Hey guy, this may very well be a stupid question, but I bought a Trek elite 9.7 last autumn (2010), a fabulous bike that I rode a great deal into the winter months. Come the new year work got really crazy, so it got stored (inside) for some time as I barely got the chance to ride. Now that my workload is subsiding and the weather is getting nicer I’ve the time to whip myself back into shape.

While taking it out for perhaps the first ride ever in stunning sunshine I noticed a quality to the frame’s finish that I hadn’t even after months of autumnal riding; in some areas, the dark finish, when viewed in direct sunlight has a copper like sheen to it, but there is no pattern to this marking and it is only appears in seemingly random areas. When I first noticed this I thought it was dirt:

I feel stupid for having to ask this, but is this a normal and intended quality to the finish? Or is it some strange fatigue and/or tarnishing? This would be odd given the frame is under a year old and has been well looked after.

Thanks for your expertise.

What tires have you there.
Like the tread pattern

My easton bars are like that in very bright sun. I wouldn’t worry about it.

It’s the natural lay-up of the carbon fibre. Looks cool.

The tyres are Bontrager XDX btw

At a guess I would say it’s shadowing/reflection from the glue when sticking the carbon weaves together.

Ok, thanks all for putting my mind at ease! 🙂

And yeah, good spot on the tires, they are indeed Bonty XDXs (2.2s).

Yep, entirely normal. It’s what carbon fibre looks like when it doesn’t have the classic cosmetic carbon weave over the top.

My focus road bike is the same, I think it looks really good, but some folk think it looks hopping. I much prefer it to the classic carbon weave, which I think looks a bit tacky these days.

My next question, perhaps for you cp if you have more exp with this type of carbon finish, would it benefit from some car shampoo now and then in the same way a more traditional gloss finish would? ie. to help stop grime taking to the frame.

Cheers!