matte / satin finish paint

[PaMtbRider]

What has been your experience with a matte or satin finish paint job as opposed to glossy on a bicycle? Is it as durable? Harder to keep clean? Any other pluses or minuses?

[Cicli]

I have a matte finish bike (grey). Hate the finish. Looks like hell and sort of cheap. It will be refinished next winter.
I may try hitting it with rubbing compound to attempt to put some gloss in it.
I had a matte black bike, it was a pain to keep clean and looking good.

[jwalther]

I have owned to Trek Viper Red bikes, one gloss, one matte. I find the matte finish much harder to keep clean.

[huck*this]

Had a matte black C60 and liked the matte finish. Although I got tired of the bland look. I used this product which worked great to keep it clean. Passed on the tip to the new owner of the C60 and he also loves the product.

Side tip works great for a car dash board cleaner.

http://www.chemicalguys.com/v/vspfiles/photos/SPI_995_16-2T.jpg

[uber]

I have steel frames I both gloss and matt finishes. I prefer the gloss look a bit more but they are both great. The matt is more forgiving to use touch up paint. I can't get touch up paint on the gloss to look as good.

[Matthew]

Not a fan of matte at all. Pain to clean etc. Glossy just looks better too. Hope this matte craze fades into the sunset.

[tv_vt]

So Matt, you don't like matte? :)

[Ryun]

Hated my matte finish. Special cleaner needed and absorbed dirt like crazy

[Matthew]

Nope, Matt's no fan of matte! Just looks unfinished to me. But maybe I'm weird.

[PaMtbRider]

Thanks for the feedback. When it first became popular I hated it and thought it looked like primer ready for paint. It's somewhat grown on me over the years. I think a lot depends on the bike for me. A modern carbon bike, matte is ok. Lugged steel, make mine shiny.

[Peter P.]

I have a matte finish, powdercoated Rock Lobster steel frame.

No problems with keeping the finish clean and uniform. In fact, I do no maintenance on it at all i.e., special cleaners, polishes, or waxes, except for an occasional bike wash.

[eBAUMANN]

ive had several matte finish cx frames, i think they look great.
that said, i never bother cleaning frames that are just going to get dirty again.

if you are OCD about cleaning your bike, probably best stick to gloss.

[SPOKE]

Mr Clean Magic Eraser......works very well on greasy chain stays

[Bentley]

My paint guy says to avoid matte finishes because the clear coat is a bit tricky and more likely to fail.

[lhuerta]

...just like anything else, not all matte finishes r created equally. Like mentioned above so much depends on the quality of clear coat, but I suppose the same can be said of gloss finishes.

PS- 409 is my go to cleaner for all finishes

[batman1425]

My ridley helium is a combination of matte black and gloss red. Doesn't seem any more or less difficult to keep clean than the other bikes in the rotation. Fingerprints and smudges show up on the matte parts more, but it's black, so hard to see unless you catch it in the light.

Still looks much better than the gloss white damocles I had. That thing always looked dirty.

[EliteVelo]

I prefer a gloss finish, but I haven't had any problems yet. A quick speed shine and micro fiber wipe down after each ride helps.

[enr1co]

Pedros Bike Lust cleaner/polish works well for me on my matte finish bikes.

[Bob Ross]

Harder to keep clean?


Hell yes. Insufferably more difficult to clean than gloss.