Invisiframe or not?

New bike arrives on Wednesday and just deciding in whether to Invisframe it. Its a Whyte T130 and have read that the paint is on the rather thin side.

I’m all up for its a mountain bike so ride it, but as much as a few marks here and there are ok, I would prefer it not to look mor ebeaten up than it should!

Anyone fitted a Matte kit?

yep, took about 2.5 hours to do it on my Hightower. Bike still looks like new after nearly a year of abuse.

Well worth doing it but only really worth doing it when its new and before you’ve ridden it, otherwise you might as well not bother.

I’ve fitted a few kits – my bikes are always cleaned and lubed post ride. So keeping them looking shiny is important for me.

The invisi kit does work and keeps them looking new. I’ve got one on my YT Capra for example, which will be 2 years old soon – still looks new.

If your fussy like me then they are worth it. If you don’t wash your bike or don’t care then don’t bother. Does take time and care to fit though. I’ve done about 4 and it still takes a few hours to do well.

I’m fussy! Probably make me angry whilst fitting but sounds worth the effort!!

My thoughts are always, “it’s a mountain bike for heavens sake, it’s meant to look a bit rough” and a lie to myself and anyone who’ll listen that I’ll throw it on the floor as soon as I get it so I stop worrying about keeping it ‘mint’.

Then I cry like a baby everytime I see a blemish. 15 years an lord know how many bikes… I’ll do it next time… probably.

I’ve had a couple of kits fitted by Lee (invisiframe man), they are great and work well IME.

Worth it if your bike is your pride and joy. I haven’t bothered on my current bikes as two were secondhand and the other I’m not too fond of the colour anyway.

I wish had, my T-130 appears to have been painted in cheese.

The rear stays are almost down to bare metal..

I don’t see the point, it’s not like it’ll make the bike much more sale-able?

I don’t see the point, it’s not like it’ll make the bike much more sale-able?

I would argue that a bike thats around 3 years old, invsiframe pays for itself in resale value as the bike is in such better condition. I wouldn’t touch a well work bike.

if you’re going to do it, do it when it’s brand new or be prepared to sanitise your bike like never before – it still needs some de-greasing from new though.
I fitted the matt kit to some forks, it was marginally easier than the gloss stuff, though that might have been just practice.
Daver27s time of 2.5 hours is impressive. It took me a week of evenings to get it done. Also make sure you’ve got somewhere that can get wet because there’s a lot of ‘misting’ involved.

If you can drop it with them in Shrewsbury and go for a ride somewhere like Long Mynd or Eastridge, it’d be well worth the fitting fee IMO.

It’s brand new but has been on display so will make sure it’s given a good wipe over before!

My key is not to rush or get frustrated!!!

I went semi-cheapskate and got the All Mountain Style kit (£22) for downtube and stays, and some gorilla tape (£5?) for a handful of other spots (including forks) I expected cable rub etc. It’ll do me, I don’t expect to sell my bikes.

I do my bikes, but I tend to keep mine clean / working well.

Crash damage is one thing but heel rub, cable rub, rub from muddy shorts etc is just annoying.

It’s not too bad to fit – did my Scout in three hours or so including degreasing it AG tar remover.

A new bike that cost £1000’s, for the sake of spending a £100, seems daft not to, yes it will get beaten up but crash wounds are different. Only takes a few gritty wet rides or a bike wash using a brush to dull off the paint work, it’s worth doing all day long.

I can recommend Nick at Shackwrap[/url] in Bury, if you’re in NW England. He wraps all the Leisure Lakes hire fleet.

And this thread from last year might be useful.

my 2.5 hours was with a brand new frame. i didn’t include the hours building it up afterwards!
that was just a straight 2.5 hours sticking it on. once you’ve worked it out, its a doddle.

Mine is fully built so will be a bit trickier but I’m in no rush so will just take my time, piece by piece, beer by beer!!

I ummed and ahhed when I got my Aeris in August, decided I didn’t have time before heading off for the summer trip- 4 months later I wish I’d made the time. Painted metal is a lot less durable than lacquered CF.

Vinnyeh What are those wheels like?

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/dt-swiss-m1700-spline-30-29er-wheelset

vinnyeh – I put double tape on my Aeris’ stays in that exact sport after realising I was regularly clipping it with my heels. Your pic validates my OCD 🙂

I’ve had it on every bike and they all looked like new when sold on – making the investment worthwhile. My current Trek is a year old and has done 2000km – still looks brand new. Often get asked if i’ve only just got it – it gets ridden in manky Scotland every week.

Take your time – degrease each part immediately before putting it on and follow the instructtions that come with the kit. It’s fairly straightforward to fit. Hardest bit is the top tube and especially how it fits around the seat tube and head tube. Lee has recently added more instructions about exactly where to place the key bits. Last kit we got about 6 weeks ago was the easiest yet.

Without a doubt. I had the shan done and dont regret it. Mind you i put a nick in the one place not protected!

I just bought a genesis tarn rigid for bimbling about and only put a couple of bits on the frame 2 rides later i am througb the paint on the fork with cable rub….

My Orange had it done three years ago, took me three hours to do and it still looks great.
I was going to change my bike but because it still looks good I treated it to a set of new Pikes and I’ll ride it for another couple of years yet.

Ordered! Now to put time aside to get it down nice and slooooooooowwww

How easy is it to get the generic kits looking neat? There isn’t a custom one for my frame, my top and down tubes are quite angular so either need to trim the vinyl to the top of the top tube/underside of the down tube, leaving the shoulders of the tubes quite vulnerable, or form it onto the sides of the tubes and leave an edge all the way along the tubes.

I was in the same position as you OP – Whyte T130rs in Matt black – bought matt finish sheet from Shakwrap. I thought £72 for an Invisiframe kit was a pisstake so thought I’d make my own sections from the sheet. After hours of meticulous measuring, cutting diligently with scalpels and coins for corners. It looks great TBH but all things considered the £72 is not bad value – depends how much you value your time.

Spooky – if you get decent quality wrap that isn’t too thick then it’s possible to wrap around edges and convex surfaces if you take care. The film is a bit stretchy so you can form it with some gentle heat and persuasive squeegee work. What you cant do is compress it and wrapping concave surfaces is tricky that’s when you get wrinkles or edges that just won’t go down.

It’s hard to describe but easier to feel if you give it a try. I bought some generic tape to double up on some areas and fill in gaps the invisiframe kit didn’t coverand Fitting one of the kits definitely gives you a good insight into how to shape pieces so they’ll fit and stay stuck.

2.5 hours! balls to that. thats time i could be riding, get it done by the pro’s while your at work then you are good to go at weekend! shackwrap costs about £100 fitted.

If your frame has a gloss paint finish does it make more sense to go for Gloss finish? Can anyone reccomend a fitter in West London, Basingstoke or Reading?
thanks
EV

I never bother on mine.
I like to show the next owner what the bike’s been through, so I’m not hiding anything. That way he/she can see where its been hit (especially important with carbon because you never know what its like under the first few layers after its taken some beatings). At least there are some visual clues without the tape

It also helps that I only keep bikes for a year so they don’t depreciate too much.

Personally I’d never buy a bike thats been taped up, there’s just far too much unknown. Yeah it might look nice but beauty is more than skin deep. ‘d rather spend my time on keeping it all working than trying to hide blemishes. I do use touch up paint on the odd occasion though 🙂

Is Invisiframe suitable / necessary for a bare metal frame, specifically Titanium? About to pull the trigger on a Pickenflick and thinking about some frame protection.

Or considering just the most vulnerable areas with cheaper hellitape …

Is Invisiframe suitable / necessary for a bare metal frame, specifically Titanium? About to pull the trigger on a Pickenflick and thinking about some frame protection.

Or considering just the most vulnerable areas with cheaper hellitape …

I did both of my Ti Switchbacks because the Ti marked really easily. I think it looked pretty good.

Timbud – you may be overestimating the ability of frame tape to hide or protect against anything more than superficial damage. Far easier to cover up a crack with a bit of paint for example.

Well I went for it, bought a 600x400mm sheet of gloss.

My frame isn’t really brand new as it’s been built and ridden by journo’s, and photographed for at least one online seller. (cos my frame number is in the photos!)

Definitely go for gloss if your frame is shiny, I applied the logo sticker they sent and once in I realised it’s on Matt film, it’s much more visible.

I made templates from A3 paper, if you can tape it into place fairly snugly then you have a good chance of getting the film on bubble free. I had to reduce the side coverage on the top tube as I hadn’t realised how hydro formed and tapered it was, but the film formed over the square edges fairly easily and once squeegee’d it did not lift.

I was surprised how easy it was, did top of top tube, underside of downtube, almost full wrap of seat and chain stays, and the sides of a carbon fork. No bubbles that I can see. Got a bit left over so saving that for putting under the straps of stuff like frame bags.

Use a new Stanley blade, cut from the film side.

Spooky where did you buy your sheet from ?

I got it direct from Invisiframe for an eye watering £47. Couldn’t work out if the cheaper variants were similar quality.

Up to you.

It’s not cheap, but it’s the best frame protection. It’s not like crappy tape that lifts after a year or so.

No point if the bike isn’t mint, ideally you want it applying to the frame before build. Follow the instructions to the letter, do it inside in a warm room and you’ll be fine.

First time I had the heating on this year for any considerable time… Just to apply the film 🙂

hardtailonly – Member
Is Invisiframe suitable / necessary for a bare metal frame, specifically Titanium? About to pull the trigger on a Pickenflick and thinking about some frame protection.

I Invisiframed my Occam when new. Given the cost of the bike and the lovely paint finish I reckon it was well worth while.

My Ti Pact, used for bikepacking and therefore subjected to bags being strapped on and multi-day mud/grit, I didn’t bother.

My Ti Amazon has also had a lot of on- and off-road use and still looks almost new.

For me, it’s one of the advantages of titanium.