To 'copter tape Carbon downtube or not?

stevieboy

Should I 'copter tape my bike while it's still mint on the downtube or let nature take its course? I've put frame patches on all hose to frame contact spots but where I ride my old bike tended to get a semi-beating from stones that flicked up.

miket-62

Pop on a Crud Catcher

stevieboy

miket-62 wrote:

Pop on a Crud Catcher

But they weigh 30g's



































Joke

miket-62

Oh My God! 30g's.... Nightmare! :shock:
Best stick to copter tape then
How much does that weigh?
lol

xcman27

micket-62...how much did you pay for those wheels on the Genius?? if you dont mind me asking

stevieboy

stevieboy wrote:

Joke

Sorry, the carbon has gone to my head, i've come over all weight weenie

But seriously, how prone is the clearcote on carbon to chipping?

miket-62

Hi xcman27
Thats not my bike in my profile
I do ride a Genius but not a "bling" as that one
If you look carefully at the picture you will see that he has put a (Connondale) lefty front fork on as well. I don't know how well the Scott headset would last?

Nice looking bike tho!
Shame it's not mine

heez29

duct tape?

cjw

The clear coat on my downtube chipped very easily and quickly - within a week. So I put on Sportshield (esentially similar to Helicopter tape I expect).

And it weighs far less than a crud catcher and there is no way one of those is going on my Scott

pittpony

My frame chipped quite easily, although not on the downtube. Its mostly been from chain suck and around the dropouts but nothing that looks like its damaged the actual carbon. I have a front crud catcher on from the winter and it's made a righ mess of the varnish - scatched it up horribly. I've taped under it now to stop it getting worse

Bighead

Hi many rocks and stones have been thrown up onto my Scott Scale downtube and it still seems fine after over two years of use. The finish still appears unmarked which I think is quite remarkable. I am sure if Scott were not that confident it could withstand such a battering they would supply some sort of protector. If you are that worried about it you might aswell put on this copter tape anyway and then fprget about it.

cjw

Bighead wrote:

Hi many rocks and stones have been thrown up onto my Scott Scale downtube and it still seems fine after over two years of use. The finish still appears unmarked which I think is quite remarkable. I am sure if Scott were not that confident it could withstand such a battering they would supply some sort of protector. If you are that worried about it you might aswell put on this copter tape anyway and then fprget about it.

Hmmm... that is remarkable. My frame chipped very quickly from riding gravel paths. Hence the tape. Now if I look under the chainstay (where they join the BB) that is pretty chipped / rough to (again just the top coat) as there is no tape there. also on the rear narrow tubes going from seatpost to rear wheel. They've also got some scratching from stones. None looks bad, just wear and tear.

Bighead

Hi yes my Indian Fire Trail is chipped on the down tube so there is obviously scope in my riding for the Scale to get chipped aswell. If I wash it down after todays ride I will inspect it again although I havent noticed any problems before so I doubt I will today. If I can I will take a photo and post it on here.

cjw

There were two bigish (2mm) chips out of the downtube that I heard happen with large stone strikes - strange noise when carbon frames get tinged - sounds more like hitting cardboard :shock:

ride_whenever

cocoon the lot in helocopter tape, mainly because it keeps the bike looking nice. However I'd say it won't protect against chainslap or suck, a dumped chain will just chew through cotper tape, you really want the scott rubberised chainstay protector.

Johnny Napalm

My downtube on the 'Marin' is already chipped due to stones etc. I've never used 'Helicopter Tape' before, and wondered if it's particularly difficult to remove it once it's applied?

dunker

cover the whole lot in aluminium, that'll keep it safe

two layers of tape for twice the protection? about how much of a bikes stress goes through the downtube anyway? arn't most chips usually about half way down the downtube though and away from the headset area where i'd guess most stress is?

allthegearnoidea

i have added an additional wrap of Carbon weave to my down tube, then a coupl eof coats of resin on the lower side and around the bb chain stays etc!
noticed from the last ride we all did over some bumpy rocky terrain that quite a bit of the resin has chipped off on the downtube! pleased that i had it!!
was the main reason why i added it!

Bighead

OK so I have washed my bike and indeed there are marks on it where stones have hit the frame. These appear as small white marks although I had never noticed them before. In order to find them you need to go looking for them. If I bought my bike again I still wouldn't put this copter tape on it because I think it would spoil the look of the bike and the marks from stones don't really show anyway.



This image shows those little white marks. It looks quite bad in this photo but in real life they are not that noticeable. I just angle the camera till I got the light right so I could see them.




One place where I have put tape is underneigh the seat post collar. The mud got in that gap and when I tried to take the Ritchey WCS seatpost out it scratched the carbon, not nice!




CJW I remember a little while ago you posted on here about problems round about the area of the gear cable to the front derallier. I took a photo of mine and here it is:

cjw

Nope, wasn't me. I've had no problem there. By the way, the copter tape is invisible.

The tape is on the downtube here (sorry I haven't got a closer shot at the mo).

Bighead

OK apologies for that it was somebody else who had a similar frame

Does mud and water get underneith the tape? How does the colour of it compare with the patches Scott provide to stop the cables rubbing the frame?

cjw

Nope, mud and water doesn't get underneath. The Sportshield tape I've used is completely transparent. I've just got back from a ride so after I've cleaned the bike I'll post a close up picy.

LordBanks

Whats this 'copter tape then????

cjw

Here you go, some close up Picys, The edges are more clearly defined as I have just waxed the frame, so the edge of the tape is a little whiter than normal.