Carbon frames and custom paint jobs are where a proper automotive painter earns their keep. DentDash paints bike frames using the same wet-spray process we use on cars — colour-matched, sprayed thin, finished under lacquer — and it's the correct process for carbon fibre and any bike where a powder-coat oven isn't safe. We're in Tiverton and cover Mid Devon, so you don't have to courier a carbon frame across the country to a specialist.
Carbon-Safe Preparation
Carbon fibre is layered composite — it doesn't like heat, and it doesn't like aggressive chemical strippers eating into the resin. Our prep is entirely mechanical: light hand sanding to key the existing clear coat, spot-fill any dings, and clean the surface for primer. No caustic strippers, no oven, no risk to the layup or to bonded joints. Once prepped, the frame goes through the same primer / colour / lacquer stack we use on cars, all at room temperature.
Custom Colour Options
Because wet spray uses liquid paint out of a gun, every automotive colour code and every custom mix is on the table:
- Solid colours — factory car codes, matte, satin or gloss
- Metallics and pearls with a proper depth to the flake
- Candy and pearl top-coats over metallic bases
- Two-tone splits with hand-masked hard lines
- Fades and airbrushed transitions between colours
- Hand-masked graphics, panels and stripes
- Re-created original decals and brand logos, laid under the lacquer
Why Wet Spray Beats Powder Coating for Carbon and Custom
Powder coating is a factory-floor process. Powder is charged, sprayed dry, then baked on in an oven at 150–200°C. It's durable and it's cheap (£40–£145) — but the finish is thick, faintly textured, and the heat is a hard no for carbon, e-bikes and any bonded aluminium construction. It also can't do fades or two-tones the way wet spray can, because you can't blend two dry powders together on the frame.
Wet spray cures cold, lays on thinly, and can be blended with the gun. That's why every high-end car finish, every candy paint job, every fade you've ever admired is wet spray. It's the right process for a frame you actually care about.
What We Paint
- Carbon road, gravel and cyclocross frames
- Carbon and alloy full-suspension mountain bike frames
- Custom-colour respraying on steel and aluminium frames
- Restoration work on classic and retro frames
- One-off custom projects — team liveries, tribute paint, personal builds
Pricing
- Basic industrial powder coating (comparison only): £40–£145
- Our wet-spray single colour on a standard frame: £150–£300
- Full-suspension mountain bike frame: around £350
- E-bike frame (extra masking around battery/motor): from £225
- Carbon and custom work — fades, two-tone, hand-masked graphics, re-created decals: £650–£1,000+
Turnaround for custom work is typically a couple of weeks — hand-masked graphics and fades take real bench time. Exact price is confirmed from WhatsApp photos and a chat about the design.
Local Collect & Return
Couriering a carbon frame is a bad time — heavy packaging, expensive insurance and real risk of transit damage. DentDash collects and returns within 25 miles of Tiverton, covering Exeter, Crediton, Cullompton, Wellington, Honiton, Bampton, South Molton, Witheridge and the rest of Mid and East Devon. Drop-off at our Tiverton workshop is also welcome, 7 days a week, 7am–8pm.
Get a Custom Quote
WhatsApp photos of your frame plus a reference image or description of the colour/design to 07572 114436. We'll come back with an honest written quote, a turnaround, and any advice on making the design work on that specific frame.