For those who have sanded their bike, what is the proper sanding grits to start with then progress to to get a nice finished look?

Thx

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RUEGAMER 5.21kg, 11.48lbs

CRUMPTON 4.40kg, 9.70lbs

It's better to use a blade from a cutter knife to get varnished parts clean. That is way faster than sanding and works out great. You just have to take care ever to use a sharp blade, so you will need to change it three or four times when cleaning a frame.

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I have not sanded a frame, but have zipp carbon handlebars some old fsa cranks and a new SRAM red crank set. I found that starting with a 400 grit worked best to cut through the clear coat. Once you get thet off the paint seemed to come off rather easily. I wet sanded also. I worked my way progressively up to 1000 grit if i remember correctly. Also used some #0000 stelel wool.

I looked into having my foul weather bike stripped. In doing some research on here or fair wheel bikes forum, some one recommended soda blasting to me. I found a local person that said he would do the frame and fork and it would only take <2hrs. Wasn't very expensive. I was worried about him damaging the carbon and he said he could strip paint off of glass without a scratch.....now I am sure that glass is harder than the carbon, but I would take some old carbon bits or a cheap bottle cage or something to try first. Just to see if the results are acceptable.

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TIME RXR

I have sanded my entire Ridley Damocles and it wasn't easy; at least most every logo was a painted logo and not decals under clearcoat so the process was relatively straight forward.

1. Started with 120 grit to remove all clearcoat - it will come off as white/grey dust (at least it did in my case)
2. 220 grit to remove all paint stop with this when you see the black dust (you are starting to take off carbon)
3. 600 grit all over to bring out the carbon better
4. 1000 or 1200 to finish the job

Use 303 Aerospace protectant if you want to leave the carbon raw.

Hope this helps. Be aware the sanding takes a lot of time to do areas around headtube, bottom bracket, etc...

awesome. Thanks everyone

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RUEGAMER 5.21kg, 11.48lbs

CRUMPTON 4.40kg, 9.70lbs

Why? Finish?

Concerning the rest, sanding is just a waste of time, except in the corners you can't reach with a cutter blade. Give it a try

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I did not put any finish on the carbon. I like the matte ud raw carbon. I do use a auto wax paste on it a 4 or 5x a yr.
These cranks get all of the winter road salt through the winter and after 2 yrs they still look the same. No apparent damage from not having a clear coat.

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TIME RXR

That's my point, you do not need to protect the carbon from anything that is outside. Highly concentrated acid or bases can damage the matrix, that's it.

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After I sanded for a while and wet it, certain parts will dry faster and turn whitish. Is that clear coat still?

If there are still white scratches that means there is still clear coat, right?

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RUEGAMER 5.21kg, 11.48lbs

CRUMPTON 4.40kg, 9.70lbs

Yes, if you are seeing white that means there is still clear coat in place. You will have pure black dust when you hit carbon.

If I get to the carbon at say 600 grit, should I finish it at say 1200 or just completely stop once I hit carbon?

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RUEGAMER 5.21kg, 11.48lbs

CRUMPTON 4.40kg, 9.70lbs

If you hit the fibres, just have a look how the surface is. 600 should be okay.
You would not have the problem if you'd used the blades, then you get a smooth surface while removing all coatings.

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Went with the blade. Wow! Nice tip. Gets it super smooth and doesn't take as long. I like the results so much I may decide to sand my SR11 shifters and derailleurs.

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RUEGAMER 5.21kg, 11.48lbs

CRUMPTON 4.40kg, 9.70lbs

Trust me, I'm an engineer (or at least trying to become one ).


Edit: Concerning Shifters: http://lcblog.lotz-carbon.de/index.php? ... basteleien , also done with blades, like the WCS fork here: http://lcblog.lotz-carbon.de/index.php? ... basteleien.
I also have cleaned a frame and a bar, all works out fine, just the areas where some tubes come together isn't that good, you'll have to sand there in most cases.

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Anyone have a link to How-To using the blade method? Sanding has been discussed a bunch, but I have never heard of using a knife somehow. Gum, how'd your experience go? I need to do a zipp sl 145 stem and an old Giant aero seatpost... so, pretty complex forms.