Friedrich

Today I accidentally dropped my keys on the top tube of my bike and they have made a small scratch on the carbon frame. What can I do to cover it?

Mojo31

I would try a auto paint polish. That looks like a Mar in the clear coat. May polish out.

Iride01 

Ignore it. If your fingers are a little oily, then rub on it some and some of that will disappear. It'll fade away with subsequent use of the bike by getting dirty and then being cleaned.

If you need more immediate results then any kind of oil, fat or grease rubbed on it will fade it.

Or get a new bike and send that one to me!

blacknbluebikes 

Sharpie.

vtje

I think this frame is a goner... I can pm you my shipping address :-)
But seriously, nail polish works great and easy to match - I once had a purple bike and I brought it to Walgreens nail section and matched perfectly.

chaadster

Yeah, that’s a good suggestion, I think. Just hand polish it out; it looks quite shallow.

I’ve used clear nail polish to fill in a chip in clearcoat on my brake levers, but I don’t think that’ll be necessary here.

Iride01 

Have you never seen cars that have big blotchy areas on them but are otherwise smooth? That's because someone polished them too much and wore through the clear coat exposing the paint. Polish is abrasive and removes material. You'll be making your clear coat thinner in a large area around the ding. And while trying to smooth out the ding, you might wear it off almost entirely.

If you have to smooth the ding, then use the edge of some fine sandpaper or even a emery board for fingernails. Then put a blob of something clear on it. Like fingernail polish. Or look to see if they have some clear coat touch up at the auto parts store.

Me, I wouldn't worry about it. It'll disappear enough on it's own over time. Marks and dings tell history, even if it is just your keys falling on the frame.

Eric F 

In that case, my bikes have some stories to tell...

"This chip is because Eric was a dumbass...and here...and this one, too..."

Iride01 

Mine end pretty much the same way. But one can make some fun conversation building a story around them. Even the falling keys.

I just have to figure out how to get your name or some other's substituted for mine somehow in the stories of the dings and scratches on my bike! <grin>

Eric F 

In my experience, "It's Eric's fault", seems to be pretty believable around these parts.

chaadster

Sandpaper/emery boards are *much* more abrasive than car polish, and I think it would be a very bad idea to go at this with sandpaper.

Iride01 

Of course they are much more abrasive. But with them you only have to touch the edge of them to the place with the nick to get rid of any rough or sharp edge. With polishing or rubbing compound, you will have to rub it on a wider area around the nick.

Still, repeating myself, I'd ignore the nick or scratch. Out of mind and it will eventually be out of sight.

Mojo31

If you want to try, stay away from "compounds" as they are very aggressive. Use something like these products by hand using a microfiber cloth. You would have to be at it for a week to burn through the clear, and the odds of making it worse are very remote. I used both of these to remove light scratches from a Bronco hood using random orbital polishing machine, and it came out looking like new. You aren't removing the scratches, but are just blending the thickness differential at the edges of the scratches.

Personally, I'd try some to see if you can make it less obvious because I'm an anal SOB, but there will be a next scratch.

ljsense

First clean the area with mineral spirits or similar solvent that leaves no residue.

I would mix up a small amount of clear epoxy (the 5 minute stuff will do) and apply it to the nick with a toothpick or fine disposable brush.

After it dries (allow it to cure overnight even if you're using 5 min stuff), lightly sand it smooth with 400-600, 1000, and 2000 grit sandpapers, then polish it with aluminum polish.