JayC

I was looking at one of my bikes today and noticed that the clearcoat is coming off the frame. The clear had actually turned green and sort of flaked off, leaving exposed metal underneath it. I've contacted the frame company and am awaiting a response from them but I was wondering if this is something that A) I should be worried about and B) expect to be warrantied.

Thanks

JayC

Here's a couple of photos. If you look at the second photo, you can see the green hue of the clear.

CastIron

Clear nail polish.

JayC

Never thought about that. I guess I could go that route. On a frame that isnt 3 months old, I hate to have to but that may be an option.

DRLski

what kind of bike is it?

JayC

Its a Pedal Force Fusion frame. Titanium/Carbon

DRLski

maybe you should get it warranted, if it's coming off now after 3 months I can only imagine what it will look like in 2 years

austinspinner

Well since titanium itself is immune to corrosion, I don't think you should be worried about your frame.

The clear coat is probably flaking becuase the frame was not perfectly cleaned before clear coating, thus the bond between the coat and metal is weak.

JayC

I sent them an email. That was sort of my thoughts as well. I suspect the metal wasnt clean when they clear coated it.

austinspinner

By the way the green is most likely mold or algae that has grown in between the clear and frame as such a thin space holds moisture well.

TommasiniFusion

I have painted many cars in my time, and I have never heard of mold growing under paint, not to say that its not, but I would think not to likely.

The clear needs something to bond too, so more than likely, like it was mentioned the metal was not clean, or the surface was too smooth. I shoot my cars after a 320 grit, so the paint can bond better.

Ritterview

Clearcoat came off my BMC Pro Machine, and my frame was replaced under warranty.

hokie_girl

I bought a LeMond and about 6 months after I purchased it, the decals started to come off due to improper clear coating. The warantee covered repainting of the frame. If you bought a bike and there is something wrong with it only three months later, have them fix it.

JayC

Got an email back from Pedal Force. They pretty much told me to get over it. They said if I wanted to send the frame back and have them inspect it, if they thought the clear coming off was due to improper prep, they would fix it, otherwise they would return it. They cited rocks, grime, chemicals, etc as the reason the clear came off even tho its on the non drive side.

I'm kind of disappointed after the way they handled msheron's clearcoat issue but Im not going to strip the bike down and send the frame back on the off chance that they MIGHT warranty it. Not worth the time and expense.

DocRay

It's on the Ti, Titanium oxide surface of this metal is actually anti-bacterial/mold.

Likely just flex of the metal, while the clearcoat is brittle.

I'd suggest to either leave it, or carefully strip all the Ti. It doesn't need clearcoat.

rufus

the clear's coming off my Mondonico on the chromed stays. been told that sometimes the clear doesn't take very well over chrome. Bill at Torelli said he'd do whatever it takes to fix the problem, even though it's past the finish warranty period. i'm shipping the frame back sometime in the next couple weeks.

can't complain about that level of service.

JayC

I wish I would have taken a picture of the green clearcoat before I rubbed it off. I thought I had spilled something on the frame like sports drink.. it was lime green, not dark green and all crusty looking.. When I rubbed it off, I realized it was the clerarcoat coming off and not anything on the clear.

Jakey

The clear is chipping on the chrome on my torelli as well. I haven't really complained about it yet... they shouldn't clearcoat the chrome anyway. The biggest thing that bothers me, is that you need to use car wax, not chrome polish to make the chrome look nice, because of the clear... but oh well...its really only chipped on the inside of the fork, and on the drive side chainstay.

DocRay

In the absense of oxygen, titanium is very reactive, it may have reacted with contaminants in the clearcoat.

you should post a pic of the bike- Fusions are rarely seen on the forum.

JayC

Here's the bike, more or less. Wheelset, fork and seatpost have changed since this picture was taken. I think everything else is the same.

duane041

Well, I was going to say that they might want to see the frame to inspect it, and find out the cause of the problem, but apparently they don't care too much. If any of my painted frames develop problems, I want to know because I would like to find out if it is something that I did during the process that caused to failure. I've had 2 come back, and thankfully the customers were great about it all, and it turned out that my primer was not doing what it should have done, which is adhere.

rufus

mine isn't really chipping, kinda just flaking off, like a snake shedding its skin. although when i first noticed it, it was a small spot on the seatstay, there were three little bumps or bubbles, i thought were maybe some gunk or gatorade that had gotten stuck on the frame, but when i scraped at them with a fingernail, i ended up scraping a section of clearcoat off. the rest I noticed fter I had torn down the frame to get ready to ship back, the entire right chainstay is just peeling and flaking away.

I was thinking about not doing anything about it, especially if it was gonna cost me to have it fixed. I figured I'd just keep riding it, and then in a few years, send the frame back to have the whole thing repainted. But went through my dealer, sent some pictures of the damage to him, who forwarded trhem on to Bill, and got the word back that they would fix it. so the frame's hanging, just waiting to be shipped back. not sure if they're going to re-do the whole thing anyway, I had to strip it entirely, cable adjusters, headset cups, bottom bracket cable guides, everything. seems a bit much just to have the right chainstay and seatstay's chrome re-sprayed.

still, if there's a good time to be without it, this is it. the Mondonico hasn't been outside since they started salting the roads.

I'd get in touch with Torelli about it. from what Bill said in an email to me, it seems to be a fairly common problem.

JayC

Well, Im glad that your company is stepping up and taking care of the problem. Im disappointed in the whole situation but like I said, Im not going to send the frame back taking a chance they MIGHT fix it. I'd have to pay the bike shop to strip the bike down and rebuild it and that would probably run a couple of hundred, then ship the frame back which would probably be another $30.00 or so.

If they cant clearcoat the thing and make it stick, they should sell them bare. Since it's lugged, I dont know an easy way to strip it myself unless I tape off all the carbon and media blast it. Then I have to refinish it.. again, a lot of work for something that should have been done right the first time.

blandin

Wow, that really sucks. Being one of the Pedal Force group buy members, this is not good news. I hope it somehow all works out for you.

sjumper

The OP's frame is a 2006 model and PF has a newer version of the Fusion. Perhaps, the newer frame has no clearcoat... or it is make by another manufacturer.