NRRider

I have a metallic blue (and purple) steelie and while assembling it the bar swung around and scratched the top tube. I guess it was primed white since now there is white showing (about 3/4" long by 3/16" wide). I tried some rubbing compound but it didn't work.
Was thinking about taking it to an auto paint shop to have them try to touch it up. I can post pics later, but the basic question is does that sound like something worth pursuing? Other ideas?
Rookie move...what a schmuck.... I bought this bike largely for the beautiful paint job.

blandin

Don't you hate it when crap like this happens. If you bought it for the beautiful paint job, you should look into having it touched up. In our neck of the woods there's a company the specializes in air brushing scratches as opposed to traditional re-painting. You might look into it in your area.

Chucklehead

post pics. it's easier to tell what to do that way. i'm a painter by trade, so maybe i can help point you in the right direction after seeing how bad it is.

NRRider

Yes, in a BIG way. Even more stupid is the fact that it swung and hit the top tube a few times before and didn't do any damage, so I figured no biggy. We humans are supposed to learn from our mistakes. Not sure what that makes me, but whatever.
OK, I kind of figured this was going to be necessary. Actually looking at it after the initial shock it's not quite as big as I thought, but I'm going to be staring at this frigging scratch and reminding myself of my stupidity every time I ride this bike. Here is an assortment of pics, including some of the whole color scheme, to give you a good idea about the situation. Granted to some I'm making a mountain out of a molehill, but I really liked this paint job.

blandin

Very pretty paint job indeed - I can see why you're upset. It is certainly small enough that the air brushing touch up I mentioned would be ideal if you have someone in your area that does this work.

Chucklehead

at least it's not in the fade. that would have been a pain in the ol' butt.

that looks like something pretty easily fixed - either with some touch-up paint and a little brush or spot repaired by a shop. like blandin said, if there are any custom-type painters in your area, you might look one up. if you don't find a listing for anyone, just call a body shop and ask. they'll typically know of any painters in the area.

i should add that it doesn't look like it's a clear coated finish, so it'll be easy to fix as long as whoever does it can match the color correctly.

dekalbSTEEL

That scratch looks to be awfully far back on the top tube. How wide are your handlebars?

Also, are you running a quill-to-threadless stem adapter?

Do you have a pic of the entire bike ( side view ) ?

I've often wondered about running my drops lower than my top tube to avoid this type of damage. Is this common?

55/Rad

Tilt your bike down in the stand or throw a towel over the top tube to avoid this in the future....

NRRider

Thanks. Are you referring to auto painters or bike painters? Plenty of auto painters around--I live in the San Fernando Vellay part of Los Angeles. Not sure about bike painters. My first thought was an auto body shop.

Yeah, of course AFTER this happened I threw some bubble wrap over it. Too little too late unfortunately.

blandin

Here's an example of what I was talking about. Search in your local area for something similar.
https://denttime.com/auto-paint-touch-up.htm

Chucklehead

just go to an auto painter if you can't find a bike-specific guy. they should be able to point you in the right direction if they can't/won't do it. it looks like a pretty straightforward job. the big thing is matching the color.

NRRider

Thanks guys. Appreciate the advice. Now just need to find some time....