Yet Another Cycling Forum
General Category => The Knowledge => Topic started by: Oxford_Guy on 21 September, 2018, 06:05:34 pm
-
Was thinking about getting a sacrificial chainstay protector for the new Mercian road bike frame I have on order, to try to preserve the lovely paintwork, but most of those I've tried in the past on other bikes have been fairly rubbish, with the main problems being:
a) Not sticky enough, so curling up at the sides and then getting grit stick underneath the edges
or
b) Too sticky, so being a pain to remove when it's got so battered that I wanted to replace it, and actually pulling off some of the frame lacquer in the process
and/or
c) Being not durable enough and not lasting very long until it looks rubbish
I'd also prefer something fairly subtle - so I guess clear, black, though possibly polished aluminum or something.
Any recommendations for a chainstay protector that is actually any good?
-
My experience of helicopter tape for this sort of thing is that surface preparation is important for making it stick (clean it with alcohol and let it dry thoroughly), but that if the area you're applying it to has too tight a curvature or a funny shape that it can't conform to it inevitably starts to peel at the edge. Then the oil gets in, and it's doomed.
Vinyl wrap of the type usually used for applying Scotchlite fares somewhat better (to remove without drama, apply heat), but I wouldn't rate its protective abilities against a bouncing chain (rather than a rubbing cable, which it seems to work for on my Brompton).
The velcro-on fabric ones the MTBers use certainly do the job, but look awful.
I wonder if low-end bar tape or hockey tape or something would take more than 5 minutes to look bad?
A bit of sheet metal is an interesting idea. Very thin stainless, maybe?
The darksider in me says enclose the chain in a PTFE tube, but the short run and large deflection near the potential anchor points (unless it's a single-speed) make that hard to do neatly. Also, even PTFE will eventually mark the paintwork, if only by polishing it.
-
Apols for ebay link.
Made of aluminium (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Velobitz-Vintage-Retro-Plain-Aluminium-Chainstay-Protector-Self-Adhesive/252727621735?epid=936857006&hash=item3ad7bd7867:g:PGEAAOSw2xRYfUDi)...
-
Good quality (3M) helicopter tape is firmly stick to my new trike in exactly that particularly oily place - Top Tip. radius the corners.
-
Apols for ebay link.
Made of aluminium (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Velobitz-Vintage-Retro-Plain-Aluminium-Chainstay-Protector-Self-Adhesive/252727621735?epid=936857006&hash=item3ad7bd7867:g:PGEAAOSw2xRYfUDi)...
Looks good and obviously tough, but would it stick to anything other than one particular shape chainstay?
-
I'd have thought it would be soft enough to be bent by hand.
-
I'd have thought it would be soft enough to be bent by hand.
They are - I formed one to fit the chainstay of my venerable Galaxy - and the double sided tape it came with has withstood many 000s of miles in all weathers.
Rob
-
I've always used ordinary insulating tape. It works fine.
-
I've always used ordinary insulating tape. It works fine.
As in electrical tape? Well I guess that would probably meet the stays on well, easy to remove criteria. Probably not the most stylish option, though...
-
Apols for ebay link.
Made of aluminium (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Velobitz-Vintage-Retro-Plain-Aluminium-Chainstay-Protector-Self-Adhesive/252727621735?epid=936857006&hash=item3ad7bd7867:g:PGEAAOSw2xRYfUDi)...
I quite like the look of these type of one's, but unsure whether they're going to wreck the paint when it comes time to remove them...
-
BTW I use helicopter tape extensively on my Brompton, but mostly just to prevent cable and wheel (when folded) rub. in some places it does need replacing often.
-
As in electrical tape? Well I guess that would probably meet the stays on well, easy to remove criteria. Probably not the most stylish option, though...
Black, or a close match to the bike colour, is generally discreet enough not to matter. It's protection, not decoration. Also black is a good match for any grease that gets on it, which then doesn't show up.
-
Apols for ebay link.
Made of aluminium (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Velobitz-Vintage-Retro-Plain-Aluminium-Chainstay-Protector-Self-Adhesive/252727621735?epid=936857006&hash=item3ad7bd7867:g:PGEAAOSw2xRYfUDi)...
I quite like the look of these type of one's, but unsure whether they're going to wreck the paint when it comes time to remove them...
Again experience - no problem with both original paint or powdercoat on frames where I've used/removed them - frame upside down and dribble WD40/GT85 along the edges and let it soften the glue before peeling off the metal strip (some of these things are "chrome coloured plastic" not metal)
Rob
-
Think I would be ducked off mightily if double sided tape took the paint with it...
-
Apols for ebay link.
Made of aluminium (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Velobitz-Vintage-Retro-Plain-Aluminium-Chainstay-Protector-Self-Adhesive/252727621735?epid=936857006&hash=item3ad7bd7867:g:PGEAAOSw2xRYfUDi)...
I quite like the look of these type of one's, but unsure whether they're going to wreck the paint when it comes time to remove them...
Valid concern, though I suspect the d-s tape may just eventually degrade and the metal strip loosen (and hopefully not go into wheel when riding). On my steel frame bike I still have a black plastic Deore XT Shark Fin. This originally had d-s tape and one cable tie through the fin base; now with the d-s tape loosened I added second cable tie at other end.
Anyway, not recommending the Shark Fin, but probably I would be tempted to try and get a couple of layers of helicopter tape to stick well. Almost invisible and easily replaced?
edit. I've had some tough/wide/clear sellotape for years, which I've used to put under light brackets etc, and may be worth a shot. Think it's this... https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sellotape-Super-Packaging-Tape-Clear/dp/B00NSUUD1A
-
Apols for ebay link.
Made of aluminium (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Velobitz-Vintage-Retro-Plain-Aluminium-Chainstay-Protector-Self-Adhesive/252727621735?epid=936857006&hash=item3ad7bd7867:g:PGEAAOSw2xRYfUDi)...
I quite like the look of these type of one's, but unsure whether they're going to wreck the paint when it comes time to remove them...
What if the paint does come off, isn't it always going to be covered anyway? At that time can't you just repaint with anything offering good corrosion protection and re-cover? What the eye doesn't see...
Alternatively, you could belt and braces with some clear tape that doesn't offer much protection, like the car vinyl stuff, and put a solid protector on top of it. I've also seen those solid protectors held in place by zip ties, but I'd be concerned they were trapping water/dirt underneath.
On my one bike that needs it, I have a strip of innertube under a wrap of insulation tape, the tape needs replacing every year or so, which is a quick job. It's a dark frame so the black tape blends in, it'd look poor if it stood out.
-
At Mercian prices I'd expect the finish to survive anything up to and including an event which would obliterate a Nelson Longflap!
-
I think initially I might just give helicopter tape a go and just replace it often. It seems to come off okay on my Brompton...
-
some frames have braze-ons fitted to the chainstay that allow spare spokes to be stowed there. The spare spokes also work like a protector for the chainstay; at least that is the idea, anyway.
IIRC this scheme is something of a mixed blessing; someone will have a tale to tell for sure. I have only once removed a spoke from such a thing intending to use it, and it was not easy; you can't get a spoke key onto the spoke and a screwdriver to work the nipple has to be able to lie flush against the stay and not be too long either.
BTW if you are set on using a stick-on protector you arguably may as well try the frame without a protector and see how you get on. If the paint gets a bit scratched, does it really matter given that it is covered up with a chainstay protector of some kind....?
cheers
-
some frames have braze-ons fitted to the chainstay that allow spare spokes to be stowed there. The spare spokes also work like a protector for the chainstay; at least that is the idea, anyway.
IIRC this scheme is something of a mixed blessing; someone will have a tale to tell for sure. I have only once removed a spoke from such a thing intending to use it, and it was not easy; you can't get a spoke key onto the spoke and a screwdriver to work the nipple has to be able to lie flush against the stay and not be too long either.
Perhaps a lower-tech cable tie based method of securing the spare spokes would work better, as all you have to do is cut or unclip the cable tie, or even just slide the desired spoke out from under it. It's what I've done to carry some spares on my tourer (on which I've never had a spoke issue, thus demonstrating that it works), albeit I've attached them to a rear rack stay which is less exposed to crud and Sheffield stands than the chainstay.
Again, aesthetics may be an issue.
-
At Mercian prices I'd expect the finish to survive anything up to and including an event which would obliterate a Nelson Longflap!
We all know that at the end of the world, the four riders of the apocalypse will find nothing but a Nelson Longflap floating in the void, and inside it, a nest of earwigs and an uneaten Ginsters steak slice.
-
surely there will be a sturmey archer AW hub in there too....?
cheers
-
surely there will be a sturmey archer AW hub in there too....?
And possibly rogerzilla's caught-short-in-the-woods miniature Lidl camping stool.