# Need help with C50 chips!



## mnmasotto (Jul 8, 2010)

I need help!! I accidently dropped another bicycle onto my Colnago C50 frame. The frame is clear coat over carbon, color code NS03. All Colnago factory original. I want to touch up the chips so they do not grow or flake any more clear coat. The three chips are about 2-3mm in diameter. The underlying carbon fiber is good. Any ideas?
Thanks Mark


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## fabsroman (Jul 14, 2006)

mnmasotto said:


> I need help!! I accidently dropped another bicycle onto my Colnago C50 frame. The frame is clear coat over carbon, color code NS03. All Colnago factory original. I want to touch up the chips so they do not grow or flake any more clear coat. The three chips are about 2-3mm in diameter. The underlying carbon fiber is good. Any ideas?
> Thanks Mark


They aren't going to chip any further unless you really try to make them chip. I had an issue with some clear coat chips from chain suck on my Cristallo, which is also NS03, and guess what worked, a Sharpie. Once the white telltale sign of the chip is blackened, there is nothing really to show that there is a chip there I haven't had the chip spread any further than it initially was, and this was 3 years ago. They, being the bike shop that installed my headset, scraped the crap out of the drive side of the fork. I wet sanded the area down a little so the white area was gone, and it hasn't gotten any worse in 4 years and somewhere around 6,000 miles.

If you use the Sharpie and don't like the effect, make sure you wipe it off immediately.

Once my frames get old enough and beat up enough, I am going to send them to Calfee for a re-spray of the clear coat. Supposedly, they sand the frame down, but not far enough to touch the base paint, and then they re-spray it. I believe the cost is below $500, which isn't all that bad.

Edit: Might as well add the hard way too. If there is loose clear coat, take it off. Then, use some clear enamel nail polish, but don't put it on very thick. Just try to get it to fill in the chipped area. Then, wet sand the spot down until it is nice and even. After that, use some plastic polish, found at your local automotive store, to restore the shine to the clear coat.


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