Scratched carbon fiber

[jprausch]

Hi there, I just scratched my brand new carbon fiber frame. I rested the bike against a wall and turned around to grab something and it fell over and scratched the downtube and just below the seat post. Was wondering if you could help out and say if it looks like just cosmetic damage or it could have damaged the carbon fiber.

The bike in question is a Giant Defy Advanced 1.

 

[I like Skol]

Looks cosmetic to me. Bet you don't do it again....

 

[PaulSB]

Depending on how deep it is you may be able to disguise this to an extent. A friend recently leaned his bike against mine with the inevitable outcome - a one inch scratch on the carbon fork. I also had some scuffs on the top tube caused by a similar issue to yours. My scuffs look shallower than yours. The paint on mine is solid grey.

Using a clear car restorative polish I've almost polished out the scratch and to a lesser extent the scuffs.

On another black bike I successfully restored deeper scratches with a black restorative car filler product. This built up very thin layers by applying, leave to dry, polish off, repeat till the scratch is filled and finish off with a few costs of clear shiny nail polish.

If you try this the crucial point is to work very carefully building up each layer at a time and polishing off each time. If you slap it on in the hope of filling the scratch in one go you'll get a lumpy and very obvious finish. Be prepared to do this 5-10 times!!

 

[Illaveago]

It looks like you've just scratched the paint layer .

 

[cougie uk]

Cosmetic. Don't worry about it.

 

[jprausch]

Thank you very much for the replies, I've heard that filling with a clear coat nail lacquer is one way to ensure no further damage from any type of liquid. What would you all recommend?

 

[jprausch]

Looks cosmetic to me. Bet you don't do it again....

Thanks for the reply, yea I don't plan on doing that again, as all say the first scratch is the hardest.

I have read that a layer of top coat nail lacquer would be able to cover this. Would that be a good idea?

 

[jprausch]

Cosmetic. Don't worry about it.

Thanks for the reply, I have read that a layer of top coat nail lacquer would be able to cover this. Would that be a good idea?

 

[ianrauk]

Thanks for the reply, yea I don't plan on doing that again, as all say the first scratch is the hardest.

I have read that a layer of top coat nail lacquer would be able to cover this. Would that be a good idea?

Yep, its what I used on a scratch I had in my CF. Worked ok.
If you can find a nail polish the same colour as your frame, dab a little on the scratch first to take the edge off it.

In regards to my scratch, my bike wasn't even 2 hours old. Picked it up from the bike shop, rode it home. Went to take the bike in through the conservatory, the wind decided to help the door close.... on my bike.

 

[PaulSB]

Thanks for the reply, I have read that a layer of top coat nail lacquer would be able to cover this. Would that be a good idea?

Yes, it will do the job. Build it up in thin layers.

 

[jprausch]

Yep, its what I used on a scratch I had in my CF. Worked ok.
If you can find a nail polish the same colour as your frame, dab a little on the scratch first to take the edge off it.

In regards to my scratch, my bike wasn't even 2 hours old. Picked it up from the bike shop, rode it home. Went to take the bike in through the conservatory, the wind decided to help the door close.... on my bike.

Damn wind!

What exactly do you do to make sure that the polish at least looks half decent in the end? Do you clean it up with a nail polish remover or just leave the thin layers on top?

 

[jprausch]

Yes, it will do the job. Build it up in thin layers.

What exactly do you do to make sure that the polish at least looks half decent in the end? Do you clean it up with a nail polish remover or just leave the thin layers on top?

 

[PaulSB]

What exactly do you do to make sure that the polish at least looks half decent in the end? Do you clean it up with a nail polish remover or just leave the thin layers on top?

My first comment is to be very careful and work on an area that's not easly visible. My, approach has been to clean with white spirit, using the brush supplied with the lacquer load a tiny amount on the brush and gently brush or drop it in to the scratch. Leave to dry. When it's dry run your finger over the area hopefully it will be smooth, if you feel a dip add a little more, if you feel a bump remove using lacquer remover and try again. Your main problem will be using too much.

Please do be careful

 

[jprausch]

My first comment is to be very careful and work on an area that's not easly visible. My, approach has been to clean with white spirit, using the brush supplied with the lacquer load a tiny amount on the brush and gently brush or drop it in to the scratch. Leave to dry. When it's dry run your finger over the area hopefully it will be smooth, if you feel a dip add a little more, if you feel a bump remove using lacquer remover and try again. Your main problem will be using too much.

Please do be careful

Thanks for the reply, if there is too much on the scratch can you not just smooth out the lacquer with the remover or does that harm the integrity of the lacquer?

 

[PaulSB]

Thanks for the reply, if there is too much on the scratch can you not just smooth out the lacquer with the remover or does that harm the integrity of the lacquer?

I don't know the answer to that. I suspect the remover would take off all the lacquer.

An alternative and possibly better approach could be to use a car polish designed to remove minor scratches.

I use Zymol on my car and it works very well. My car is a silver metallic blue and your bike looks to be either metallic or pearlescent.

I have used this successfully on my Cervelo. Minor scratches disappear and deeper ones well disguised.

Zymol is made from natural products so the potential for damage to paintwork is minimal. Plus being sold as a car polish means it must have been rigourously tested on paint.