# CAAD frames and corrosion?



## miataeric (Jun 4, 2013)

Hey everyone, I have a new-to-me ~2004 CAAD 7 bike that I've only had for about a week. This is my first road bike, and first foray back into cycling really since the late 90's. This bike came from SOCAL, and is painted in Helen's Cycles team livery. I've noticed some paint bubbling under the bottom bracket, and a couple other places as well. 

I'm an aircraft structural mechanic/NDI tech by trade, so I know the signs of corrosion when I see them. I'm more curious how common corrosion was on these frames, and how much of an effect it had on them, given the very thin tubing?


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## Todd769 (Feb 21, 2009)

Since your bike has a special paint job and not a factory paint job could be a defect in the paint?! I'm no expert you should have that looked at by someone. Would not be good if you were flying down a steep hill and your frame gave out!!!


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## miataeric (Jun 4, 2013)

Thanks for the reply. From my understanding, this was a factory paint job by Cannondale, for the Helen's Cycles team, much like other factory team paint jobs.


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## Randy99CL (Mar 27, 2013)

I wouldn't be crazy paranoid but I would chip off some of the paint under the BB and see what the tubes look like. Is is just surface corrosion or deeply pitted?
Obviously, SoCal could mean salty air.

Take it to a Cannondale dealer and ask what he thinks.

If it were mine I'd probably walnut or soda blast the paint off and have it powder coated if the tubes look ok.

Edit: I'd take out the seatpost to make sure it's not corroded into the frame. Maybe take off the fork and BB to check them and see if their is any corrosion inside the tubes.


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## miataeric (Jun 4, 2013)

It just so happens, that due to the nature of my job, I work right next door to a paint shop (military), and at least one of the guys there also does auto body and paint on his own. It wouldn't be hard to take it in and have the paint down there chemically stripped, so I could see what was going on. It crossed my mind to have them chemically strip the whole frame so I could do my thing on the welds and rest of the frame, then have them paint it back up, or clear coat the bare aluminum, or powdercoat it.


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## oldcannondale (Jul 23, 2011)

miataeric said:


> Hey everyone, I have a new-to-me ~2004 CAAD 7 bike that I've only had for about a week. This is my first road bike, and first foray back into cycling really since the late 90's. This bike came from SOCAL, and is painted in Helen's Cycles team livery. I've noticed some paint bubbling under the bottom bracket, and a couple other places as well.
> 
> I'm an aircraft structural mechanic/NDI tech by trade, so I know the signs of corrosion when I see them. I'm more curious how common corrosion was on these frames, and how much of an effect it had on them, given the very thin tubing?


Since you are in the aviation industry, you will recognize cumuliform corrosion, rather than a chemical strip, I would recommend a light bead or soda blast of the affected area of the BB, then a vinegar wash of the aluminum or alodine, followed by zinc chromate primer. Be careful with the ZCP, I would use it in an open area, I would also take the sharp edges off of those cable rubs, don't go crazy, just take off the sharp edges, and good luck matching the paint, but it is on the BB. Same for the cable guide, all aluminum will oxidize, so a good anti corrosion treatment is always a good idea. It seems like I recall a product named Boeshield, that we sprayed in wings and tailcones where we were unable to reach??? oldcannondale
Oh, and I have two CAAD 7s, so I definitely think they are great!


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