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I know we have talked about this before but in Feb I bought a Solaris max long shot in mercury colour and I must start by saying it's the best frame I have ever riden and it looks superb,but I've noticed that the paint is chipping very easily and the frame is invisiframed as well , it's not really taken on extreme trails either, so my question is should this be a warranty issue
Poor quality pain seems to be common on Cotics. My Solaris seemed to scratch by looking at it the wrong way so I invisiframed it after a couple of rides. By comparision, my Mason has done thousands of miles over the past four years with plenty of muddy trails and bridleways and it still looks in better condition!
I had the dark metal colour and it scuffed up very easily from cables, but didn't really chip.
Put me off of metallic finish paint TBH.
Have the same colour on my Soul and it look's pretty tatty quite quickly. It doesn't seem to chip, just seems to scuff up super easily with cables/shorts as Chakaping says above. It still looks great from a distance, but up close it does look a little tired after 20 months of ownership. I love it though, best hardtail I've ever ridden.
Yeah, I bought a SolarisMAX in Cosmic Black last October. The paint got chipped on the top tube due to an innocuous knock while building. Since then it's scratched and scuffed far too easily. Not only that, quite quickly the top tube and seat tube lost their finish so the frame looks foggy and dulled in appearance in those places. Which has been a little disappointing.
It doesn't really compare to the green paint of my eight year old mk.1 Solaris that's for sure.
It's a solid riding bike though. I did struggle to get it dialled in for a few months due to the low stack and limited steerer tube of the donated fork. Yet I've found a sweet spot with it and it's been a god send this year on the local trails. It's so capable.
With a new 'bouncy' bike arriving imminently I'm unsure whether to keep it though. If I do, I guess eventually I might take it back to a raw steel frame and get it polished up. Or repainted. Whatever.
The paint on my blue 2017 BFe is still looking great without any frame protection despite all the abuse its had, so perhaps its the metallic finishes... I'd speak to Cy.
I also had a Solaris max long shot in mercury as well as a Rocket max in red, both had really soft paint. They dulled, scratched and chipped far too easily. Who would have thought that my new O-O Scandal would have better paint. Oh well!
It's probably more likely the type of paint rather than a Cotic specific problem, my MK2 BFe in gritstone grey has never been protected and still looks great with zero chips at all
Soul in mercury here too!
Seems to mark very easily, love the frame but gutted by how easily it marks/chips. Did contact Cotic about touch up paint, but they don’t do anything.
Don't know about chipping easily but as others have commented, recent Cotic's do tend to scuff up pretty easily - which is a real shame given how nice the finishes have been in the last couple of years. That said, my SolarisMax (Dark Metal) was invisiframe-ed from new and still looking decent after 18 months or so. My girlfriend's SolarisMax (Cosmic Black) wasn't invisiframed, and got more than it's fair share of scuffs and scrapes over its' first few outings. Spent a few hours polishing up with cutting wax which improved matters somewhat before invisiframe-ing so at least it's not getting worse.
Overall - it seems to be the price you pay for a nice glossy high sheen wet paint finish rather than a duller (but generally tougher/harder wearing) powder coat.
Who would have thought that my new O-O Scandal would have better paint. Oh well!
Interesting, I’ve been disappointed with the paint on my big dog - it’s chipped all over the place.
Tempted to strip it and get it repainted...
Wow contacted cotic and without any hassle I'm getting a new frame in December when the new batch arrives , and I can keep using this 1 until then , now that is customer service, only trouble I bloody love that mercury finish, I'm now getting an orange 1 instead , shame about the 50 bolts up the tube .
If it was me… I’d keep the worn in Mercury frame.
Well that's good to hear.
I missed that the paint was chipping despite Invisiframe - how does that work then? Can you post a pic?
My blue FlareMax is holding up pretty well if it's any help. Probably not, but glad you got it sorted. Orange is far better than grey anyway 🙂
I reckon my Mercury was from the same batch and it's barely a scratch on it 🤷
... BRG version before that really didn't go as well, but was warrantied for other issues without hesitation.
Invisiframe doesn't cover every bit of frame , most of chips are chain stay area
I use two chainstay protectors (one cut to fit) to cover the whole chainstay.
If anyone's that bothered then contact Cotic direct - they don't bite! Glad the OP got sorted, top notch customer service that.
I personally wouldn't choose any of the metallic finishes, they do go to look tatty sooner, and I just don't like them (though that blue Rocket(max?) in the blue with the new DT graphic looks lovely). For me a few stonechips and scuffs aren't a huge deal, it's a metal object I chuck down mountains, through forest and river and lean against gates and trees, it's bound to get some battle scars. I never invisiframe either. I do think a solid matte/satin finish will stand up better over time.
I do think a solid matte/satin finish will stand up better over time.
They absolutely do. Shiny for the short term super bike look … matte or satin for long term consistency. I don’t mind the way shiny bikes age… in fact, I like it, but they look new for a far shorter time than matte/satin bikes do.