Hi Folks,

I'd be grateful to anyone with a knowledgeable opinion who might have been in a similar position in the past regarding the corrosion of my bike's frame. The bike in question is approx 5 years old, 7005 series aluminium alloy road frame. It was "entry level" when I bought the bike new at the beginning of 2001, has now covered more than 12,000 miles and is a reliable everyday high speed commuter.

Whilst cleaning the bike I noticed that there are several places on the frame where corrosion has started the paint to blister. In particular this is noticable where the downtube meets the underside of the bottom bracket, at the front derailleur mounting point on the seat tube and where the chainstays meet the rear dropouts. The fork is cromoly steel and is in very good condition.

Obviously, if I leave things as they are, the paint will continue to lift and the corrosion spread. I'd like to strip and repaint the bike (something I have done before with steel frames) to get a new lease of life from the bike. I'm tempted to think it is worthwhile stripping back one or two test areas where the problem is most noticable to check the extent of damage/pitting in the tube material. Any thoughts anyone? Also any advice on products for painting alloy, particularly primers that would offer protection?

All thoughts welcomed,

Cheers,

Ed