i'm thinking about completely/nearly completely wrapping my frame w/old innertubes. i wrapped the top tube, to protect it when i lock up to poles, but it still gets scratched from public racks and my abuse as it's my work bike. are there any winter related disadvantages to this, like salt water getting trapped next to the frame? also, should i take out the water bottle and cable stop braze-on screws before i wrap over it?

this of course also has the bonus of covering decals and making it look less valuable as there are lots of bike thefts around here.

opinions (i'm mostly curious about how this is in winter and if water will get under it)?

-edit-
i'm also still doing a couple of cyclocross races on it, should i wait until after that? it's already so heavy i don't think it will matter...

I don't get it. If you purchase a frame to ride it on the street then why do you care if it looks a little used? I mean if your that concerned about the looks you wouldn't want to wrap it in ugly tubes. If you want to ride your bike and park it let it get a little beat up, and if your too concerned about that then get a beater you don't care about. I just think if it's asthetics are that important you may not want to be locking it up period. and if it is that nice then show it off, it's a tragedy to cover a purty frame IMO. I think it's just a part of riding a bike, it gets used and should look like it.

+1 to the above post.

IMO, wrapping your frame is like using safety pins to affix patches to a bag, jacket, whatever. Sure, it gets the job done, but it would be much better to sew it. Point being, if you want your bike covered, do the work to strip it and have it powdercoated. That way the frame is protected, it covers the decals, and you look like you're serious, rather than looking like you're trying to protect your Pista so you can re-list it at MSRP on CL.

do it if preventing scratches is that important to you. but doing the whole bike seems a little overkill to me. of course powder coating it would work, but you may not want to spend the money on that. i say learn to embrace scratches on your ride. my fork and down tube are scratched to sh*t from locking up at racks with wal mart mountain bikes but it doesn't bother me.

how much does powder coat cost in the shops?

'Bout a buck an' a qwawtah.
(Approximately one hundred twenty-five US dollars)

. . . and what will you cover those innertubes with to keep them from getting messed up?
If you're that worried, walk; but then you may mess up bottom of your shoes!
Answer: DUCT TAPE!

Don't remove the screws for the bosses. That's asking for it (rust). If you're worried about paintjob getting scratched get a powdercoat for your bike.

why would i care about old innertubes?



...and to respond to the why questions: why not protect the frame when it is being abused/in danger of being stolen, and then unwrap it when i can treat it well, don't have to worry about it and want to look at it? i plan on moving soon, so i won't always be in the city using my bike for work. i also don't get how powdercoating it will keep me from worrying about it. won't i worry about the powdercoat? plus that makes it look valuable once again... is a powdercoat invincible?

Solid color paint jobs with components that aren't flashy don't look as valuable as ANYTHING with TREK, FUJI, BIANCHI, etc plastered on the side.

And yes, a powdercoat is invincible. Seriously though, it's pretty solid. You have to grind it against something to scrape it instead of just brushing it like regular paint. It's also really easy to clean.

You can let your frame get ugly with scratches, or you can make it ugly with the tubes. At least without the tubes, it will be pretty for a while. Then you could cover it up.

Yes

FWIW, I used to have a section of my frame covered with a small section of inner tube to protect the frame from getting chewed up by the clamshell style bike racks we had at work. It did a good job of that, but I noticed one day when I removed the inner tube that it also discolored the frame. That didn't bother me because it's a 20 year old beater bike, and I still prefer a little discoloration to exposed steel and rust...

They're not scratches, they're "character".

Covering the entire frame with bartape works too. Totally invincible.

no, there are no disadvantages to this in winter...your frame will be beautiful when you unwrap it...when you secure the innner tube at the ends/joints...try to tape/glue the tube to itself instead of taping to your paint job. and it doesn't matter about braze on screws either. wrap it tight, they may eventually break through the wrap, but that's fine

opinion, fuk what people say...plenty people wrap and you should do it if you want to

about doing it now...even if your bike was light, it wouldn't matter for racing...a few inner tubes weigh next to nothing and will wrap your whole frame....wrap now

a wrap is protection for your bike...and a well done wrap can last for years.

The only bike I wrapped was my road bike while I was using it as a daily commuter. It was getting beat to **** everyday. now that I have a fixie daily commuter and use my roadie for exercise and training I unwrapped it.

i think its stupid to wrap anything but your handlebars and maybe your top tube. if you are trying to protect your frame and keep it looking nice, whats the point if no one including yourself is gonna be able to see it.

Yeah. Go for it. I've seen it done before. It's kind of cool, in a madmax kinda way. And if it's dry and clean when you do it, and you get a clean tight wrap, it should keep out the water.

Electrical tape would work.

I have bar taped the back half of my top tube with the same bar tape I have on my handlebars.

It let's me lean the top tube against things and the bike tends to stay where I have leaned it.

People who have seen my bike often wonder why everybody doesn't use bar tape on their top tube.

me too - i did that (i thought i invented it!). i got rid of tube pads and its looks way better, too.