Advice on cleaning bikes frames

[panache_mode]

Originally Posted by ultraman6970

Black is a really complicated color to paint and finish because all the surface problems will show up in paint big time.



I will assume the clear is still there intact ok? hard to tell from a picture, need to see it to be honest.



But this is what I would do... wet sand with 600 or 1200 grit sand paper, just to get that area clean of whatever is stuck over the surface, then I would polish with meguiars mirror glaze 85 (m8532) diamond cut and then fiinish with meguiars next wax (or whatever is called).



Hope this helps.

I would say that the clear coat is very much intact sorry I just don't have a better photo on me at the moment. Bike is in transit to my next work location. Today when I was packing it up for shipping got me thinking about it.

I'll definitely look into mentioned compounds.


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[m_sasso]

If the clear coat is intact do not sand it, use a clay bar to clean and then the mirror glaze to polish followed by a protective wax to seal.

[dgauthier]

Car care products for clearcoat paints work great for bikes too. A damaged paint surface looks like a little mountain range under a microscope. To restore shine you rub the paint with abrasives until the surface is uniformly flat. Since you are removing paint the key is to remove only as much as necessary.

If you start with harsh abrasives or sanding you risk cutting through the clear coat completely. It's much safer to do the whole job with the mildest finishing polish. It will take a bit longer, but you'll be assured of removing the least amount of paint while getting the highest amount of gloss. If there are any hard water mineral deposits sitting on top of the paint the polishing process will remove these as well.

Something like Meguiars Ultimate Polish is a "last step" polish, and will remove surface imperfections slowly and safely. In general stay away from products with "compound" in the name, as they tend to contain coarser abrasives.

[stephenmarklay]

As above I treat it like the paint on my car since it is like the paint on my car.

I use Meguiars professional products with good results.

[wgp]

Originally Posted by rpm

Motorex Bike Shine.

I love this stuff, but it appears to have disappeared from the US market :-(

Only listing I could find was a bottle for $49 on eBay!!!

Pledge is great on Ti - use it on my Moots, but the Motorex sparkles up my carbon frames.

[ultraman6970]

This is a good advice, I haven't use a a clay bar ever but what the clay bar does is to remove all the junk that is incrusted into the paint job, that pretty much is the same than wet sanding but less abrasive. The other thing is that the clay is like a large bar of soap and it may not fit in that area. Thats the main reason I do not use the clay, it doesnt fit in some places.

Originally Posted by m_sasso

If the clear coat is intact do not sand it, use a clay bar to clean and then the mirror glaze to polish followed by a protective wax to seal.

[m_sasso]

Ultraman6970 just so you are aware since you haven't had experience with a clay bar.

Clay bars are often sold in a bar "form" however to use the clay itself and refresh the contact cleaning surface of the clay, the clay is kneaded like a dough, think play dough.

The clay itself can be shaped into any form and size and will conform to any bicycle tube shape. The larger the surface area of the clay in contact with the surface to be cleaned, the faster the cleaning process however very small surface areas can be cleaned with small or very small pieces of clay. The clay will fit into almost any area and that is the beauty of using it on a bicycle!

The clay will pick up and remove most paint contaminants, I have a Mothers bar that was given to me almost a decade ago that I still use occasionally, properly stored in an air tight container it will last a very long time unless it becomes contaminated with pickup and pollutants.

A bit of a commercial but some good tricks and tips to using a clay bar https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqW1nzgyMNA

[ultraman6970]

Did not know that, next buy is the darn clay then

[johnniecakes]

Mother's car wash, a good drying, Pedro's Bike Lust and a buffing with an old piece of flannel

[stephenmarklay]

Clay is out and nanoskin is in.

Just saying.

[Louis]

I suppose one of the benefits of having a $125 Nashbar frame as my daily driver is that paper towels and some Simple Green every few months or so is good enough.

[Ti Designs]

I don't understand the question. What is this bike cleaning you speak of???

[soulspinner]

Originally Posted by johnniecakes

Mother's car wash, a good drying, Pedro's Bike Lust and a buffing with an old piece of flannel

Pedros works well and kinda like the smell

[stephenmarklay]

Originally Posted by Ti Designs

I don't understand the question. What is this bike cleaning you speak of???

It has to do with marginal gains from the other thread

[dgauthier]

Originally Posted by m_sasso

A bit of a commercial but some good tricks and tips to using a clay bar https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqW1nzgyMNA

Beware Ultraman et al, of using a clay bar as shown in this video if your paint is already in good condition.

If you scrub a clay bar back and forth over the paint every piece of contamination pulled off the finish will leave hundreds of scratches that will need to be polished out afterward. That's why the guy keeps talking about "polishing the car right after" using the clay bar.

For paint in excellent condition you use a clay bar like an eraser. If your paint is clean and feels like glass, but there's just a few dots of contamination stuck to the surface here and there, you mist the surface and dab lightly with the clay bar on each individual bit of gunk using short strokes. This shears the dot of contamination off the paint without dragging it around and leaving a huge scratch.

This is admittedly more about cars, but hey, the same would apply to a bicycle.