worn carbon crank clearcoat
 

Hello

Please see the following:

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=249475

the clearcoat on the carbon is worn from missed clip-ins.

Are there any 'safe' products that I could use to replace the worn down clearcoat to protect the carbon?

Thanks for any suggestions.

Brian

Clear nail polish should work.

clear 5 minute epoxy

Don't fuss with epoxy or nail polish, get these, http://www.universalcycles.com/shopp...s.php?id=38713

Pretty sure it's almost entirely cosmetic; my feeling is the carbon is a hell of a lot tougher than the clearcoat.

The most clearcoat does to protect carbon is block UV, AFAIK.

i thought it was obvious that this stuff is an inappropriate material for abrasive applications. frames? okay, not dropouts and not cranks, maybe seatposts in carbon seattubes. at least not if the owner has an expectation that they will stand up to daily use for more than a few years...

In general I agree with you that carbon has been used where it really isn't needed or even appropriate. Carbon seatposts in particular seem to cause far more problem than any possible benefit.

As to carbon fork dropouts, I'm not crazy about the idea but my experience with two Easton EC90SLX forks on two bikes with 23,000 and 19,000 miles respectively tells me that aren't the problem you might expect. Neither fork shows any wear or damage to the dropouts despite many front wheel removals and relacement. I wouldn't pick them given the choice but they do seem to be satisfactory.

Or use a bit of sugru or plastidip.

Yeah, that's actually just the cosmetic paint layer that's removed. Between the actual carbon and paint is a gel-coat. Extremely tough and durable epoxy, it's not compromized in any way. Just use nail-polish or some other clearcoat type paint to fill in the dings.

Thanks folks. I'll try the nail polish. My concern was some sort of reaction between the substances. I figure that carbon is chemically inert, just wasn't sure about the epoxy its impregnated with.

The problem with that crankset is not that the clear is worn, the problem is that the crankset has nicks!... two different problems.

How to fix it? I wouldn't use nail polisher because it will crack maybe after a week, specially if you managed to nick the cranks, then it will happen again.

What you have to do is to use polyurethane car clearcoat, is the only thing that will stay there maybe forever, in a matter of fact that's the clear that is in the crankset right now. Dont use polyurethane clear coat from home depot, that will get yellow because is designed for indoor use, has to be car grade polyurethane clear coat.

Good luck.