Rm Paint quality

[brombeer]

Does anyone has experience with the riese müller Paint quality?
On the front of my Bike (brand New!) I see several issues. One of them according to the dealer is caused by the 'cockpit' stem in the most upright position in combination with a slightly too short brake cable.
They 'fixed' this by adding a transparant sticker.
The others look like flaws inside the Paintwork. No reaction on that part so far...
Should I accept this quality considering it's a brand New 5000 euro Bike?

 

[JVBulman]

There isn't much that can be done to fix the marks, but I'd definitely press your shop for a discount.

 

[brombeer]

Thank you for your answer (and the insight on how to adjust the cockpit stem in an earlier post )
I was rather hoping it could be fixed...

 

[Deacon Blues]

Putting some sort of surface protection tape on the frame paint where a cable may rub is a good idea. I've had to apply helicopter tape on both my Giant Defy road bike and my Cannondale Lefty 3 e-gravel bike.

 

[TimJohn]

You may want to try some cut polish on those scratches. They don't seem too deep and I bet cut polish (available from your local auto parts place) will do the trick. Then place a clear plastic cover like the ones you find for an iPad or any cell phone.

 

[dblhelix]

Don’t forget to protect your rack. I believe R&M makes TuffCoat foil (or similar-sounding) available to your dealer for this purpose.

 

[MartsEbike]

I'm not sure I'd accept the sticker solution. It needs Polishing out properly - and then apply Paint Protection Film. No point adding it over flaws in the paintwork.

 

[brombeer]

The dealer is very helpful and will try to polish it out, I hope this will solve it...

 

[brombeer]

Don’t forget to protect your rack. I believe R&M makes TuffCoat foil (or similar-sounding) available to your dealer for this purpose.

That's a good idea, thank you for the suggestion. I'll see what They have available.

 

[brombeer]

The dealer is very helpful and will try to polish it out, I hope this will solve it...

 

[Alaskan]

Unfortunately this is all too common and very disappointing.

I would insist that the dealer either:

1. Repair it
2. have it repaired at an auto body shop at their expense
3. or give you a substantial discount for an unacceptably flawed product
   
   If they opt of #3 you can get two different auto body polishing products, Finessit and Perfectit that can be applied and carefully rubbed in to polish light marring in paint. IF the bike has clearcoat over paint and the scratches are just in the outer clearcoat then this should be relatively easy to make disappear. If it has penetrated through the clear coat to the color coat then it will need a repair to the clear coat which should be done at good auto body shop.

 

[nashdm2]

I agree with the clear coat suggestion from Alaskan. A good detailer will put a very small polisher on it and it will be gone.

 

[brombeer]

Polishing is schedulud for 10th of May, to be continued...

 

[brombeer]

The dealer tried but without succes.
I'll follow the suggestion to go to a car repair shop.

 

[Moony]

The frame paint is far better than the rack paint. That is shocking. Mine wore through to bare metal in the first week Using panniers. I added the stickers and they need replacing now as they have worn through. My 10 year old rack on my other bike does not have a mark on it After years of touring.

 

[JVBulman]

The frame paint is far better than the rack paint. That is shocking. Mine wore through to bare metal in the first week Using panniers. I added the stickers and they need replacing now as they have worn through. My 10 year old rack on my other bike does not have a mark on it After years of touring.

What's your other rack made out of?

 

[brombeer]

Meanwhile a professional car body shop had a go at it and they have been able to solve it! (apparently it is clearcoat over paint)
The dealer lets me choose things from the shop for about 100 euro.
I'm glad it's solved.
Unfortunately i got a far deeper scratch in the chain stay @work... ;-(
Anyone experience with a touch-up stick? or just let it be?

 

[brombeer]

The frame paint is far better than the rack paint. That is shocking. Mine wore through to bare metal in the first week Using panniers. I added the stickers and they need replacing now as they have worn through. My 10 year old rack on my other bike does not have a mark on it After years of touring.

In my experience both my previous rack (from racktime on a gaastra fyts 4.8) and my current RM one have a soft (water-based?)paint finish that is rather fragile.
Perhaps due to environmental reasons?
Just by trying out my wife's Ortlieb bags the paint got a worn out look. I also added the stickers RM supplied, i have no knowledge of an alternative solution so far...

 

[Moony]

I will have my rack powder coated in the future. Just need to get the dealer to remove the rear light as the cables go through the rack. If using an ortileb panniers I have found the 15mm bottom hook works best as the smaller one is too tight.

 

[Alaskan]

Meanwhile a professional car body shop had a go at it and they have been able to solve it! (apparently it is clearcoat over paint)
The dealer lets me choose things from the shop for about 100 euro.
I'm glad it's solved.
Unfortunately i got a far deeper scratch in the chain stay @work... ;-(
Anyone experience with a touch-up stick? or just let it be?

I would just touch it up the scratch with 2 coats of Testors Matte Black Model paint, letting it dry overnight between coats and then wrap the chain stay with a neoprene & velcro chainstay protector to cover the scratch. I put one of these on all my bikes anyway. Here is a link to a good one from the Netherlands

Buy Lizzardskins Chainstay Protector Neoprene Large - Black

Order the Lizzardskins Chainstay Protector Neoprene Large - Black

hollandbikeshop.com