How do you polish a bike?
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How do you polish a bike?
Ive done it before on my car. It came out...astonishing. I mean I really know how to do it on a car, manually. I won`t brag about it, I`ll let the pics do the talking.
But on the bike is a different story. I just gave it a try, and only managed to smear part of the frame with polishing paste (that wont even come off now). You have to do it in a swirl motion, keeping a fairly high pressure on the surface that is being polished. That is IMPOSSIBLE to do on bike frame, because every surface is very curved and your hand just slides everywhere, I got that paste even on the cables.
So how do you folks do it? Please give me some quick tips because I feel very frustrated now.
Part of the very obvious polishing Ive done to the rear fender:
After sanding:
After polishing:
And the whole car manually polished:
But on the bike is a different story. I just gave it a try, and only managed to smear part of the frame with polishing paste (that wont even come off now). You have to do it in a swirl motion, keeping a fairly high pressure on the surface that is being polished. That is IMPOSSIBLE to do on bike frame, because every surface is very curved and your hand just slides everywhere, I got that paste even on the cables.
So how do you folks do it? Please give me some quick tips because I feel very frustrated now.
Part of the very obvious polishing Ive done to the rear fender:
After sanding:
After polishing:
And the whole car manually polished:
Last edited by goodchap; 05-13-11 at 01:13 PM.
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I don't polish my bikes anymore. Gave it up about 10 years ago to have more time for other things. When I did, though, I rubbed the polish on, let it try per label directions and wiped it off. It's enameled (or lacquered) metal; why should it be different than any other painted metal?
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Im sorry man, but what youve been doing isnt polishing. Even waxing takes more than you described, and polishing requieres ten times more work. You don`t rub the polish on and then wipe it off, because you can`t wipe it off, you have to keep rubbing and then rub some more til it comes off...with a thin layer of your paint/lacquer. Are you sure you werent thinking about waxing?
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Why bother to polish it? Just ride it and keep it lubricated, clean, and adjusted.
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I use furniture polish on my bicycles.
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You can't have a thread with the words 'polish' and 'bike' in the title without a pic of the Polish cycling team. It's like a sick law.
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Pledge.
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Pedros Bike Lust...Spray Cleaner and Polish...anyone really into car detailing would just laugh at those. Polishing paste is basically a rubbing compound. Can you mix a rubbing compound with a cleaning chemical into a single product? Not really, totally different animals. I thought you guys were hardcore about this stuff...but this sprays are soft...really soft.
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You're new here, aren't you!! Very new!!
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I've used Pledge on my road bike when I rode it alot. Haven't polished it in a while. I'm a mountain biker, I ride dirty!
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Pedros Bike Lust...Spray Cleaner and Polish...anyone really into car detailing would just laugh at those. Polishing paste is basically a rubbing compound. Can you mix a rubbing compound with a cleaning chemical into a single product? Not really, totally different animals. I thought you guys were hardcore about this stuff...but this sprays are soft...really soft.
Anyone have a good omelet recipe?
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Last edited by DavidLee; 05-14-11 at 04:30 AM.
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OP, paint thickness on a bike is nowhere near what is on a car so I would advise not using polishing paste. Just stick with the bike lust type products if you want to keep it immaculate.
Last edited by ratdog; 05-14-11 at 05:14 AM.
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Thanks for the replies everyone.
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Pedros Bike Lust...Spray Cleaner and Polish...anyone really into car detailing would just laugh at those. Polishing paste is basically a rubbing compound. Can you mix a rubbing compound with a cleaning chemical into a single product? Not really, totally different animals. I thought you guys were hardcore about this stuff...but this sprays are soft...really soft.
Incidentally, if you've got a titanium bicycle, rub it with diesel, give it a bit of a rinse, and then apply some furniture polish. That'll remove the fingerprints and give it a nice shine.
You're going to paint over the paste?
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Why in the world would you waste your time doing that? I would much rather be getting dirt and grime on my bike by riding it than wiping it down to prove I was hardcore....
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Well...it`s done now. Of course i didnt paint over the paste. Degreased the paint, than ltos of sanding, degrease again, paint. Looks like a new bike now, but so fragile, because its matte black. I hope im wrong, but even if it chips, the layer underneath its still black so its all good. Now I`ll have to spend the whole day adjusting the brakes and deraileurs and stuff cause errything is off now.
Because of my slight form of OCD. I`m a maniac when it comes to detailing and everything just has to look perfect otherwise I can`t sleep at night. And since the old paint was scratched all over, I had to do something about it. Polishing didnt work...so...I had to paint it.
Because of my slight form of OCD. I`m a maniac when it comes to detailing and everything just has to look perfect otherwise I can`t sleep at night. And since the old paint was scratched all over, I had to do something about it. Polishing didnt work...so...I had to paint it.
Last edited by goodchap; 05-14-11 at 11:15 AM.
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I rarely do, but on that rare occasion, I'll use lemon pledge
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Why matte black? Why not something with a bit of gloss?
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