I don't mean to disparage anyone's work, but I was struck by one comment in Paul Williams's recent post:
Paul wrote: <snip> Although XXXX did a lovely job the paint chips very easily. <snip>. ++++++++++++++++++++++ What little I think I know I learned from Les Lunas, a great painter back then. He and I built a proper (?) paint shed in our NJ back yard, and he and my wife Susan painted some bikes there, mostly in Imron (with all the proper protection. Having a beard, I did not paint: couldn't get a proper mask fit, and didn't have positive preassure breathing air).
Les was a fanatic about surface preparation and priming. Les firmly believed that this was by far the most important part of a lasting paint job. Once we started working with the iron phosphate surface prep, it was flat-out illegal to touch the frame w/o gloves that were impervious to skin oils. The phosphate etches just a bit, giving "tooth" for the primer to adhere. If that is done right, chipping is unlikely to be a problem: chips don't come off the surface of the steel, and it's unlikely that a matched primer-paint system will delaminate.
On more than one occasion, Les sprayed a spot of Imron of reasonable thickness onto a plastic or other non-adhering surface. Once you pulled it off the surface, it was amazing how flexible the paint itself is when dry. I remember bending to maybe a 1 mm. radius w/o cracks.
Ever since, I've felt that paint chips are likely to reflect shortcuts in frame prep. It's affected one of my bikes, done by a very reputable group, and always disappoints.
Again, w/o doing any comparisons, I don't think I've seen a chip on my Weigle, and it doesn't get babied. I'd expect Peter to be scrupulous, and from what he told me about the paint on my bike - his former personal one - I believe it to be the case.
Your mileage may vary.
harvey sachs
mcLean va