Bike tape and anodizing problems.

masonmikem

Hi has anyone had any problems with biketape from biketart asi put it on my new yeti 575 frame ,after 3 months i removed it as it was lifting at the edges.i noticed it had pulled some of the anodizing off . biketart & yeti refuse to sort out the problem saying im just unlucky .[ biketart now doesnt recomend using it on anodizing as its a gloss finish ? ]please reply if you had any similar problems or just be warned.

fwb2006

I recently replaced copter tape on my 575 (from jra) warmed it up first and it peeled straight off, did you warm yours up first too??

nicklouse

anodizing is a chemical reaction of the metal producing an oxide. this normally almost impossible to remove.

do you have pictures of the damage?

masonmikem

hi lads i didnt warm the tape up to remove, it was starting to peel anyway/came off realy easy. its the top colour layer that came off.i will try to put some photos on.

Dirtydog11

Surely Biketart should take some responsibility.

According to their website the tape they sell is made by 3M .

I've had a look at the 3M product guide and I think that the tape you bought is designed to protect Automotive clear coat and not Anodised finishes.

From what I can gather 3M only make one type of tape to protect anodised finishes but is not suitable for clearcoat so it wouldn't have been that.

If Biketart have been selling it as do it all protection and haven't alerted you to the fact that its not designed for anodised finishes then they need shooting!

stevieboy

I tried that tape once, lifted far too easily and was horrible to apply (too thin).

I now only use Bikeshield. Been on my Scale & Kona for a year and not one part of it has lifted.

Either way this sounds like a failure of the anodising

Northwind

Nick is right, anodising is essentially dyeing the metal itself, it doesn't "lift" like paint does. I think that the reason that 3M and now Biketart don't recommend this tape for anodising isn't that it generally damages it (I used it on my Scandal, never an issue) but because it just doesn't stick to it well enough.

In some industries, especially cheap motorbike products, it's very common for anodised finishes to be given a top-coat or ink-wash where there's colour defects (which can be common with certain alloys and production methods). But it's a bit of a bodge, I'd be surprised if Yeti would use that approach.

Still, if done right anodising just shouldn't come off like this, it takes a serious chemical attack to shift the colour and it does that by literally removing metal

nicklouse

Northwind

i have one anodized frame that no sticker will adhere to due to the finish.

which is why I am waiting for pictures

Maxticate

I don't see how it is possible to damage anodizing with stickers. It also isn't a gloss finish unless they put a laquer clearcoat over the top of it.

Check this link out

http://www.docsmachine.com/tech/anod.html

It tells you how anodizing works. For aluminium anyway.