dalava

I have a 3-year old Specialized Tarmac frame that one of the colors (pink) is fading under the clear coat at certain areas. That color is in multiple places including the fork, top tube, down tube, seat tube, etc. Because the fading is uneven, it's bugging the hell out of me, and shows the frame to be a lot older/used than it actually is. Is there anyway to repair/repaint only that color, and if so, how involved would that be and who would do that? I am pretty sure it's not a DIY project.

dmcdam

Not sure how you could touch up one colour under a clear coat without sanding down the whole things. Seems more like a professional repaint job to me.

rmfnla

Reds and pinks fade fastest.

Rubbing compound might bring it back but you will have to cut through the clear coat.

Either a repaint or just live with it...

2manybikes

Keep in mind that a paint job requires stripping the frame of all the parts first.

dalava

So there is no way to just repaint areas of that color only?

dmcdam

I would think you'd have to take the whole clear coat off the entire bike. Don't know if the other painted areas would be salvageable. I'm guessing not.

Monkey D.Luffy

Pics?

StanSeven

I think any good shop will paint only the entire frame. Getting a perfect match on spots/portion is nearly impossible and they think you'll constantly complain because the color still isn't even.

2702

Touching up any car or bike spot by spot is near impossible. It can make it look worse at times.

Sy Reene

Warranty replacement sounds in order.

2manybikes

I don't think so.

2manybikes

Best idea so far.

Still need to switch the parts to a new frame. Hopefully they fit a new frame.

rmfnla

Never happen...

prathmann

Most extreme case of paint fading I've seen was on a friend's purple Trek mountain bike. At least it started out being purple. He tended to ride westward in the morning when the sun wasn't so intense and eastward under brighter sunshine in the afternoon. As a result the driveside of his bike eventually became white while the other side was still mainly purple. Kind of an interesting effect with the color varying based on the amount of UV exposure - undersides of tubes and other shaded parts still being dark purple while the most exposed areas had no trace of color remaining.

Doubt that anything short of a complete repaint would result in an improvement.

2manybikes

Exactly.

Sy Reene

If that's the situation with the big company bikes, might as well go with the bikesdirect thing then. What else does all that extra money buy if not some degree of quality assurance and warranty?

Jofu

Actually, Specialized now states in fine prints on their website that their Rocket Red color is prone to fading, and will not be cause for a warranty replacement... At least they had that on their site prior to the recent website overhaul (which I happen to not be a fan of!)

Geoff

Sy Reene

NIce.. It'd be better if they put it on the "for sale" sign hanging on the handlebars in the showroom.

Jofu

Found where I had seen it before: This is the 2015 Roubaix Expert in "satin silver tint carbon / Rocket Red / Black" (which I incidentally purchased a year ago ).

https://www.specialized.com/us/en/bi...4-expert/65415

Notice at the very bottom of the page, it says the following:

"The custom color—Rocket Red—is designed to naturally age over time. It will exhibit splashes of a dark rich color when exposed to prolonged direct sunlight. This finish is deliberate and therefore not covered under the traditional warranty policy."

Now, I don't know if the OP's paint issue is related to that Rocket Red paint described here, but I'm just pointing out that Specialized doesn't seem particularly interested in honoring a warranty purely based on paint fade

Hope this helps!

Geoff

dvdslw

It is possible to only paint the pink sections of the bike and I would have a professional paint shop do it for best results. After stripping the frame down to nothing, they will scuff the entire surface of the bike to allow the new material to stick and use an Adhesion Promoter like Bullydog to prep the surface. Next step is to tape up the whole bike leaving only the pink area to be exposed so the new color of choice can be applied. After drying, the tape is removed, light scuffing if needed to soften the edges of the new paint, and finally a clear coat finish is applied to the entire bike which can be gloss, satin, or flat depending on your preference. I'd guess it would cost about half the price of a replacement frame unless you're sporting an S-Works frame?

dalava

Here is a picture of the frame (my daughter's), not great but it's the only one I have on hand. As can be seen the fork has some fading, and so does the chain stay. The color on the underside of the down tube is much darker and more vibrant, and I think is the original color.

njkayaker

Much, much more trouble and expense than it's worth.

dalava

Im slowly coming to this conclusion myself. Maybe down the road to repaint the entire frame with a solid color.

Nachoman

Well it seems like the general consensus is no,
but I want to say that recently I had a ten year old quarter panel repaired and the body shop matched the paint perfectly.

StanSeven

What they are saying is the paint is designed to fade. It's not a warranty issue.

It's similar to clothes you buy that say they will fade and it's made that way.