Weird discoloration on carbon fork

[dtsftw]

This is a relatively new (few months old) Cannondale Supersix Evo HM. I absolutely love the bike including its paint scheme with the chrome on black. However this morning I noticed a weird discoloration on the chrome part of the fork. The discoloration is very smooth, I don't feel any lumps. It feels part of the carbon or underneath it. It's just boggling my mind how it got this way. I took it to a good mechanic and he had no idea. I'll have to go through the hoops to talk with Cannondale but wanted to run it by some experts here in case this has happened to anyone else / if someone has any clue what is going on here. Thanks a lot!

[prendrefeu]

If you ever have the opportunity to sand off the clear/paint on a 3T carbon fork you may also find patches that appear red. When I asked about this to 3T the reply was that is a layer of (some type of) material - carbon? kevlar? I forget. Normally those areas are covered with another layer of UD for aesthetic reasons.

In this case it seems like whomever built that fork did not put that final UD layer on top to cover it up. The lack of that aesthetic layer does not affect performance, it's only an aesthetic layer not a structural one. Why the paint does not cover that area properly is weird.

Did you not see this before? The rest of the fork is painted, no?

[dtsftw]

It's weird because it didn't come like that. It must have happened over the last couple of days because I just noticed it. It definitely feels safe to ride, but what could cause it to change like that?

[prendrefeu]

It's super weird, as if the chrome paint has just disappeared. Is the clear coat still on top?

[wingguy]

We had the 2017 Evo HM chrome/black as team bikes this year and the majority of them had paint issues very early on. In our case water and dirt seeping in and looking horrible. The replacement frames pretty much all lasted through the season without further issues though - so I'm guessing there was an early batch where the chrome wasn't properly stuck to the carbon or something like that?

[dtsftw]

Yeah the clear coat is still on top. It's almost like a contaminant got underneath that coat, but there's no openings.

A little glad to hear it may be a common issue with Cannondale, and thus hopefully easily remedied by their customer support.

[OutbackKid]

Hello, I am very glad that I came across this thread! I've had the same exact issue, the color change is exactly the same, the exact frame. Except my discoloration is near the bottom bracket and rear chain stays. I've taken it back to the bike shop and they are asking Cannondale about it, so hopefully if it's a common issue, they are able to easily replace it.