Satin matte frame finish

slowmart

Looking at a deal on a bike with a satin matte finish and not having any experience of the robustness and longetevity means I would be grateful if anyone can share their experience?

It looks fine in the shop but my concern is it will be an absolute PIA to keep looking mint.

BTW I ride all year with an annual mileage of 5000 miles in all weathers.

gweeds

Baby wipes are your friend here....

AK_jnr

WD40/GT whatever its called brings it up nice after cleaning as well

redvision

Gweeds wrote:

Baby wipes are your friend here....

Baby wipes do clean bikes well.

Matte finishes are lovely BUT are bloody hard to maintain the beautiful surface & prevent scratches.

Personally I would avoid using GT85 or similar. Might bring it up nice & clean but can also remove the matte finish & creates a shiny surface (at least it did with my canyon ultimate CF :evil: ).

fudgey

what do you expect using an oil on a matt finish?

a tiny bit of normal car shampoo with no added wax to wash it was fine on my old matt black cube. or even just plain water

baby wipes are also very good, so i would agree on that one.

its matt, so dont rub it too hard or you will polish it and make it shiny.

i remember a photo shoot many years ago where the owner of a matt black and orange escort cosworth decided to polish the car.
the fool was up till 4am then having to polish all the matt black paint for the photoshoot. the matt black was one of the reasons we featured it... (used to work for a car mag)

redvision

Fudgey wrote:

what do you expect using an oil on a matt finish?

Exactly! :oops:
Shortly after getting my canyon back in 2013 I found an annoying mark inside the fork. A 'guru' from the bike club advised me that gt85 was the answer.
Naively I trusted his advice but within a second or so realised it was s*** advice!
Luckily it was in an unnoticeable place on the bike, although I always knew it was there which really p***ed me off (ocd).

Live & learn though.

fudgey

Ah.

isopropyl alcohol then, and dont rub much.

964cup

I use Decathlon's bike cleaner, or Muc-Off, and microfibre cloths. So far my (2011) frame still looks like new. Just be careful to wet the frame thoroughly, spray on the cleaner and let it work, then hose it off and lightly go over it with a clean cloth. The trick is never to rub grit into the finish, and to try and keep the bike clean - so wash after every ride if you can.

Flâneur

Hire a bike maid, MF can point you in the right direction

DKay

Had my matt finish Cayo since 2012 and it's not needed anything particularly fussy in terms of upkeep when compared to glass-painted bikes I've owned. Once a year, I'll give it a coat of a car wax (containing no polishing compound) and then just clean it using a bucket and sponge as and when it needs it.

ba68

I have a Matt and raw carbon Orbea Orca, although for this year they have now said it's 'satin', anyway, I use Red Ant cleaner and finisher, not cheap but works a treat, a bottle of each lasts about a year but I am quite fastidious about having a clean bike so you could well find it lasts longer. Don't use car shampoo, fairly liquid etc or it will affect the finish, I find the red ant cleaner followed by a rinse with water works fine.

DKay

I use car shampoo (Meguires Gold Class) on my Cayo and it's done nothing to harm the matt finish and nor should it. They shouldn't contain any abrasives and are designed to be mild, so as not to strip off any wax you'd applied previously.

gdf

I've got a matte black Ultimate SLX and have used Red Ant matt bike cleaner and then matt polish on it since first getting the bike and it still looks great. Definitely recommend the stuff.

http://www.sigmasport.co.uk/accessories ... p=view-all

dazz_ni45

I use the Morgan Blue matt carbon cleaner and it always leaves a good finish

reds99

Id use autoglym car bodywork shampoo

Cheshire Cat

gdf wrote:

I've got a matte black Ultimate SLX and have used Red Ant matt bike cleaner and then matt polish on it since first getting the bike and it still looks great. Definitely recommend the stuff.

http://www.sigmasport.co.uk/accessories ... p=view-all

This...Red Ant is an excellent cleaner for matt frames and leaves a nice, as new finish.

ic.

Cheshire Cat wrote:

gdf wrote:

I've got a matte black Ultimate SLX and have used Red Ant matt bike cleaner and then matt polish on it since first getting the bike and it still looks great. Definitely recommend the stuff.

http://www.sigmasport.co.uk/accessories ... p=view-all

This...Red Ant is an excellent cleaner for matt frames and leaves a nice, as new finish.

Agreed. Use it on my Matt finish R3. It's the business. Look no further

londoncommuter

You'd all kind of sold me on the Red Ant stuff for my new sadly matt frame until I also then read the blurb on their product for non-matt i.e. normal frames (below). Why on Earth do you need a special cleaner for gloss carbon frames? I've been cleaning my 2009 carbon frame with washing up liquid (rinsing off with tap water) and it still looks new.

Mind you, I had noticed it hadn't been effectively repelling water so I may have been missing out!


CARBON FIBRE BICYCLE FRAME CLEANER
• Frame friendly, fast, effective and safe all over carbon fibre bike cleaner
• Unique PH Neutral formulation is effective at cleaning heavy dirt whilst protecting your frame and other surfaces
• Unique carbon fibre frame dirt release and degreasing technology
• New bio-degradable cleaning technology

CARBON FIBRE BICYCLE FRAME PROTECTOR
• Protects and adds shine with gloss enhancer technology
• Designed to slow down dirt build up between washes
• Effectively repels water
• Up to 4 week all over surface protection technology

ic.

Washing up liquid contains a lot of salt, which is why I don't use it.

londoncommuter

IC. wrote:

Washing up liquid contains a lot of salt, which is why I don't use it.

Which is why I rinse off with tap water. Having said that, it's going to be baby wipes all the way with my nice new bike

noodleman

Don't waste your money on all these specialist products. Its only paint for crying out loud. Baby wipes and bathroom wipes cost peanuts and do a great job of cleaning matte frames.

964cup

Just had a look at the Red Ant range. What can possibly be in their "Titanium frame protector"? Enquiring minds want to know...

keef66

londoncommuter wrote:

IC. wrote:

Washing up liquid contains a lot of salt, which is why I don't use it.

Which is why I rinse off with tap water. Having said that, it's going to be baby wipes all the way with my nice new bike

I use car shampoo on my CR1 if I can ever be arsed to wash it. Occasionally I'll run out and use Fairy liquid instead. If I'm washing my bike there's a good chance it's already plastered in road salt; I doubt the tiny amount in a squirt of detergent would do any damage to a bike even if it wasn't rinsed off.

First world problems when you're worrying about what to wash your bike with...

DKay

I really don't understand all of these specialist products for matt frames either.

dorin.boca

redvision wrote:

Gweeds wrote:

Baby wipes are your friend here....

Baby wipes do clean bikes well.

Matte finishes are lovely BUT are bloody hard to maintain the beautiful surface & prevent scratches.

Personally I would avoid using GT85 or similar. Might bring it up nice & clean but can also remove the matte finish & creates a shiny surface (at least it did with my canyon ultimate CF :evil: ).

On my Canyon Ultimate SLX I use Atlantic Matt-Care 150ml spray, it does an amazing job. The bike is now 6 months old and haven't seen any "damage" it looks like day one.

mikpem

I use this: https://www.crankalicious.com/collectio ... boniferous
I also use their Endura stuff on everything I have to clean because I like the smell.

imafatman

Wow some road bikers seem pretty obsessive about the cleanliness of their bikes.... I've owned expensive mtb's all my life and never given two shits about how the frame looks. Apart from spraying down mud they live a tough and dirty life.

I just got a road bike which had a lovely pearlescent shimmer. You can't see it now, after 400km it's covered in dust. I'll probably give it a wipe with a damp cloth but that's about it.

Now a clean chainset.... that's something I'm obsessive about because it actually has a practical effect on my riding.

grenw

imafatman wrote:

Wow some road bikers seem pretty obsessive about the cleanliness of their bikes.... I've owned expensive mtb's all my life and never given two shits about how the frame looks. Apart from spraying down mud they live a tough and dirty life.

Ahh but an mtb only looks right when it's filthy. That's what I tell myself anyway.

keef66

When I got my first proper road bike I kept it clean. For the first couple of weeks anyway, then the novelty wore off. Now I've got 2 of them I wash them properly maybe once a year. I prefer to spend my bike time on riding, maintenance and occasional lubrication.

slowmart

I'm pleased to say the Matt frame has been fine with nothing other than a clean when it's dirty regime.

pinno

Slowmart wrote:

...a clean when it's dirty regime.

That's revolutionary.

Bikes used to be shiny and have chrome. You could spend hours cleaning them and really make an impact.

If ICanBA to clean my bike, I wash it with washing up liquid and then car shampoo. Though I do keep the transmission as clean as possible. The invloves chucking more lube on it and wiping it off.