# Not Impressed with Paint/Clear



## fabsroman (Jul 14, 2006)

I am still in the process of building my Cristallo, and I can honestly say that I am not at all impressed with what limited paint my NSO3 scheme has on it. I put the front wheel on the frame today, and when I took it off the clearcoat that was painted on top of the fork end came off with it, along with some of the black paint. Upon closer inspection, most of the black paint came off those dropouts with the finger nail on my thumb. I'll have to see what I can do about repainting the metal fork ends.

Now, I also noticed a scratch further up on the fork, which has me somewhat dumbfounded because the frame hasn't hit anything at all. The only thing I can think of is that it happened at the shop when I had them install the headset, or my wife bumped into it while carrying stuff into the house. Either way, I am heart broken already. What makes it even worse is that the clear, like the paint on the fork, comes off pretty easily with a finger nail.

I have also noticed a couple of places where dust stuck to the clear, and a couple of spots where the templates used to paint the colors did not come off cleanly. Not what I expected for a frame that costs several thousands of dollars. I am scared to death to clamp the rear wheel on the bike. I can only hope that the bike rides really well.

I cannot imagine what it would be like to actually wreck on this bike. I would be crying for years to come.

Anybody ever re-clear a carbon fiber frame? How about trying to wet sand out a small scratch so that it is not very noticeable?

I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight.


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## Fignon's Barber (Mar 2, 2004)

relax, my friend. Bikes are meant to have scratches,marks,dings,etc. As the italians say, this is how the bike tells it's life story. Yours has just started talking alittle sooner than some. Racing bikes are tools for a hard sport. Don't get me wrong, I clean my bikes and take care of them like they were part of the family, but "proof of use " makes a bicycle look better.
That being said, my experience with colnagos is that they glop alot of paint on the fork tips and often you need to sand it off to even get the wheel in. They also use thick heavy clear coats and when you take off the seatpost binding collar, you peel off a layer of clear coat as well. No big issue, as there are about 10 layers left! Simply put a couple of thin layers of clear nail polish over the spot, and it will last as long as the frame.
As for the paint imperfections, if that was done in taiwan, it would be " lack of quality". Because it comes from italy, it can be described as " uniqueness attainable only because of the handmade quality". Touche'.


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## TurboTurtle (Feb 4, 2004)

Fignon's Barber said:


> relax, my friend. Bikes are meant to have scratches,marks,dings,etc. As the italians say, this is how the bike tells it's life story. Yours has just started talking alittle sooner than some. Racing bikes are tools for a hard sport. Don't get me wrong, I clean my bikes and take care of them like they were part of the family, but "proof of use " makes a bicycle look better.
> That being said, my experience with colnagos is that they glop alot of paint on the fork tips and often you need to sand it off to even get the wheel in. They also use thick heavy clear coats and when you take off the seatpost binding collar, you peel off a layer of clear coat as well. No big issue, as there are about 10 layers left! Simply put a couple of thin layers of clear nail polish over the spot, and it will last as long as the frame.
> As for the paint imperfections, if that was done in taiwan, it would be " lack of quality". Because it comes from italy, it can be described as " uniqueness attainable only because of the handmade quality". Touche'.


What a load. Poor quality is poor quality. There is no excuse for bad paint on a multi-$1000 frame. - TF


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## fabsroman (Jul 14, 2006)

I wouldn't mind the scratch too much if I were the one that put it there. However, I have no story to go with it.

My Italian framed, Campagnolo component bike from 20 years ago has plenty of racing damage on it. The cranks look like they went through a war and I relate most of the scratches to specific wrecks. Right by the downtube shifters, there are a series of marks that were left when one of the shifters got bent into the downtube during a wreck. That was in a race that was held in PA on a airport runway. Way too fast of a race and absolutely nothing to split the pack up with.

I spoke to my brother this morning, who is an auto painter, and he is going to take a look at the fork for me over Thanksgiving. He said it is rather tough to make paint stick to aluminum (i.e., the metal dropouts) unless an etcher is used, so he is going to etch it first and then clear it, but he is going to mask off the dropouts where the hub is supposed to clamp on. This problem wouldn't have occurred if Colnago had masked that area to begin with. If the clear hadn't cracked from the pressure of the QR, the paint wouldn't have come off with it.

As far as the scratch on the fork is concerned, he is going to look into that too, but he isn't too sure about what he can do because wet sanding the scratch may cause the carbon fiber to not look good.

The good news is that it is just the fork, and I can always buy another one for a lot cheaper than a new frame.


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## Hardtail (Feb 4, 2003)

I wouldn't bother painting the dropouts because when you start taking the wheel on and off the paint is a "goner" anyway.


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## fabsroman (Jul 14, 2006)

The way I was thinking about painting it, was to put a little sticky circle over where the hub would contact the fork, and painting everything except for where the hub contacts the fork. I don't mind little chips here and there, but right now it looks pretty terrible with a decent amount of the paint chipped off. What is sad is that the paint chipped off of the outer side of the fork. The inside of the fork's paint is still fine.

My other option is to use a razor blade to cut a clean line from some spot above the aluminum where all the paint is still present, and strip everything from there down. Having all aluminum fork ends might look better. Heck, I don't know why Colnago even bothers painting them. The fork ends on my Denti are chrome and they are still fine after 20 years. They should just leave the bare aluminum showing and paint/clear everything above it.


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## Fignon's Barber (Mar 2, 2004)

TurboTurtle said:


> What a load. Poor quality is poor quality. There is no excuse for bad paint on a multi-$1000 frame. - TF



eeerrrhhh...you think? Did you not get the sarcasm? I appologize for not using the little sarcasm indicator, as it seemed pretty obvious.


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## mriddle (Nov 16, 2005)

*Don't sweat it*

Fabsroman-

I built a C50 last winter that I purchased from Maestro (EITA). I lost the clear coat on the fork after the first 2-3 times I removed/installed the front wheel, NO BIG DEAL. I have a Park stand that locks the fork and holds the frame under the BB, so I am constantly removing the front wheel. When the front or rear wheel is on the frame you can't see any chipping, nor has the chipping spread.

Overall the paint/finish is great, I have a few minor spots that are not perfect. I had a Pinarello prior to the C50, it had more paint and also had more stencil imperfections, but still awesome. 

Once your bike is built and you start riding it, all will be great!


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## I am The Edge (Jul 27, 2004)

i'm impressed with paint.

don't know clear...is that her sister?


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## Hardtail (Feb 4, 2003)

fabsroman said:


> The way I was thinking about painting it, was to put a little sticky circle over where the hub would contact the fork, and painting everything except for where the hub contacts the fork. I don't mind little chips here and there, but right now it looks pretty terrible with a decent amount of the paint chipped off. What is sad is that the paint chipped off of the outer side of the fork. The inside of the fork's paint is still fine.
> 
> My other option is to use a razor blade to cut a clean line from some spot above the aluminum where all the paint is still present, and strip everything from there down. Having all aluminum fork ends might look better. Heck, I don't know why Colnago even bothers painting them. The fork ends on my Denti are chrome and they are still fine after 20 years. They should just leave the bare aluminum showing and paint/clear everything above it.


The razor blade line thing sounds like the best idea to me


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## gun2head (Sep 3, 2006)

Yo Fab,

You get that paint chip prob worked out? In the old days, if I recall, many of my race bikes had that prob and we simply razor bladed them once the chips started. I'm going to pick up my new c50 this week and will probably have the same situation you got. Got some pics of the bike and the problem area?

BTW, sorry to hear about the chips anyway...it's exactly like picking up a new Ferrari and finding the same paint chips in the fender...what do you think would happen with the sale...hmmmmmmmm...let me guess.....


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## fabsroman (Jul 14, 2006)

The in-laws have been in town all week for Thanksgiving, so I didn't get much spare time. Finally got around to taking pics this evening of the bike and problem area. Hopefully, they will post without much problem.

I ended up taking a razor blade to the problem areas, which are the exterior side of the fork. Once I finished cutting the loose stuff out, it looks like the remainder of the paint is on there pretty good. Personally, I think they should keep the fork mounts and rear dropouts as aluminum so that there will be no paint chipping. In the alternative, they could prep the frame better so that the paint will stick better and they can avoid clearing over the area where the hub clamps onto the fork and rear dropouts.


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## chuckice (Aug 25, 2004)

oh my god that thing is gorgeous!


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## fabsroman (Jul 14, 2006)

Thanks. I have been struggling on the build for quite a while. Not with the actual building of the bike, but with the coordination of all the component colors. The Cinelli red and silver ram bar/stem, ram cages, and ram seatpost match the colors/carbon fiber on the frame pretty well. The Campy 2007 Record components match the carbon fiber on the frame pretty well and the Selle Italia SLR gelflow seat has red and silver stitching on it which probably isn't evident in the photo. The Campy Record Strada tubular rims, Campy 2007 black Record hubs, black DT Swiss Revolution spokes, and red sidewall black tread Tufo S33 tires should also match. I am waiting on the hubs to build the wheels. Then, I can adjust everything to fit me and I can finally start riding the bike. I started this entire process at the end of June when I started debating which frame to get.


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## JGUTZ (Dec 13, 2005)

That is a beauty of a frame. How can you delay the build? Just slap what you have on it and ride it, then take some more pics of the complete bike and post. 

Hope she rides as nice as she looks.


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## fabsroman (Jul 14, 2006)

Trust me, if I had a rear wheel that was 130mm, I would be out riding it. I have plenty of wheels that fit the front, just none for the rear. I almost broke down and spent $500 on e-bay for a set of older Campy Neutron tubulars just so I can start riding this bike. It is actually depressing to get on my 20 year old bike and go riding while this bike is sitting in the stand. If I could beg, borrow, or steal a rear wheel, I would.


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## Bocephus Jones II (Oct 7, 2004)

The way I've heard it is that the Euros are more limited in the types of clear they can use--they can't use the super-toxic stuff like the US makers can use. It tends to be a bit more dull looking.


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## fabsroman (Jul 14, 2006)

The issue here isn't with the shine of the bike, but with the prep of the bike for painting. I could care less if the clear is shiny/glossy, but I do care if the paint/clear starts to chip off the fork ends.


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## gibson00 (Aug 7, 2006)

Wow, your bike looks sweet!!!
Don't worry about the paint. I had some white paint chip off of my PR38 Worlds frame around where the front brake bolt inserts into the frame. Just a small piece. I put some nail polish clearcoat on it, and it hasn't spread. Any frame I've had almost always lost a bit of paint or clearcoat around the contact points.
Your bike looks fast!!


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## fabsroman (Jul 14, 2006)

Gibson,

I hope my bike (i.e., me) is as fast as the bike looks. The 2007 Record hubs are supposed to be shipped to me this week, but I'm not holding my breath on it.


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