Hi everyone,
After months of research, I finally came across my dream bike — a Colnago V4 with Vision SC 45 wheels. I bought it from Bike-Room, including all the extra protection services, and it just arrived yesterday.
Super excited, I started unboxing it — my first bike with carbon wheels! But the first thing I noticed were fingerprintsand what looked like scratches on the rims.
I can live with the fingerprints (even though they’re not great to see on a brand new premium bike), but I’m not so sure about the scratches. I tried cleaning the area, but they definitely don’t go away.
My question is: are small marks like this normal on carbon wheels? Should I expect some minor imperfections out of the box, or is this unusual and possibly a defect?
It might sound like a weird question, but some of the marks appear on both sides of the front and rear wheels, almost running all the way around the rim with a regular spacing — as if they’d been scratched while spinning. They’re not perfectly continuous, but still pretty consistent. The deeper marks are only on the rear wheel, and those are the ones that really bother me.
I’ve already contacted Bike-Room support (hoping for a quick reply), but in the meantime, if anyone has experience with this or knows what should I expect from brand new carbon wheels, I’d really appreciate your feedback.
Thanks!
by Cultural_Fish7128
17 Comments
It’s insane to me that someone would spend so much money on any item online, sight unseen.
I think this is a risk you run with buying shit online tbh.
Edit: downvote me all you want you fucking nerds. People like you who would rather save a few bucks than spend your money in your own town are why local shops can’t stay in business. Get fucked.
Probably safe, definitely annoying. I don’t think you’ll get a new set via support but worth asking for a little something to ease the pain.
That my friend is Carbon! ✅✅ nothing wrong.
Let’s see the bike
Yeah carbon will scratch up. It’s more noticeable on matte black rims. My rear winspace rim has a few scratches on them. It sucks but it happens.
Matte carbon finishes are always prone to revealing scratches than glossy/clear-coat, I have the same-esque scratches on rims myself.
Keep ‘em spinnin, no one will notice
Almost certainly safe, but unprofessional at these prices. If you can bear the faff, consider asking them to replace (or accept a partial refund).
I went through literally this a few months ago (on a straight up wheel purchase), spent £2,400 on a set from a very nice brand, turned up with marring all over the rim. At those prices I’m not paying just for performance, I’m paying for looks. I want my £2,400 plastic hoops to turn up polished. Eventually returned them.
have you tried matte paint cleaner/uv protector? It actually should help dull things more even. Worked on my cannondale seatpost.
Not to be used on glossy stuff. Works on my motorcycle carbon stuff and reason why I have it. Can find at most motorcycle part stores and maybe auto stores.
Scuffs… not scratches. Scratches are gouges. You can feel them. Those aren’t dug in
I avoid matte finishes since they show every scratch. Even matte paint on frames becomes shiny from rubbing and wear.
My opinion is that while these are not absolute top of the line wheels, new wheels of this price class even should not show such defects or signs of mishandling. Its unlikely that the average person will even notice this and it is not a safety issue, only you know it’s there, as such, if you don’t want to deal with the hassle of an exchange, maybe contact them so that they can offer you a small discount as your new product has a very minor issue.
You are also unlikely to maintain these in absolutely perfect condition if you cycle a lot because they can occasionally be struck by stones or other road debris which you don’t always notice and can’t avoid. I have around 15,000 km on my DT Swiss ARC 1100 62s and when I inspect them I can see one or two small scratches despite perfect operation on paved roads and trails with no crashes or falling over.
Matte finish gonna matte finish.
Matte carbon anything will get weird marks in the finish if you so much as breathe too aggressively nearby. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten a matte carbon item that didn’t have marks like that just from touching the packaging during shipping.
Straight in the trash.
Even if not normal and just sent out like that. Youre gonna ride them and end up getting wear on them.
I wouldn’t call this scratches at all