Ultegra Lever Shifter Scratch

resolute
resolute Posts: 46
edited December 2008 in Workshop
Have just taken my bike out of the shed at work and noticed a scratch down the side of the right shifter. Is there any paint or spray I can get that will cover this up?

Edit: This is an ultegra sl shifter (Dark grey)

Comments

  • anyone know about this?
  • I've scrapped mine right to the white plastic - thought about buying one of those metallic markers from an art shop, never got round to it though!
  • softlad
    softlad Posts: 3,513
    your fingers will probably cover the scratch while you are riding it. When you are not riding it, just throw a sheet over it...

    or alternatively, don't worry about it at all and just ride the f'ker... ;)
  • deal
    deal Posts: 857
    the first scratch is always the worst :cry:
  • deal wrote:
    the first scratch is always the worst :cry:

    Even Rod Steward used to sing:

    "the first scratch is the deepest" or something like that

    Buy a bottle of whisky and get over it!
    left the forum March 2023
  • schilbach wrote:
    I've scrapped mine right to the white plastic - thought about buying one of those metallic markers from an art shop, never got round to it though!

    Don't do this - the art shop type ones aren't tough enough to stand up to being gripped/rubbed/pushed repeatedly. You'll end up with a silver sheen on your hands which you then transfer to everything else.
    Rides a Cannondale Synapse 105.
  • Nuggs
    Nuggs Posts: 1,804
    Try a small tin of touch-up paint from your local motorfactors. You can smooth it off with a very fine grade wet & dry paper used wet followed by some T-Cut to remove the fine scratches.
  • biondino
    biondino Posts: 5,990
    As per above, the first scratch hurts most. After that, you care less and less with each blemish, until you get to the point of seeing them as badges of honour, a real bike ridden in the real world by a real man!

    At least I do, anyway.
  • MabBee
    MabBee Posts: 40
    I agree with the general sentiment of other posters.

    Do you want a perfectly clean, scratch free, bike. Or do you want something that shows its mileage -- demonstrating that you are a commited cyclist and not just a poser or fair-weather-cyclist.

    I agree with obsessing about things that matter for the performance of a bike (eg should I run with 110 or 120PSI). But agonising over purely aesthetic issues is just for posers!
  • MabBee wrote:
    I agree with obsessing about things that matter for the performance of a bike (eg should I run with 110 or 120PSI). But agonising over purely aesthetic issues is just for posers!

    But it still hurts :(
    My dad bungled my bike in his van when i caught out with no lights and the scratches really show on ultegra sl, but ah well, i'm sure i'll eventually fall off so fook it 8)
  • Yeah like most people said its probably because its the first scratch, only got the bike (Tarmac expert) last week so didn't really want it scratched this soon.. I'm already 90% over it :P
  • oldgit
    oldgit Posts: 29
    Bugger. When I read this I thought, "what a big gaylord". But then it made me look at my 'pristine' Ultergra SL levers and I noticed some scratches on them that I've not spotted before. I've nearly stopped crying, although my mascara is a bit of a mess.
  • Cajun
    Cajun Posts: 1,048
    If you're really concerned; can you use a matching magic marker, then spray clear coating over it... trust me; you'll have many more scratches in the next year...just get over it and enjoy cycling!!... You will have scratches, dings, etc. if you're going to ride other than on your home trainer....
    Cajun
  • oldgit
    oldgit Posts: 29
    Is one supposed to ride them as well :shock:
  • I'd been borrowing a friends road bike while training for the lahndan triathlon. I then got a Focus delivered from Wiggle the Monday before the event which I took down to London. As my mate and I were doing this on the cheap, we stayed in a Hostel in Greenwich. The night after the race, there was a massive fight in the bar below the hostel which spilled out into the street and into the private beer garden enclosure belonging to the Hostel.

    When I got up the next morning both my locks had been trashed and my 7-day old, shiny carbon dream had been overturned and covered in paint :(

    I was standing there with my bottom lip trembling when my mate came out and was all "Ha! ye big fanny. It's only a bike!" and burst out laughing!

    Thankfully though, the levers were intact ;)
    ________________________________
    Roadie: Focus Cayo - FCN 4
    Commuter hack: Fixed Langster - FCN 5
    Winter hack: Battered Sirrus - FCN 9