Carbon forks chipped paint.

howson
howson Posts: 2
in Workshop
Hi could I please get some opinions on these chipped carbon road forks. Do you think they are rideable or do they need ŕepairing. Thanks

Comments

  • First.Aspect
    First.Aspect Posts: 14,623
    Clearly that's an aluminium plug in the end of the fork legs. Rub off the excess oxide, paint it. That will keep moisture out. Providing the interface with the carbon isn't significantly affected (most of this will be internal to the fork leg so it is unlikely) it is just a cosmetic issue.

    Oxides are roughly 1000 times less dense than native metal. So whilst it looks dreadful, very little of the actual drop out will have erroded.
  • MattFalle
    MattFalle Posts: 11,644
    Yup - exactly as FA.

    Sand peper it all smooth and nice.

    Apply paint.

    Ride.

    What works out really nice however and I've done this a couple of times is sand the entire leg down to bare carbon then spray the fork with 2 PAK lacquer - really nice and shiney, bombproof finish, loiks mint, lush, see.

    I'll see if I have a piccie of some on this here telephone.
    .
    The camera down the willy isn't anything like as bad as it sounds.
  • First.Aspect
    First.Aspect Posts: 14,623
    I have this issue on the crown of one of mine. Hammerite. The passivates are for iron and steel, but it is a gloopy covering that deals everything in. It's my commuter/rain bike so I don't care much what it looks like...
  • First.Aspect
    First.Aspect Posts: 14,623
    Passivators. Autocorrect.
  • Munsford0
    Munsford0 Posts: 606
    I had a load of that type of corrosion on my alu winter bike. There's a dead spot between the chainstays and the rear mudguard which just fills up with mud / grit / salty road crap, and it periodically wears through the paint. The fluffy white oxide then travels under the paint, flaking it off as it goes.
    As above, sanded it all back to bright metal / sound paint, then a couple of coats of etching primer, 2 coats of Ford Panther Black metallic left over from son's last Fiesta, then a couple of clear coats. Better paint job than the rest of the bike.

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