Hello there. I was riding tonight and stupidly I went too close to the curb. I don't know why I did it - sh1t like that happens. My left (hewie) crank arm has some of the paint off now. It's a spot about the size of your little finger nail and is located near the pedal. Its a new bike but as I said things like that happen.

I live in a wet climate and I want to make sure it doesn't rust or anything. I will spray some water displacer and wipe it clean before applying anything. Anyway what should I use to cover the spot? I mean it's not something special but no need to leave it like that. Well maybe it will be cheaper if I just left it like that. A left crank arm is about $15 bucks - even less and paint is going to run me probably $10 (I live in the UK and things are approx double here the money here ).

damn I'm bad at writing things lol. My style just sucks

Your crank is probably aluminum (or aluminium where you live) so it won't rust. It will form a white oxide layer where the metal is exposed, but this isn't a problem with aluminium because the oxide prevents further oxidation. If you want to paint it black, get some fine (400) sandpaper, sand the area that was chipped lightly, prime it with some automotive primer, then spray some black on top. This really isn't neccessary for anything other than cosmetic reasons.

cuevelo yeah I've just seen that the crank is alu. I won't do anything then. Thanks for the reply.

if it's a black painted crankset, and you're annoyed about the silver patch of aluminum, use a black sharpie permanent marker.

if you want to stop the process though (especially if your paint is chipped, which can lead to flaking) dab a little clear nail-polish on the bare spots to seal the paint around them. this is simply to keep it from getting worse. Again, it's strictly cosmetic.

If you do decide to paint, make sure you get primer for aluminum, sand well and paint the whole thing, otherwise it just won't look right.