I brought my bike to the LBS for some rear wheel issue and then show the fork scratches to the LBS. his answer let me speechless.
This problem is known as from 3T. Because of the shape of the aero tube, if the handlebar is turned too much the bottom part of the frame down-tube will scratch the fork side paint.
Unfortunately I wish I would have known when I purchased the bike and would have be careful about it. This mostly happened while the bike was transported on the back of my car from a race back in September.
Now there is nothing 3T will do about it.
What should I do? Transparent coating?
Where can I find some sort of stickers to cover it up?
Thanks
by Anaphken
2 Comments
Wouldn’t worry about it too much tbh. Use a Velcro strap to keep the wheel in place next time you transport it.
I’m picky about these things too.
I bought a new frame back in 2020 and got a package deal with some wheels. The way the wheels were packaged with the frame ended up causing a chip in my top tube.
The bike itself is like a matte blue – gray color, which would be impossible to match. The decals on the bike are matte white. It was the last frame in it’s size and would have been too expensive to ship back so I “fixed” it.
I had my sticker guy cut some matte white Wilier logos to cover just the ding. Then I had my PPF guy wrap the top tube to protect the decal and also the finish while sitting on the top tube with my sweaty bibs. Make for easy cleaning too.
I just had to make sure the logo was exactly the right dimensions to fully cover the ding and not spill over into an area which I didn’t want it to touch.
If I were you, I’d have a pair of 3T logos cut in vinyl to match the decals on your bike. Stick them on both sides of the fork to make it symmetrical, and then cover the top of the fork with PPF to prevent that damage from happening again.
Here’s how mine came out:
Before:
https://preview.redd.it/wsgwll3q59ie1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5b1a82f01a16dc5f4fc39e187e79bee692016c23