When another friend caught wind of my customization project for JS, she wanted one for herself, but purple. Royal purple. I was more than happy to oblige. A royal purple frame is not easy to acquire, but I had a women's frame laying around my garage that fit her perfectly, so I got to work.
We talked about pricing for spray painting versus powder coating the frame. Since cost was a high priority for her, we decided spray paint was the best choice. To set up the best surface for painting I decided to strip the rusted hot pink powder coat with a sandblaster to start from scratch with a bare frame. The finish on the metal was not what I expected. The bead blast was too aggressive and left a fine texture on the bare steel frame that showed through the final paint job. Fortunately, the textured surface turned out to be unique in a good way and my friend was very pleased.
I was able to utilize the same groupset selection from JS' bike customization project on this build but was able to anticipate the issues with the brake caliper reach and bought compatible calipers from the start. The experience of spray painting a frame is not something I would repeat. The cost savings was eaten up by enormous amounts of prep work and painting time required to have a durable paint job. If a custom color is desired on the next project, it will be powder coated. Despite this, my friend was incredibly happy with such a unique bike that bridged the gap between old and new so well.