Bike Powder Coating
Cost Calculator.
Price up a frame refinish before you call the shop. Choose what you are coating, how much prep it needs and the finish you want, and get a realistic 2026 quote range with every line itemised.
Figures are 2026 US shop prices and update as you type. Always get two or three written quotes: powder coating pricing varies more between shops than almost any other bike service.
How the estimate is built
Shops do not price a frame by the square foot. They price it by how many pieces go in the oven, how long the prep takes, and how many bake cycles the finish needs. This calculator follows the same four steps.
Two things move the price more than anything else: how much old finish has to come off, and how many bake cycles your colour needs. If you are watching the budget, hand the shop a bare blasted frame in a standard single colour and you will land at the bottom of the range. One warning worth repeating: never powder coat a carbon frame. The oven runs at roughly 350 to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and will damage the resin. For the full breakdown of what drives the price, and whether a DIY setup is worth it, read our bike frame powder coating price guide.
Bike powder coating cost FAQ
Most riders pay $150 to $300 to powder coat a bike frame in a single standard colour, including basic prep. Adding the fork usually pushes it to $200 to $400. Media blasting old paint adds roughly $50 to $150, and candy, metallic or two-tone finishes can take a full custom job past $600.
For a durable single-colour finish, powder coating is normally cheaper than a quality wet respray and far tougher. A professional wet paint job with primer, base, clear and colour sanding is labour heavy and often starts around $400. Powder coating wins on price and chip resistance; wet paint wins on ultra-fine graphics and very thin coats.
Yes. Powder has to bond to clean metal, so the shop will either media blast or chemically strip the frame first. Bare or freshly blasted frames cost less to process. Old powder, chrome or thick multi-layer paint is the slowest to remove and carries the highest prep charge.
Aluminium and steel are both fine. Carbon fibre is not: powder coating cures at roughly 350 to 400 degrees Fahrenheit, which can damage the resin in a carbon frame. Titanium can be coated but many owners prefer to leave it bare or brushed.
Deliver the frame completely bare. Remove the bottom bracket, headset cups, seatpost, derailleur hanger, cable guides where removable, and every bearing. Anything left on either gets masked at an extra charge or gets ruined in the oven.
Actual coating and curing takes under an hour, but shops batch jobs by colour. Expect five to ten business days for a standard single colour, and two to three weeks for candy, two-stage or custom graphic work that needs multiple bake cycles.
It makes sense on a steel frame worth keeping: a good frame plus $250 of coating gives you a bike that looks new and resists rust for years. It rarely makes sense on a low-value department store frame, where the coating can cost more than the bike.