I know, I know, bike scratches are a badge of honor, and I’m with yall. That said this a brand new Tallboy with some nasty nicks in the paint. Bicycle Warehouse will refund me, but shipping is on me, and that is quite steep with insurance, so they gave a decent gift card balance to offset it. I’m ok with that as I already got a “closeout” price on this current model(their mistake on website, and owned up to it.) It’s cosmetic only. Has anyone used touch up paint on a bike?
On a side note, Bicycle Warehouse showed me pics with the bike clearly not showing scratches. They say it happened in transit, but I doubt it. The box was not punctured and, and going back to my pics of unboxing, a scratch is visible through the bubble wrap. Anyways, they took care of me with quite a bit of money to spend to compensate, but still want to get this bike looking pristine for my first ride. Any tips? I see Santa Cruz sells touch up paint. Thanks.
by Alpha_Wolves999
11 Comments
Honestly dude, I’d be pissed about this. This is a brand new, high-dollar bike that now has exposed carbon? My 5010 is two years old with zero frame protection and I have yet to get a scratch deep enough to show carbon through. I know they hooked you up, but I’d be ready to return this thing.
I don’t have experience with the touch up paint, as mine didn’t come with any. Sorry this happened man, that’s a huge drag.
From experience with automotive touch up paint, definitely practice applying the paint in an inconspicuous location. It’s very easy to make touch up paint look worse than those scratches.
I’d be tempted to reach out to Santa Cruz for their thoughts. As the other poster said, that’s raw carbon. I am not a material scientist by any means, but a scratch that deep and in that location might raise some concerns about the integrity of the frame. And yeah, super shitty that’s how your new bike was delivered.
Oh hell no. Send it back
I wouldn’t be paying shit. They sent you a new bike like this and are making you foot the bill? Not a chance
So just a heads up, if you want it to look like new, before you use touch up paint you’re going to want to use gel coat. Carbon fiber and fiberglass use gelcoat over the fiber layup because it goes on thicker than paint, where paint is so thin it would still show the fiber weave. After you fill it in, then paint over to color match the area. Watch some videos on how to apply gel coat – it’s not terribly difficult, it’s a bit like Bondo. Prep work is 90% of the job. You can use cling wrap or cut up a latex glove and pull that tight over the surface to get a smoother application.
I’ll go against the grain and say if they have you gift cards to make up for the scratch, I’d use that extra money and be done with it. I would not order from that company ever again though.
As far as the paint repair, nothing will ever look quite right. If it were me I’d just ride it knowing that it will eventually get scuffed up anyway
Haha. It’s a bike. Touch up paint?
Go ride!
From what I’ve found Santa Cruz uses this site for their touch up paint:
https://www.myperfectcolor.com/Santa-Cruz-Bicycles-and-Juliana-Bicycles-Paint-Colors/34294.htm?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=&utm_content=&utm_campaign=+&hsa_acc=5980184629&hsa_cam=21215625786&hsa_grp=&hsa_ad=&hsa_src=x&hsa_tgt=&hsa_kw=&hsa_mt=&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_ver=3&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21215627955&gbraid=0AAAAAD_OMNJxfzUWwGyJ4N8MdG3UZwfUr&gclid=Cj0KCQjwzOvEBhDVARIsADHfJJRwqodU2zfD-Ltnrb1ptNVSnWJweupypf43cs0nK5RRS64p3tjVTIgaAk3XEALw_wcB
Be warned though the paint is like $8 a bottle but they charge a $30 batch fee and then add shipping you’ll be around $50.
They cannot charge you shipping on a paint issue, I would be refuting that. You could do a chargeback
So I may get some hate for this, but I’ve used nail polish with a clear coat on top and it works pretty okay. Not great, like you can tell it’s there, but I don’t hate the way it comes out. Cheap and easy solution, I’m sure some of these other recommendations would have a nicer finish to it.