Way to fix scratched paint?

[westtexas]

Of course I knew this would happen eventually, but not a month into owning my all carbon Cannondale. Another bike knocked into it and it hit a cement pillar at our favorite coffee shop. The frame itself is ok but the paint is scratched in 3 places along the top tube. Not too major of a scratch, each is less than 0.5cm, but I wondered what is the next step in protecting my significant investment.

I have heard washing with mild soap and water, dry thoroughly and apply clear nail polish over the blemishes is one way to go. I routinely clean and inspect my bike with a thorough going over every week so I will know if it develops any further problems, but I want to protect the frame underneath the blemishes before any problems develop.

Thanks in advance!

[Biciclista]

some scratches can be buffed out. Take it to a bike shop?

[Owlie]

Make sure the carbon underneath isn't damaged. (Get a magnifying glass.) Then you can get nail polish (clear or matching if you can find it) to paint over or fill in the scratches. (Basically, to fill them in, you apply thin coats with some pointy object until it's flush with the original paint surface.) My old LBS suggested model paint, but I don't know if I'd use it on carbon (my bike is aluminum).

[Seajay]

If you were REALLY obsessive....

600 grit sandpaper to feather out the edges
paint or polish
600 grit wet sand
paint again
600 grit wet sand
1000 grit wet sand
Buff out with 3M Finesse It
Wax

Um....that's what I've HEARD. :o

Model paint won't hurt the carbon. BTW

[westtexas]

Oooh, did you get the pink and black C'dale?

:):D

Yes :) When I get my new tires tomorrow (hopefully) I will finally post a picture. Too bad I've already scratched it!

[westtexas]

If you were REALLY obsessive....

600 grit sandpaper to feather out the edges
paint or polish
600 grit wet sand
paint again
600 grit wet sand
1000 grit wet sand
Buff out with 3M Finesse It
Wax

Um....that's what I've HEARD. :o

Model paint won't hurt the carbon. BTW

Hahah... not sure how obsessive I am, but good to know that the carbon underneath is going to be fairly safe no matter what I do...

[kermit]

I had a Trek mountain bike that got scratched and after calling Trek they mailed me touch up paint. Hopefully the pink is an easy match if you want to go with model paint. Make sure you check the carbon but at least clear coat to protect the bike. Photos!!!!!

[westtexas]

Did you end up with 53 or 56?

And how do you like it? :D:D:D

What kind of tires are you using? I just switched to Hutchinson Intensive a couple of months ago. They look a lot like Gator Skins, at least in pictures.

I guess you could get pink-walled tires! That would look cool with your bike. Orange-walled didn't feel quite right for mine, so I haven't done that. Orange is so flashy to begine with. I've put some white accents on the bike recently, looks nice:)

Did you go with Ultegra? Mine has 105. Works for me, and the 2008 with Ultegra when they were in the stores was about 3700. The women's retail actually decreased in 2009. The amount listed on Bikepedia for the 2008 feminine 105 is wrong. They listed the men's by mistake. About 450 difference in the 105. The women's bikes were so high. Got a good deal on mine though. End of the year.

Can't wait to see a picture. Definitely have a lot of happiness attached to this bike:)!

I went with the 53 and it fits like a dream. Still haven't cut the fork yet as I haven't decided how high to put the handlebars. I built it with Ultegra and the bike shop cut me a pretty good deal on everything, I just it for just over 3k.

I'm using the old tires from my other bike right now, but tonight I got a slice flat. So glad I ordered some Vredestein tires which should be here tomorrow. As soon as I get those on the bike I will definitely post some pics. The tires are just plain black as matching pinks is incredibly hard. The bike is much more of a hot pink, kind of like pepto bismol, and less a baby pink. I've had some success with Bontrager's pink but it's not quite an exact match. I've got Mavic Ksyrium Elites for wheels with the black bladed spokes so I think all black will look pretty sweet. It's got some white cable housing and I just picked up that white Selle Italia seat that was for sale on TE so it's looking pretty good.

Luckily, the paint scratch didn't take the paint off, it's just smudged a bit and I could get the little flap back over the spot. It's in the silver portion and the black portion of the bike, so no worries on matching that pink. I think I'm going to give it a go with the clear polish tomorrow when I put the new tires, etc. on... and then I will post some pics :) :)

[westtexas]

The pink is pretty sharp and I do get noticed A LOT. My guy says everyone is always checking me out, but I find that doubtful. It is kinda fun to pass men at 20 mph into the wind though on my pink and black wonder. A lot of them try to speed up to catch up! I did get a "Nice bike!" from a chick in a car parked at our 7-11 stop in Odessa yesterday, which was the first time anyone not on a bike has said anything to me. Definitely not a fru-fru bike. I feel kind of silly teedling around town on it after my guy when he is out running (which I don't do), because it has a more "serious" look to it.

As far as the fit goes... I knew from my other bike (a 51) that it was too compact/short for me because of a professional fitting I had done on it when I was having some groin-area pain (the seat was too high, apparently). It had to have a longer stem put on it and I still felt really cramped and hunched up on it. The men's 54 was almost too long - I really had to reach for the bars and by the end of the ride, my back hurt a lot (went 30 miles for my test ride). So I figured the 53 would be a good compromise. Luckily I am a pretty averaged sized woman at 5'6", with a long torso and short legs, so the guys at the shop had a pretty good idea that it would fit me. I've got a pretty long reach as I've got fairly long, skinny arms, but I did have to raise the bars a bit and tilt the shifters slightly more towards me to get the bike to be really comfortable. Eventually I plan on lowering the bars again for a more aggressive ride, but probably not for a while. I'm hoping to go back to Houston in a while and take my bike with me so I can have the guy who fit me last time do it again. However, in the meantime I have no pain (now that I figured out I need thin chamois shorts, like tri shorts, or my legs go numb) and no complaints. It's such a slick, smooth ride, especially with zipp carbon bars!

[NadiaMac]

my carbon fork was recently scratched (casualty of rubbing against another bike on the rear car rack) and my BF rubbed it down with car wax and the scratch is basically almost invisible. It took a ton of rubbing, he said. He got the idea from a bike builder on a different forum. Not sure of the pros/cons of this verses nail polish but it was pretty easy and no sanding was required. good luck fixing up your bike!

[westtexas]

Actually, I was able to basically rub out two of the scratches with polish as you described, Nadia. The third was the worst and I just put some clear nail polish over it. Unless you know it's there, you don't really see it, so I'm not too worried about it as long as the frame doesn't crack!