Carbon frames & Helitape

jmillen

Evening folks...

I've just bought a Stumpjumper carbon and I'm keen to protect the frame as much as I can before going out to give it some abuse.

What have people done, gone over the whole frame? Underside of the BB ? What about the top tube, etc?

I'm not really sure how easily these frames will pick up scratches etc and want to avoid it as much as I can.

What have you done with yours?

Thanks in advance

JasonRwmb

I just cut pieces of helicopter tape to cover the frame where cables will rub - also if your heels could rub the chainstays put some here too. As long as you are fairly careful you shouldn't get too many scratches on the bike.

I find if you cut the tape out as rectangles with curved corners it resists peeling much better.

A couple of years ago I had a Yeti ASR-SL which I covered in heli tape when I first got it, the frame stayed in great condition. After I had owned it for about two years I found a massive crack in it and the frame was a write off (luckily replaced FOC by Yeti) so now I don't go too over board on frame protection.

scale20

My Scale 20 took a bad hit under the BB shell so I cut a piece of 5mm wetsuit up to fit under the BB shell with some small tabs that ran along the chainstays and downtube so I could cabletie it on. Did the job a treat, you could see on the neoprene where rocks had been hitting after fitting it.

It all sound a bit chipshop but you couldn't see it.

Eskimo427

I have a nice new Scott Spark 20 which I've just finished taping up. I've put it on the underside of the downtube, across the top of the top tube, under cables which are likely to rub, on the inside of the rear triangle and at the back of the seat post.

My thinking is the bottom tube will get hit by stones, the top tube I tape a pump to it and the rest is protected from the mud etc which is thrown up or is attached to the rear wheel. I have a old GT which has seen a lot of action in it's life, so using the frame on that as my benchmark I taped where I thought the tape would provide the best protection.

bomberesque

In my Ibis I did

underside of the downtube, HT to BB
inside of chain and seatstays at the tyre

billysan

Has anyone tried applying helitape to an anodized frame? does it adhere properly to the textured surface?

POHB

My Stumpjumper carbon frame is coming into it's 3rd year of abuse now. When I first put the bike together I taped where I thought the cables would rub and it already had some under the downtube. It has a few scratches now but nothing major, in fact the carbon seems more resistant to cable rub than paint on a metal frame.

jmillen

POHB wrote:

My Stumpjumper carbon frame is coming into it's 3rd year of abuse now. When I first put the bike together I taped where I thought the cables would rub and it already had some under the downtube. It has a few scratches now but nothing major, in fact the carbon seems more resistant to cable rub than paint on a metal frame.

Liking the sound of that. I've been out and put some in a couple of obvious places, but don't really want to go ott. I think I'll go for my ride tomorrow evening, and see where seems to take the majority of the action and do what I can from there...

ride_whenever

Did the entirety of my 456 frame, and i'll do the same for the carbon one when it arrives.

jmillen

I've come across a couple of really awkward places on this frame where the tubes vary in diameter, and direction throughout their length. I had 2 goes at it and !@?<$% both of them up....

I guess it would be alot easier if I took everything off the bike, but it was only built for me on Monday. I guess I could though :roll:

bomberesque

ride_whenever wrote:

Did the entirety of my 456 frame.

does that mean the tape's worth more than the frame?

ride_whenever

Nah, one roll did the frame fine...

cheeky git

Definitely do it before you build the bike though, sooooooo much easier.