Late in the spring I was contacted to see if I had any frame sets that might need a new finish by Ben’s Cycle who have some of their Milwaukee Bicycle Company stuff done in a process called “Gun Kote”. I just happened to have a pretty beat up 2007 Salsa Cycles El Mariachi that could use a bit of sprucing up, so off it went with some specific requests to be “Gun Kote” treated.
Well, the frame is on its way back and I will be building it back up and putting it back into the rotation as a test sled. Hopefully I’ll be able to put it through all sorts of situations to test the durability of this finish. The claims of how tough this stuff is are crazy. Here’s a snippet of what the website says about Gun Kote:
“(Gun Kote) is a hard, abrasion resistant coating which meets or exceeds the military specifications for protective coatings. With a pencil hardness of greater then 9H The 2400 Series will also provide a 180-degree bend to provide excellent impact resistance, lubricity (meets military dry firing specifications), heat dissipation, corrosion protection and will not attract dirt or dust.”
Sounds pretty good to me. Then it goes on to state the following:
“Outstanding corrosion protection up to 1000 salt spray tests at 5% salt. Tests performed for Armscor by the South African Navel Logistics Dept. showed Gun Kote withstanding an equivalent of a 7-year exposure. (Tests were performed on Aluminum in a salt spray chamber with 50/50 on/off time at 35 degrees C.)
Meets or exceeds Military requirements to “Resistant to Chemicals” such as, Aviation Gasoline, Grade 115/145, Jet Fuel, JP-4, Lubrication Oil, Hydraulic Fluid, Non-petroleum, Remover Paint, Epoxy Systemlene, Nitric Acid, Hydrochloric Acid, Hydrogen Peroxide, Ammonia Hydroxide, Sodium Hydroxide NaOH, Sulfuric Acid H2SO4 3%, Sodium Bisulphide, NaHS 3% and Alkaline Cleaner, Highly Chelated (ANN-RO #101). ”
Okay, so commuting on sprayed roads and submitting it to repeated nasty weather rides shouldn’t phase this frame anymore. Well……that’s the theory, anyway. I have heard other testimonials regarding the amazing finish, so I will be quite interested to find out for myself.
So, while this isn’t necessarily a 29″er specific product, there are a lot of steel 29″ers out there and maybe some of you might be in the market for a refinish. So, as this bike gets back into service, I’ll be posting updates on how the finish is holding up. Also, to make this post totally 29″er legit, here is a teaser shot of the frame courtesy of Ben’s Cycle that they took before they packed it up to send back to me.
Stay tuned for the build and a first impressions post yet this fall.
I have a few guns that have a gun-kote finish and they are not making things up, it is that tough. This finish has been, pardon the pun, bullet proof. It would be a huge upgrade from powder coating in terms of chip resistance and rust proofing.
Same here, I’ve always wondered when some of the coating technology I’ve seen in firearms would make its way over to other applications. Some of the other ones that have similar characteristics include: Ion Bond, Armor-tuff, Duracoat. Great idea – I wonder what its going to cost to redo a steel frame. I know redoing a gun costs $150- $300 depending on the process used. If they can do a bike for comparable price range, which is similar to powdercoating, it would be a great way to go.
@Henry Gillow-Wiles: Well, that’s the feedback I’ve gotten. Amazing stories of durability and resistance to weather, scratching, and what not. It’ll be interesting to see how it does on a mountain bike.
how much weight does it add (if at all), GT?
that coating would be great for fork lowers and maybe crank arms too.
Very practical application. Could be a possibility if I ever want to have my raw Sultan frame coated. Great looking panel too!
I saw your blog post on it, and was immediately intrigued. I’d really like to see it live and in person. I certainly like the idea of it. I am curious as to cost as well, and what kind of prep is required of the frame before sending it off.
How is this stuff applied? Just wondering if it could be used to coat the inside of frames, especially steel ones, to hold down rust.
@martini @Lee T: My understanding is that it coats inside and out on the frame. No prep work was required from my end. My understanding is that it is so thin, you don’t even have to mask off threads.
I’ll have more details later, but I have to say, what I hear about this Gun Kote sounds unbelievable!
I’m interested in reading more about this “South African Navel Logistics Department”, myself.
So, did they strip the paint off first or is this meant to go on over whatever already on the frame?
@Alex: The old finish was stripped off.
GT more good info. Thanks for the heads up
BTW what do you know about the “new” El Mari that didn’t show at interbike?
@agu: I have an answer for you: Gun Kote is lighter than powdercoat by a fair bit. (I’ll detail it out in my next post on it), and while it saves you some grams, it also will show up imperfections better too.
@BigChris: Thanks for the kind words. As for Salsa Cycles new version of the El Mariachi- I don’t know anything for certain. I have heard hints and rumors. From what I can put together, I know that it will be (or could be) one of the coolest deals ever to come out of Salsa Cycles.
Nice. We’ll want to know what our options are for graphics -is that panel under the coating? How much heat is involved in the process? etc.
@jimmythefly: Everything you see is Gun Kote. No “decals” in the traditional sense here and no clearcoat needed. This is an exceptional type effort. Normally these are one color deals, but Gun Kote can do some custom stuff which would be priced on a per order basis. I’ll have more details in a coming post.
Ted- can you paint over the Gun Kote if you wanted custom graphics over the base coating?
you don’t even have to mask off threads.
wow this is interesting indeed
What materials can be coated? The article above mentions Al and you mention Steel.
@chuck1971: Basically anything that can withstand the 325 degree bake on procedure required for Gun Kote. I’ll have more details in my next report. Coming next week….