Ever wondered how to get that sheen back on your once-sparkly gloss-painted bike? Perhaps a little heel rub or bike lean gone wrong has left a scratch in the surface of your paint?
In many cases, all it takes is a few basic supplies, a little elbow grease, and a bucket of patience. And to show you how, we enlisted Steve Gardner of Velocraft in Melbourne. Formerly known as Bikes by Steve, VeloCraft has quickly become one of the most sought-after bicycle paint shops in Australia. If you’ve ever seen the paint on a Prova or Bastion you’ll understand why.
A quick disclaimer: This is just a quick guide to the process and includes tips used to add a mirror-like shine to gloss painted frames. The same technique and process applies to remove superficial scratches and rub marks. It’s important to note that the instructions in this article do not apply to satin and matte finishes.
To read the full feature, visit https://cyclingtips.com/2021/09/how-to-polish-gloss-paint-and-remove-scratches/
17 Comments
I was literally thinking about this when I finished my bike ride yesterday!
This man literally make it looks easy.
Now if only most modern high-end bikes didn't have a dismal amount of clear in the first place… Usually the clear layer is not even 1 mil thick. You can polish a big brand frame, but you're not compounding it very much, and definitely not sanding without cutting into the base color. We can blame mass production which causes manufacturers to only shoot one coat of clear (particularly on satin and matte), we can blame overrated weight consciousness where that extra 50 grams would effect their marketing wank ability, and we can blame money edacious companies that don't want the extra labor and materials.
I missed the closeup shots in this video to understand what kind of scratches it's about.
I have a Velocraft painted bike – I'm telling you this dude is a master craftsman! 🐜🐜🐜
Finally a real cycling tip!👍
Would appreciate more of these.
Greetings!
Closeup or before and after would have been nice
Step 1: Acquire perfectly pristine frame with no scratches.
Any solution for carbon frames to remove scratches?
What kind of polishing pad is that?
If you are sanding using 2500 and up a polish is all you need. In automotive world usually 1500 then compound out the 1500 followed by a quick polish
@CyclingTips Does this also apply for a carbon frame which has a very small paint chip (do you call it like that?)
I'd like to see this guy paint and polish a whole frame from start to finish.
What tools do you use?
any tips on how to polish it by hand?
What's the frame size for the 27.5 inch?
How can I smooth out touch up paint on my bicycle frame?
Can a polishing pad do it?
My bicycle has a powder coat finish.