# Carbon Clear Coat peeling



## lacrossefreak17 (Apr 29, 2013)

I got a Carbon GT Force and the clear coat on the frame is starting to peel off. Ive looked around and found a lot about recoating it, but most I find are for road cycling frames and if it wasnt a mountain bike i wouldnt be to worried. I want to be sure that the structural integrity of the frame isnt damaged if I carefully wet sand the frame and reapply a clear coat on it? If anyone has some info thatd be great as I cant seem to find the answer I am looking for. Thanks!


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## PabloGT (Jun 22, 2014)

Not quite got to this stage with my bike yet, but I have re clear coated a carbon trunk lid on my car. As long as your careful and don't sand through any weave and resin the you should not affect the structure. something in the 600-1000 grit range should be enough to smooth off the damage ready for a re coat.


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## Eric Malcolm (Dec 18, 2011)

I wonder if you are over thinking this. No re-coat = more deterioration. What is the difference between a road bike and your bike? Its the carbon that needs addressing, not its status. Clean it up and put a suitable clear coat on it. Done.

Eric


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## lacrossefreak17 (Apr 29, 2013)

Well a carbon road bike isnt likely to snap because i wont be taking it off 10ft drops onto flats haha Im more asking i guess if the clear coat coming off is "saying" something about the carbon that it is becoming weaker from use i guess or if it is a protective coating for decay and it can just be reapplied and used without any issues??


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## car bone (Apr 15, 2011)

lacrossefreak17 said:


> I got a Carbon GT Force and the clear coat on the frame is starting to peel off. Ive looked around and found a lot about recoating it, but most I find are for road cycling frames and if it wasnt a mountain bike i wouldnt be to worried. I want to be sure that the structural integrity of the frame isnt damaged if I carefully wet sand the frame and reapply a clear coat on it? If anyone has some info thatd be great as I cant seem to find the answer I am looking for. Thanks!


Just sand it off and have it resprayed, polyurethane clear is the most durable I think. You probably don't even need to wet sand it with a 1000grit paper either, most likely a p400 will do. The more matte the surface the better the clear will stick.


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## Cayenne_Pepa (Dec 18, 2007)

If it is just small chips....clear nail polish can stop the propagation of further chipping.


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## dbohemian (Mar 25, 2007)

As was said before. It is just a clear coat de-lam. There can be a lot of reasons for it and the big boys rarely use a really high quality clear. It can easily be sanded down and recoated. Only issue is that if it is doing it all over and you re-coat over a part that is not well bonded that may just pop off taking your new clear with it.


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