Some friends suggested that powder coat would be significantly heavier than paint. I am not particularly concerned with weight, and other than the extra 12 pounds around my mid-section, i don't really believe that decreasing weight will make riding more efficient. There's good solid evidence for that from as noble an authority as John Schubert.
In any case, i figured i had the opportunity to do a little before and after test. So after i stripped my frame, but before i strapped it on my back to ride it to the powder coat shop, i weighed it. 4.6 pounds.
The expert at Seattle Powder Coat looked at the beaten up frame, covered with stickers and pointed out to me that Bianchi had not painted it, but had powder coated it. And he said it wasn't a very good job. The new powder coating, he said, would be more durable.
When i got it back, it looked fantastic. They really do a great job there and are very friendly. They are not cyclists, but understand bicycles and were very helpful. I will keep track of how durable the new coat of Sparkle Burgundy turns out to be.
I strapped it on my back with innnertubes, hopped on Kent's Octocog and rode it 5 miles up the hill home.
The first thing i did when i got it home was weigh it again.
4.6 pounds. No difference at all
The scale i used went to tenths of a pound, so that's a maximum error of about 1 and a half ounces on each weighing, so you figure, worst case, i could be off by as much as 3 oz on the combined calculation. Nevertheless the answer was quite clear. For me, for this bike. NO DIFFERENCE.
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