FiftySix

I'd love to have scratch free bikes. I don't intend to scratch or damage any of my possessions, but stuff happens.

Of course, my current two bikes were bought "pre-owned" and came "pre-scratched".

DropBarFan

I have a powder-coated frame that seems to resist scratches better than any regular-paint bike I've had. Not that I worry too much about scratches. If I had the money for a nice custom Ti tourer I'd probably opt for paint just so it would look pretty.

DaveSSS 

My 15 year old LOOK KG461 is still scratch free. It did sit unused for 8 years, but it's been in use for 7 years.

GrantFlower

I'm with taz777 and puma1552. It's not difficult to avoid scratches and dings. I ride my bikes plenty, some in poor weather. I handle them with care and detail them often. It's been over 10 years since I've crashed. Yes, I'll get a tiny nick now and then, but even my 20+ year old bikes look nearly new. Same thing with my cars. I like riding and I like keeping my stuff mint. When I see how beat up some bikes are I sometimes wonder if their owners jump off and just let 'em crash into the pile when parking them.

Rides4Beer

That picture hurts my soul. As you learned, I never let the frame touch anything. only the seat and/or bar end, and even then, very gently, and if the surface looks too rough (concrete/rock/etc.), I don't do it. The nice thing about gloss paint tho, is if the scratches aren't too deep, you can usually get them out, or at least do a good enough repair that they're not noticeable.

My gravel bike has some scratches and nicks, but it's a gravel bike and I beat it like it owes me money. But I still keep it clean and the metallic orange paint still looks great overall. My road bikes have been pretty much scratch free, just got a new one and intend to keep it the same way (barring a catastrophic incident of course).

Also, first thing I did when I got the new road bike home, was go over it with rubbing compound and polish, even factory paint can always use a lil improvement.

prj71

The OCD is strong in this thread.

alo

In S E Asia they stick plastic sheeting over the paint on motor bikes. Sometimes clear, sometimes coloured or with a pattern. It protects the paint from being scratched.

I have had them stick this over the bar on the bikes I have had in S E Asia. The bar can get scratched from knocking it when you step over it.

If someone wanted to remove cables and accessories, you could have it over most of the frame. But it is normally not worth the effort.

Rides4Beer

Yup, I freely admit it.

Makes me cringe when I see people with expensive bikes caked in dirt and crud, and not from that ride, you can clearly see that the bike is not cleaned/maintained regularly, and the noises they make are usually pretty horrible too. Bikes are a tool, a piece of gear, but there's no reason to not take care of it, especially when you've put a lot of money into it.

AlmostTrick

As is the pride of having a beat up bike.

Not me. It's not my bike or money, so I'm fine with other folks having trashed up bikes. Meanwhile, mine all look great and command top $$$ when I sell them. If someone wants to call that OCD it's fine with me. I just do what makes me happy.

prj71

You must not mountain bike or gravel ride. You would die from OCD overdose.

Bikes are like cars...they get dinged up, scratched, dirty etc. They are never going to stay new looking unless they sit in the garage doing nothing.

Some of you....

jadocs

I put over 7000 miles on mine last year and have over 1000miles already this year. What does that mean?

Rides4Beer

Nope, as I mentioned above, my gravel bike has some scratches and nicks, I ride the hell out of that thing. They get dirty, but they don't have to stay that way. Gravel bike gets a full wash after every gravel ride, I'll skip if it was only on the road. My road bikes are def more pristine, but they only see the road, and not much bad weather if I can help it. Road bike gets wiped down/lubed usually every ride, sometimes every other ride, full wash if I get caught in nasty weather. I rode 10k miles last year, about 7k of that was split between two road bikes that both still looked brand new when I sold them. Plan to keep my current road bike for a long while, barring a crash, I have no doubts that it will still look new a few years from now.

My three year old truck still looks brand new too, it's not that hard to take care of things and keep them looking good.

GrantFlower

Hey I probably care more about dings in my bikes than I do about dings in my cars. Having said that, they're not a big deal to me either. I just had to overcome the awkwardness of going to the make-up section of a store to buy nail polish to cover over the scratches As an aside, when my kids were growing up and bought baseball cards, they tended to keep them protected, in plastic, to look at. When I was a kid, growing up in the 50's and 60's, I was an avid baseball card collector. But we actually played with them ... games like farsies, topsies, knocksies ... or clothes-pinned them to our bike to hear the flapping sound when we cycled. I probably had complete sets of a few baseball seasons but they would all be pretty worn-looking from playing with them. Of course, if I kept them in pristine condition (and my mother didn't throw them all away when I moved out!!!!!), they'd probably be worth quite a bit now. But, I did have fun with them at the time!

Reflector Guy

I tend to get a lot of dust on my bikes... The MUPs with their crushed limestone screenings tend to do that (one path I ride is VERY dusty) but unless I crash or drag against some tree branches, I'm not even sure how I'd get a scratch on my bike.

Chad991

Relatively scratch free until I ran into the garage......but that shouldn't count

frogman

I was going to post the same thing about my Titanium ride. Thats a nice thing about the Ti frames.

Biketiger

Fascinating thread - different opinions/values regarding cosmetics and care. I believe in taking really good care of my bikes.
I try to get high quality stuff that will last - if you maintain it. I've been using the same Crown Royal commercial vac for years.
But bikes are special. I think of all the work a frame builder has to do - brazing and filing lugs - the least I can do is keep my bikes clean & pristine.
I don't worry about the inevitable chip or wear from riding cuz I gotta ride 'em. I just do my best to maintain my fleet & keep my drivetrains clean.

Drew Eckhardt 

The proper materials for bicycles are

1. Titanium or stainless steel with no paint and a brushed finish
2. Aluminum with silver anodizing
3. Carbon fiber with a clear coat

The metals look the same after being scratched. A Scotch Brite pad can even remove them from brushed titanium.

Missing carbon fiber clear coat is less shiny and scrapes are gray.

My titanium frame looks better after 23 years than my last steel frame did just 7.

bocobiking

Took delivery on my Gunnar a little over a year ago, in June. Have ridden it a shade over 4000 miles since then. No scratches.

Bill in VA

I used to religiously touch up any nick or scratch using Pactra model paints that I custom mixed to match the paints. Then I found the Sharpie worked far better. Now I just apply a dab of primer if a deep scratch is down to the metal, and then a dab of a black Sharpie. The Sharpie color is much thinner and if you are real picky, a quick pat of the newly applied Sharpie ink will even give a semi-gloss finish a match.

Good thing my favorite bike frame color is black.

Yeh, I am also the guy who when we auctioned my parents estate got big bucks for my old Tonka trucks and other kids toys that were in very good condition and some had boxes like Erector sets, and Skyline building sets.. My parents always said if you break it, you will not get a new one, so take care of your stuff.

AlgarveCycling

My Wilier road bike is scratch-free apart from one end of a Speedplay pedal, that you can't really see easily, bought in July 2019 it has done 7605 km (4726 mi) - a lot in pelotons and fast group rides. It is also unpainted as part of the weight reduction aspect of it and so more resilient to marks and small stones just bounce off leaving no scratch. The pedal scratch was from a low speed roundabout crash where sand was on the road: skewers, handlebar tape and pedal took all the impact. I replaced the handlebar tape and skewers.

My 29er MTB bought in June 2019 is very much scratched - all over! That's done 5251 km (3263 mi) of off-roading, mostly on harsh, rocky terrain including racing and a few crashes.

I've done 2112 km (1312 mi) on my new 2020 Trek Madone over the last 2 months, zero scratches, harder to avoid being painted red of course and I clean it - as the other bikes - after every ride and hope to not see scratches albeit inevitable eventually.

ofajen

Interesting thread. I haven’t had think about this for a long time. The last time I bought a new bike was about 1975 so I can’t really recall but I rode it a lot so I imagine it got scratched up.

These days I’m riding steel frame bikes from the ‘80s and more concerned about slowing the rate of rust.

I’m definitely open to the idea of having a frame made of titanium or aluminum that would not have rust as a concern. My rides always include dirt and trails and are either dusty or splashy.

Otto

GrantFlower

I tend to get a lot of dust on my bikes... The MUPs with their crushed limestone screenings tend to do that (one path I ride is VERY dusty) but unless I crash or drag against some tree branches, I'm not even sure how I'd get a scratch on my bike.

billyymc

The improbable can happen. On my second ride on my gravel bike that I built frame up, two deer came out of the roadside brush/woods and literally ran into my buddy and I as we rode up a dirt road. All four of us fell to the ground, the deer got up and continued on their way, my buddy and I dusted off and continued our ride, the guy behind us on the road grader told us he'd never seen anything crazier, and my brand new bike got some nice scratches down the right side of the fork. I've since covered them with a Ski the East sticker.

Oldguyonoldbike

+1