatures high enough to melt the aluminum and form the bond. Then the frame forms a rigid structure which is designed to be supportive unto itself. If the entire frame is then heated though a powder coating process, the structure should remain rigid, and the characteristics of the metal (ductility, tensile strength, modulus of elasticity) should remain unchanged as the temps are no where near what aluminum can handle with out altering the 'matrix'.





REmember, most shops that do this work have _NO_ experience with bicycles. I once had a steel fork from my Basso GAP chrome plated by a shop that specialized in automotive work. He did it cheap because he wouldn't guarantee the work. It came out beautiful, and he said that was some of the best quality material and workmanship he had seen - referring to the fork, not his work. That was 20 years ago and it still looks great.





The point is, most shops that specialize in automotive work are afraid of bicycles because they think they are all cheap shee-ite. They really have no idea of the amount of time and energy that went into research and development of the metals and structure of the modern bicycle.





Of course, I could be completely wrong on this, but I think it's at least worth discussion.





Sorry, I don't know of any specific powder coating facilities, but if you do some research on frame builder in your area, they most likely would be able to turn you on to someone they know.