Carbon fibre care

bikeit65

Bought a Carbon Fibre bike in matte black recently what is the best way and products to use to keep the bike looking good?

nochekmate

Baby wipes!

luv2ride

I use this:
http://www.screwfix.com/p/muc-off-silic ... 00ml/79465
carbon friendly, good product and a good price. Sold out for delivery but you might find it a local store. Others will come along shortly advocating baby wipes. I now use both!

luv2ride

see! beat me by 3 minutes...

blackpoolkev

My LBS told me that they use "multi-surface furniture polish"(Pledge,Mr. Sheen etc.) on their showroom bikes.I spray it onto a cloth and wipe the frame,forks,stem and seatpost as a finishing touch.Works for me!

MattC59

For gods sake, don't get it wet, carbon melts in the rain !

mfin

Matte Copter tape anywhere wear cables/shoes/overshoes etc might rub.

Always wash it down with a cloth or sponge that's continually rinsed so you're not dragging grit over it which will scratch it or shine it up. No using baby wipes to remove dirt unless you have to, and then v gently and not being stingy with them, a dirty looking one will have dirt in which again will scratch or polish the frame.

Unless you want to turn it into a patchy gloss frame over time or you don't want it to look new for as long as possible, in which case just ignore the above.

rickeverett

Turtle Wax ICE is fantastic for polishing up if its gloss Carbon. The compound is friendly and leaves a surface that's easy to clean dirt off.

imposter2.0

Bikeit65 wrote:

Bought a Carbon Fibre bike in matte black recently what is the best way and products to use to keep the bike looking good?

There's nothing particularly special about a carbon bike which means that its paint finish needs to be looked after any differently to a bike made of any other material.

bikeit65

Its not the carbon fibre i'm concerned about it is keeping the matte finish, local car detailer advised me to only use shampoo and wax that is specifically for matte paint finishes as all other shampoo has ingredients that only enhance the shine on paint finishes.
I ordered some matte helicopter tape yesterday.

imposter2.0

Bikeit65 wrote:

Its not the carbon fibre i'm concerned about

you might want to edit your thread title then

bikeit65

Bozman

After owning a matt frame in the past I vowed never to buy one again, but like a prat I bought another and it's black.
To clean it I use hot soapy water and then wipe it down with a muslin, but if you want to keep it really clean just don't use the bike and leave it in a sealed unit.

bikeit65

When you say soap do you mean car shampoo/ if so which one, why muslin?

MattC59

Bozman wrote:

After owning a matt frame in the past I vowed never to buy one again, but like a prat I bought another and it's black.
To clean it I use hot soapy water and then wipe it down with a muslin, but if you want to keep it really clean just don't use the bike and leave it in a sealed unit.

What does he think about that ?

Bozman

MattC59 wrote:

Bozman wrote:

After owning a matt frame in the past I vowed never to buy one again, but like a prat I bought another and it's black.
To clean it I use hot soapy water and then wipe it down with a muslin, but if you want to keep it really clean just don't use the bike and leave it in a sealed unit.

What does he think about that ?

northpole

If you are prepared to make the effort (and incur the expense), I suggest you use car cleaning products such as Zymol shampoo in warm water with a proper cleaning mit. Rinse off with water and apply a bespoke matt detailing product such as Swissvax using a clean micro fibre towel. These have been developed for those daft vinyl wrap finishes you see on all sorts of exotic motors (beyond me why they do it!). The key is not to scratch the finish if at all possible which I guess is a heck of a challenge. Here is a link to one possible product:

http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog ... cat14.html

The thing is to decide and implement your cleaning regime from the outset if you are to have any chance of maintaining the finish. Good luck!

Peter

Camcycle1974

Bikeit65 wrote:

Bought a Carbon Fibre bike in matte black recently what is the best way and products to use to keep the bike looking good?

I have a matte black Ribble 872. After washing it in the normal way I then use a microfibre cloth (E-cloth or similar) and the accompanying polishing cloth. Keeps unsightly water marks off the frame and prevents it going shiny (as yet)

In my experience you don't need expensive materials, just keep the E-cloth and polishing cloth clean and you won't transfer dirt onto the frame.

bikeit65

Update.
After some more searching i found a local car detailer also makes his own products met up with himand he give me all sorts of help and advice about keeping a matte frame looking good, i bought some bramley bubble bath shampoo and perfection from him, used the perfection earlier and it leaves a lovely finish on the frame, will report back when i use the shampoo.
http://www.orchard-autocare.com/Default.asp