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I've a 2017 model 160mm full suspension bike that I purchased new in 2018. It has always had some small bubbles under the paint which appear to have got slightly worse but it's hard to be 100% sure, it's also lost paint from the cable guides on the top tube which just flaked off, see images.
Is this anything to be worried about? If so, can it be rescued?
Well it's corrosion so best to wire brush it down and remove it all, see what's left, sand smooth, etch prime it then paint to match with a paint code from the manufacturer.
Thanks for the reply Yak.
Thought that might be the case. 🙁
Assume that stripping the paint around the cable guides and bubbling on the down tube is all that's required and not the full frame?
depends how precious you are.
Yes, just do the affected areas. Getting a paint colour and finish to match will be the difficult bit but see what the manufacturer says. I did a chainstay bridge area and despite having the right paint code it wasn't a perfect match... but it was hard to see so not really an issue.
Not very precious TJ 🙂 More worried about the frame failing and causing injury or ruining a riding holiday which is all it's really used for...although not much since 2018.
Will see about colour matching or just making statement colour choice once I've seen how bad the corrosion is, some of what I've read online suggests it could be corroding without breaking the paint or looking to bad which is a worry.
My road bikes far worse than that arround the edges of the paint where water gets in (headtube, brake mounts.etc) and hasn't got any worse than cosmetic over the years.
it could be corroding without breaking the paint
It's usually visible though. Filiform corrosion happens to bikes, it looks like lace or worms under the paint
Etch priming as above^^ is essential IME
Thanks for the replies. 👍🏻
Will dig out some sandpaper in the coming weeks and strip the paint back, etch prime, and paint.
Hopefully the corrosion isn't too bad. 🤞🏻