I suspect you were scratching the paint somewhat on the other bikes too, but it wasn't showing up as much. And as I said earlier, there are a number of scotch brite pads around these days, with abrasive sides ranging from lightly abrasive plastic (for things like kitchen appliances and teflon pots/pans) to very gritty abrasives which will scratch virtually anything and are even recommended for roughing up paint prior to refinishing. If you were using the least abrasive type, I'm a little surprised that it made noticeable scratches in light single use, but paint finishes vary in hardness. Again, I'd never use anything but a soft cloth, wash mitt, or sponge on painted finishes I cared about. People who really care about their cars won't even use a sponge. And always use lots of water and clean your sponge out very often.

It's very likely the finish can be restored if you want to work at it using any number of car-oriented polishes, rubbing compounds, and waxes. Or you could just live with it..... in some ways, things like this just take away the pressure of worrying about keeping it nice.

- Mark