fopianki

I've had my Serotta Fierte for 3 days and I just put a 2 inch thin scratch on the side of the top tube! I'm sick about it! Any advice on fixing it? I assume I can get touch up paint from Serotta but if I do the work I expect it will look like it was fixed by a chimp! Frankp

cyclezealot

the first cut is the deepest.

DMF 

Good. Now you'll stop worrying about it.

HillRider

1. Get touch-up paint from Serotta or match it at the local hobby shop.

2. Ride the bike without worry. The break-in period for it (and you) is over.

Dr.Deltron

How about a nice Campy sticker?
(or Shimano, depending on your gruppo)

If you have a good quality airbrush and want to spend some time & effort, it can be touched-up without looking "like chimp did it".
But it aint cheap or easy!
I'd go into detail here, but it's long and boring!
(and it's Christmas eve, so I've got family to deal with at the moment)

Sorry to hear about the scratch!

San Rensho 

I have a friend who bought a new car and purposely scratched it (very small) so he wouldn't get upset when it inevitably happened.

Cyclist0383

+100000000

Now go ride your wonderful new bike!

rmfnla

Many posts, nothing useful (nor clever).

De-grease the area with alcohol; then place masking tape along both sides of the scratch so when you apply the touch-up paint it goes only into the scratch. Apply the paint sparingly; a hobby-shop paintbrush might be useful.

Use a hair dryer on a medium setting on the general area for about a minute; then allow to dry.

froze

The above post is the best way; I use a very small thin paint brush and apply several thin or light coats of paint till it's covered.

I let my touchups dry naturally without the aid of a hair dryer. But there's nothing wrong with using a hair dryer just make sure your at least 3 feet away since a hard wind from the blower could make the paint move, and make sure theres no dust or dirt that might fly when the hair blower is on because that dirt and dust will adhere to tacky paint.

tool boy

I have had some luck with sanding very lightly,the rough edges off the scratch to help blend in the touch up paint. It all varies on how jagged it is, and how deep the scratch actually is. It has always seemd to me that I can never get the touch up to match the ridge line on a deep scratch, hence the sanding.

Trakhak

If the bike is new enough to have been painted very recently, you may be able to buff the existing paint so that it covers the scratch, if you're lucky and the scratch is very narrow.

Carusoswi

I never scratched my newest bike, but, was disappointed to find that the cable housing rubbing near the front badge area had worn the paint away, clear cut, undercoat of red paint, everything right down to the aluminum. I'm thinking to myself, why would the design a bike that wears away its own paint?

This bike is from Cannondale.

LBS placed some clear patches at the rub points, but, of course, it was a bit late for that.

Caruso

Bikedued

I have used paint from duplicolor many times. Some auto parts stores will have about 50 different colors and match almost anything. I find the closest color possible, then wet sand the scratch with 400 grit, until the jagged edges are gone. If you have any cables or components around, either mask them off or remove them While you're at the store, also pick up some spray clear. Once you get the scratch completely gone, shoot a few light coats of the close matching paint, let it dry about 10-15 minutes, then a few coats of clear past the color paint a few inches. This blends the color a bit, and broadens the area. So, when you look at it later, you can't say "There's the paint", lol.

The hardest part is finding the match. Take the bike in with you, or a small painted piece you remove, so the match is as close as physically possible. I have used this on many bikes, with great results. Good luck!

Here are two bikes I used this process on. The blue Maruishi had a quarter sized patch of BAD rust around the middle cable guide on the top tube. The other is a Schwinn Continental that had MAJOR chips all down the top tube, from a bare chain & lock. On both of them you barely tell there was even a repair done. After a while you stop thinking about it altogether, and people will not even notice it unless you say something.,,,,BD