carcassonne

The black paint on the Cannondale badboy got scratched. No that I mind a lot, but the bare metal is exposed. Shopuld I use Tremclad-style anti-rust paint or is there something else ?

Cheers.

Camilo

You don't need anti rust paint, it's aluminum.

I found it kind of hard to get Cannondale touch up paint. It has to be special ordered and I don't have a Cannondale dealer in my town. Emailed Cannondale and they insist going through a dealer. If you have a local dealer, order it through them.

On recommendation by a bike store I called to try to get the paint (big hassle, didn't work out), I went to a hobby store and bought some paint and fine brush. Mixed two blue colors to match my own. Not perfect, but good touch-up quality which is about all you can expect.

For black, another source would be autoparts stores; they sell various shades of black in nice little bottles with brushes.

Another suggestion that's been made is nail polish.

George

The paint will be hard to match, but if you have some paint left in the bottle, they should have given you, take it to one of those people you see in the malls, that mix finger nail polish. Either that or take a picture, but I don't know about the glare, if that would screw it up or not. Better yet, first find out where they are and bring your bike right to them. Good luck, I know I don't like nicks either.

Old Hammer Boy

I am not an expert on this, but a few years back, a friend who does body work told me there is only one shade of black as long as it's a non-metalic type paint. If that's the case, you're probably in business. Can anyone confirm this?

Camilo

Well, if it's really "black" that's probably true. But a few years ago when I was trying to touch up some knicks in the painted aluminum hull of my boat, I went to the autoparts store and there were at least 1/2 dozen shades of black - for example, for Toyota, GM, etc. and various shades within each maker. I bought two or three of them and they were definintely different.

ginsoakedboy

Nail polish is really very high quality enamel paint. When I get a nick, I use clear polish as a protectant. Hairspray is excellent for mounting MTB grips -- when wet, it's very slick and lets you slide the grip into place easily, then because it's mostly alcohol, it evaporates quickly and leave behind a glue that affixes the grip to the bar.

I knew the wife would come in handy one day.

Boss Moniker

Yeah, I went to an auto body shop to get my bike painted, and said "outline the lugs with silver", and before I could continue, the mechanic shoved a book with like 60 pages of silver paint splotches. "Uh... that one."

By the way, if the OP didn't mention, the Bad Boy has a matte-black finish.

Camilo

Is it powder coat then? I believe hobby shops have non-glossy paints.

BarracksSi

I'd test out paints on something besides the bike itself. Not all matte paints end up with the same finish, although they can be really close. Maybe a spray or airbrush would help, too.

notzofast

On touch up paints and detailing scratches.

Basically if it won't rust no need for paint. If you want you can get a close enough color.

Cool solution is to put outdoor automotive vinyl over the scatches. Makes for a cool look. Available on eBay.

BarracksSi

Or stickers, too.