Rustoleum's Neverwet bike testing
 

I thought you guys might be interested in my testing of neverwet on my cyclocross bike.

Neverwet product demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZrjXSsfxMQ
Neverwet purchasing ( ~20$): http://www.homedepot.com/p/Rust-Oleu...6#.Uc4bUW2wXTA


Application:

1. I washed the bike with soap and water, removed anything i didn't want the coating on and then rubbed it down with denatured alcohol
2. Half the bike was then masked
3. Part 1 of the spray was then applied using the manufacturers recommendations ( 2 light coats)
4. Wait 30min
5. Part 2 was applied using the manufacturers recommendations ( I used 4 light coats, 1-2min between each)
6. Let dry for at least 12h for full functionality ( i waited ~20h)
7. Rebuild bike

Application notes:

Application was easy, but time consuming. It took me about 1 hour to coat.
This stuff really does not like oil. It did not appear to adhere at all to parts of the bike that already had oil. (brakes posts / bottom of headset)


Testing

It has not rained much lately but i set out to find all the mud and water i could find. I rode for ~1 hour on mixed gravel and dirt trails. I did not clean any part of the bike after.

Durability testing will continue as i ride over the next week or two.


Results

Color:

The surface finish is very rough, ~400grit sandpaper
The color is very slightly opaque blue, it definitely looks different then the black paint on the bike.

Performance:

So far the coating sheds mud exceptionally well, i will let the pictures speak to this. There is no evidence of significant mud accumulation on the coated half of the bike. The coating seems to rub off fairly easily, you can already see where my shoes occasionally hit my chain stays and top tube.


Pictures:

Before coating:
http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r...t/IMAG0551.jpg
http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r...t/IMAG0548.jpg


After coating:
http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r...t/IMAG0566.jpg
http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r...t/IMAG0564.jpg

After one trip in the mud:
http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r...t/IMAG0572.jpg
http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r...t/IMAG0570.jpg
http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r...t/IMAG0573.jpg

Day 2:
http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r...t/IMAG0579.jpg
http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r...t/IMAG0578.jpg
http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r...t/IMAG0576.jpg


Album:
Full album of neverwet testing

After a ~1 week of riding i decided to wash off the uncoated half of the bike.....

light rubbing with a cotton cloth and water did this, might be hard to tell, but the coating is mostly gone:
http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r...t/IMAG0597.jpg

Fingernail did this:
http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r...t/IMAG0592.jpg


The coating is easily removable and seems to leave the underlying paint untouched. It seems like the base coat is similar to rubber cement.

I would use this as a temporary coating for race season. It should last a month or two if you remember to not rub it!


Testing is done for now

That is frankly amazing.

Is there any concern with the Neverwet causing some kind of oxidation or corrosion acceleration?

It repels water, so it should help prevent corrosion. In addition the base coat seemed to be similar to rubber cement, so it should seal any chips you have in the paint.

Wow. Seems like a really neat product. Although it would prevent me from showing off how dirty I get my bike over the weekend. :cry:

hm, been thinking about this myself since I saw a show on nano coatings on Discovery Channel (yes, I know, armchair genius). Awesome! Maybe not the best idea for existing bikes since it alters the paint colour that much, but if it's integrated in the bike design from the get go it will be really nice. You're not a sales rep are ya now? :)

I am not affiliated with this product.

i was thinking of having my next cx bike painted light blue to camouflage the color better, so far the color is the only sticking point for me.

Reminds me of Scotchgard:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotchgard

You kinda mentioned it a little but what about the durability of the coating? How do you see it's performance after a year? You think you'll need to follow up with touching it up very often?

Thanks for doing your little demo btw.

Dude, you have a half-blue velvet bike!:eek:

At 4 days of use, ~6h of riding, the only problem area is where my heel hits the chain stay, the rest still repels water/mud as well as day one.

Rustoleums touch up procedure is laborious.... you are supposed to strip the whole things and coat it fresh

Unfortunately we are having a hot kick and all the mud is drying up, i might have to leave the hose running in the yard for a while.

She wore blue velvet
Bluer than velvet was the night
Softer than satin was the light
From the stars

She wore blue velvet
Bluer than velvet were her eyes
Warmer than may her tender sighs
Love was ours

Ours a love I held tightly
Feeling the rapture grow
Like a flame burning brightly
But when she left, gone was the glow of

She wore blue velvet
But in my heart there'll always be
Precious and warm a memory, through the years
And I still can see blue velvet through my tears

then a guy finds an ear in a field then it gets crazy - pretty good metaphor for cyclocross

Dang, that's impressive. I wonder if any builder's going to start coating his frames with it.

probably not, the coating is very temporary.

Does it peel off easily?

very. think rubber cement

scrubs off with cotton cloth, once it starts to come off you can peel it with the pressure of your finger

This is very neat! Are there other colors besides the blue? How much coverage do you get out of a can? Can you spray the whole frame multiple times?

One color at this point.

can is supposed to cover 15 sqft. I have plenty left after coating half the bike.

A bit late to the thread, but I am curious what it would do for the tires, wheels and brakes? I just watched folks scraping mud out of their wheels and brakes at the last race I attended. Wondering if this would help or hurt.

This could work well if coated on the inside of a frame to prevent corrosion. I imagine it would last a lot longer not being exposed to hands, rocks, etc.

Last weekend was our first really muddy race in the PNW.

Grass in the mud made a composite the the neverwet was unable to clear. It would not do much on brakes or wheels here. If you race somewhere with no grass it might help, give it a try this stuff is cheap and temporary.

any place that sets that paint rather than air dried rattle can applications on an already painted frame ?

the peel off says to my mind , poor prep and the stuff needs a better application , more pro job.

Baked, UV cure , catalyzed cure ?.

I'd like to see how this compares to good old fashioned PAM.

I do not know of anyone who is applying this professionally.

Though it does come in a spray can this is not paint. The base coat is similar to rubber cement the top coat is the hydrophobic material. The base coat never fully hardens, it stays very flexible.

The prep I did was per the manf's recommendations, scuffing the surface might help some with adhesion. In my opinion surface prep will never cure the peel issue, the base material is just not strong enough.

Catalyzed cure might work, but the top coat already dries in seconds and i am sure their is some chemical trickery going on to line up all the molecules to get the hydrophobic properties.
UV cure is out, as the product is already UV sensitive and breaks down after extended periods in the sun.
I see no problem with baking it. I believe it is good to 400F+