Powdercoating complete wheels

[Knobblywobbly]

I was in a shop a week or so ago chatting about having my rims powdercoated. The owner showed me a TL125 which he uses for offroading, and pointed out the front wheel. He had powdercoated the complete wheel without stripping it down (obviously removed the tyres and bearings). It looked great! I've never heard of it being done this way before but the guy said that he did quite a lot of them.

So I'm giving serious thought to having this done to my wheels, and at £45-ish per wheel it's cheaper than a new set of spokes. I know I'll have to make sure my spokes are all tight as I won't be able to adjust them once the powdercoating has been done (without cracking the powdercoating around the nipples) - can anyone think of any other downside to doing this?

[Lutin]

I'm sure people do get their entire wheel powdercoated and are happy with the results, but personally I wouldn't.

Maybe it's just me, but you can cover a LOT of sins with powdercoating.

[StumpyFingers]

I would consider getting the rims and Hub power coated but I would replace the spokes with stainless and keep them visible, rust and rot under the coating cannot be seen and could lend itself to a serious accident.

[AIRWOLF]

I met a guy when i was working in holland who renovates/collects classic motocross bikes, most of his wheels were done this way. Mostly they were done in clear, and looked really good. He said they held up to racing ok. and were easy to clean. . . . Its something i would consider.