Chesterton

My road bike has a chromed chainstay protector (it looks a lot like this one) and it is barely sticking to the chainstay. I'd like to secure it back in place, but I don't want to use anything that would potentially damage the paint or glue it down irreversibly.

What's a good adhesive for something that is not carrying any load and just needs to be stuck down enough to stay in place when the wind blows on it, but still be mild enough that the bond can be cleanly broken by hand?

SalsaShark

3m makes some nice double sided bonding films. I use these for guitar repair, when I need to secure hardware with a strong bond that wont damage the finish of an instrument. You probably wouldn't need to cover the entire surface under the chain stay protector, to make it slightly easier to remove. Make sure to clean and prep both surfaces with rubbing alcohol or naphtha for good adhesion.

FBinNY 

companies like 3m make adhesives with a wide spectrum of holding power. If the curvature of the protector matches the chainstay well, you could probably use one of the very low strength stick adhesives like the 3m post-it stuff. There are also heat activated glues where you'd heat the area with a heat g*n as you pressed the protector home, then heated it again to remove.

In any case, be sure to thoroughly clean the chainstay of any dirt or oil films so your light adhesive can hold.

Andrew R Stewart 

I also find that heating up the stay and protector with a heat g*u*n or hair dryer helps to allow the usually flat protector to conform to the stay and not tend to pull up along it's edges. I do this with the Stay Tuff protectors on my own bikes. Andy.

Retro Grouch 

I'd use 3M Trim and Badge adhesive. You can get it at auto parts stores. It's designed for that purpose.

fietsbob

Clear hot melt glue sticks is another one.

dsbrantjr

If you apply rubber cement to ONE side only and put the parts together while it is still wet, it will hold well but be easily peeled off.

I also use spray artist's adhesive for light-duty, removable applications.

Don't forget the thin (not foam) double-faced tape as well.

dwmckee

The badge and trim adhesive mentioned above likely is permanent. Rubber cement (the stuff you use to apply tire patches with) will work nicely and you likely have it already or can get a tube in a $2.50 patch kit, but you will have to coat both surfaces with the cement and let them dry for about 5 minutes then press in place and done. One surface will not work with this type of adhesive.

dsbrantjr

Regular office rubber cement, not tire patch stuff, works like that. Putting it on one surface only turns it from permanent to "mild" and removable. You might have noticed that credit cards and the like are stuck to their accompanying letters with a similar adhesive.

The stuff in patch kits is vulcanizing fluid; it reacts chemically with the rubber to bond it. Not quite the same process as rubber cement.

SkyDog75

The peel-off stuff used to attach things like credit cards to paper in mailings is called fugitive glue. It often comes in hot melt form, but there are press-on "glue dots" available as well. Walmart and Amazon carry them. They may work well for what you want, assuming they're waterproof.

A couple dots of plain ol' hot melt glue could do the trick, too.

Amesja

A heat gonne will also help remove stronger adhesives should they be used and need to be removed later. Nearly all adhesives (short of epoxies) will let loose at temperatures much lower than the paint. Just keep slowly turning up the head dial on the goone until you reach that magic temp where the adhesive just gives up adhering. I use this method with unwanted decals all the time. Even those ugly 1970's/80's supposedly tamper-proof security stickers are no match for a heat goone.

An adjustable-temp heat goone is much more handy than a hair dryer due to the true adjustability of the heat. HF has them for about $10-15

Retro Grouch 

Nope.

fietsbob

Gluten

Amesja

Correct.

Very little sticks to well-cured automotive paint by actually bonding to it at the molecular level. Even paint doesn't stick to paint very well without being roughed up a little. If one takes a little bit of scratch-x or other polishing compound and buffs up the paint to a really nice gloss nothing is going to stick to permanently short of a two-part epoxy or something similar which could damage the paint.

A heat goone takes nearly anything off. it works great on automotive trim as well. It's what the pros use at autobody shops when they need to get it off without damaging it.

Chesterton

Thanks, this sounds like pretty much what I had in mind. I picked up a roll of "glue dots" at Home Depot today (it comes in a rather absurd plastic dispenser). I'll give it a shot and see how it works.