MarkUK82

so i understand that a vintage bike would have possible paint fade. depending on the conditions it has lived in...
I just received a new 2019 specialized diverge. Took it home from the bike shop.. got it out of the car... looked at it like a kid at Christmas.... decided to take the stickers off. I took off the frame sticker that reads 56 and a few others.. noticed the paint is totally faded.. which disappoints me. I dont even have peddles on it yet.. does faded paint fade faster?? now that I see the original color from underneath the sticker.. some of the orange looks faded black... weird...

i think specialized has some sort of warranty for paint if I cant return it......

in this picture.. the sticker was shaped similar to a shield..

puma1552

Bizarre...absolutely no way modern paint on a brand newbike should be faded, especially indoors at a shop. Modern paints have tons of UV inhibitors and should take years outside to even show the slightest fade. I'd bring it back and return it if possible.

Andrew R Stewart 

The sticker adds it's chemistry to the situation. Also it's blocking the paint's off gassing just after finishing. No wonder there's a tone shift.

I wonder if there's some sort of reference in the warranty, about sticker removal and finish.

I'll also question modern paint qualities compared to just 25 years ago. So much of current paint design is about reducing environmental concerns and speeding up production. The auto industry drives much of what we like paint wise. Andy

sdmc530

that is bizarre! Looks like it was "smoked" or something? Anyway that would drive me absolutely crazy! My OCD would not handle that at all. I would take it back and see what they will do. I remove most stickers on my bikes as well right off to avoid anything like this when they rub or wash off over time. Never had a dealer say boo about removing them so I don't think it should matter but I could be wrong.

puma1552

Typically, at least with a car, the paint is baked at roughly 650 degrees at the factory so that it is cured fully when it rolls out of the factory and ready for waxing/sealing/ceramic coating right away; contrast with a body shop repair, where they don't have the ability to bake it at those temps, where a repair does need 60 days to offgas before waxing/sealing/ceramic coating. Typically, a lack of ability to offgas (due to waxing/sealing/ceramic coating) will cause paint to bubble and blister and it's really ugly; it doesn't manifest as a color shift like what OP has.

This is of course all in the auto world, but I'd expect bike manufacturing to be much the same; similar paints/clear coats and I would *assume* they would bake them hot enough to be fully cured at the factory. There's really no reasonable expectation for a brand new bike, assuming fully cured at the factory, that's been sitting inside for a short while to have such a color shift.

As for the quality of water based paints today, it is MUCH better than 25-30 years ago when they first hit the market; think about a late-'80s era GM product with water based paint - it used to peel within a few years when they didn't yet know how to make it work! Today's stuff is much, much better. OP should have no problems with a 2019 bike.

<----- Source: semi-professional auto detailer and extensive experience with paint and auto body

Andrew R Stewart 

I'm no expert but I have worked with said bike painters before as well as played a bit on my own. Freshly painted bike frames rarely see over a couple hundred degrees during curing. I've seen a range from around 125*F to 175*F referenced for curing. SSSInk, a supplier of decals to many of the US builders, mentions to not exceed 250*F when curing the clear coat over their CC Dry AP decals. I have seen out gassing damage to their decals when cured at a rather higher temp.

I strongly suspect that there's no warranty, as in writing, that would cover a decal removal and the "damage" that it might cause. Bike brands tend to be pretty tight in their published coverage, although real life frequently sees coverage for stuff that falls outside the written word. This is when your bike shop can help and go to bat for you. Andy

02Giant 

I would use an auto paint polish on the area, see if it makes a difference.

puma1552

Interesting, I would've expected them to bake the frames at much higher temps to ensure they are fully cured when they leave the factory just as cars are, but I guess that makes sense that you might not want to bake decals so hot; I'll keep that in mind next time I buy a new frame so I don't put any protectants on it for 60+ days. Luckily my current bike was a year old when I bought it new, so it had been sitting around plenty long before I took ownership and slopped some sealant on it.

That said, I'd still not expect that kind of pattern for offgassing - it's usually some really ugly bubbling/failure of the clearcoat as opposed to discoloration, but who knows. This really seems bizarre and I'm curios to know what happens.

Before doing this, I would try the least abrasive option - a light clay bar over the area with lots of lube. After that, I'd try an automotive rubbing compound, and only as a last resort would I use a very fine auto polish. Something tells me though that none of these are going to work since it *appears* to be an issue with the base coat underneath the clear. Suppose it's possible the clear itself got tinted/stained somehow, but I wouldn't put too much money on it. I also find it odd that the part under the sticker is the most vibrant and not the other way around. I suppose you could end up with a light spot (assuming the paint darkens a bit as it cures) if the basecoat hadn't cured fully when the sticker was put on. Honestly, even with my experience, I'm really not sure what happened here.

Any update OP?

Wilfred Laurier

I would expect they aren't going to warranty the finish if you removed the stickers.

Koyote

Due to the pigment that’s used, red paint fades faster than other colors...But I suspect the sticker actually did something to the paint, since that bike is too new to fade much.

Moral of the story: leave the stickers on the bike.