Electrophoretic Clearcoat
We listened to our customers and the message was loud and clear: They want their RAW-finished bikes to continue to look amazing for longer.
Wet paint and anodizing aren’t an option. We never want to cover the pure awesomeness of the CNC machined surface. So we created an area in our factory and invested in industry-leading equipment that can offer a long-term solution. A unique and innovative surface treatment system.
Going Electric – This is NOT anodizing
After extensive studying and testing, we chose to go with Electrophoretic Clearcoat. Something you haven’t heard about before? That’s not surprising, because its use in the bike industry is unique and as far as we know, has never been done before.
This type of surface treatment is mostly used in industries whose applications have to resist mechanical strain and environmental impacts like salt. It’s also commonly used in the jewelry industry. The coating system has a hard surface and completely clear looks the same as the RAW finish.
As the name suggests, the process involves electricity and exposing the processed part to different solutions. First, the surface is cleared of aluminum oxide and other materials present in the alloy, like zinc, copper, and magnesium. Then an electrical circuit is made between the electrodes and the parts being processed.
When voltage is introduced to the solution, the clearcoat attaches to the surface of the parts. Finally, the parts are cleaned and placed in a low-temperature oven to remove any moisture and residue left over.
The resulting finish is durable, and impressively only a few microns in thickness. High-tolerance parts like bearing races and threads are also completely unaffected by the process.
Environment-Friendly Solution
As with our in-house CNC manufacturing process, we wanted to keep our environmental impact as a high priority and as low as possible. In general, the business of surface coating involves chemicals of the worst type, and we wanted to stay with the most environmentally friendly option possible.
When it comes to green factors, electrophoretic clearcoat ticks all the boxes. As it’s a fully closed system it does not involve any heavy or toxic chemicals and all wastewater is securely stored in tanks and recycled later.
The whole treatment is done in-house, so it also gives us complete control of the processes and by-products.
Raising the Standard
All CNC machined frames will have the new clear coat Electrophoretic lacquer applied as a standard procedure. We call this Raw Clear.
Along with the standard Raw Clear lacquer with this new process, we can create colors too. Currently, we have True Gold and Storm Grey. True Gold and Storm Grey are available as additional options for all CNC-milled frames.
Custom cut and fitted frame protection tape is also included on all colored framesets as standard (True Gold and Storm Grey). Raw Clear frames do not come with protective tape.
For more information, feel free to drop us an email at service@polebicycles.com.
