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So, the paint's flaking off my Ohlins coil - they all do it apparently, and it looks shocking (see what I did there)
Has anyone managed to repaint one? what did you use, did it work? Or alternatively have you polished the spring, left it unpainted?
Also, does anyone know the colour (RAL or alternative) for Ohlins gold/yellow?
I thought/assumed it was powdercoat
Is it paint, or some sort of plastidip?
This happened on an Ohlins coil I had and they accepted it as a warranty issue. If it's less than a year old and you brought it new then that might be worth exploring.
I'd have thought it's paint with a plasticiser?
Stripping and polishing will look good for 5 minutes, until the surface corrosion appears on the steel.
Unless it's a Ti spring, obvs.
Also had this with an ohlins spring and replaced under warranty - i bought it new and was probably over a year old. Worth looking at
Both my springs are over 3 years old now, so I'd feel a bit cheeky asking for warranty replacements. I think the original is some sort of plasticized paint, that's just flaking off now (UV, constant movement, grit and washing, I assume)
Has anyone ever used Plasti-Cote succesfully?
I had this on an Ohlins spring I got second hand, cos it was the 548 spring I just picked up a black cane creek 550 spring second hand, thought it looked better then Swedish gold actually
stealth ad I do have some spare Ohlin springs I could sell, what spring has flaked for you?
Both my springs are over 3 years old now, so I’d feel a bit cheeky asking for warranty replacements.
I wouldn’t. First job of any coating is protection from the environment, if it’s flaking off it means they’ve got it wrong
Sure, but they’ve been like that for a while now and the fact I’ve left them as long as I have has undoubtedly made it worse. im not going to warranty these coils, I just want to make them look a better is all.
Has it gone all rusty where it's flaked?
I've got one that's done that, bloody horrible.
While I'm here, anyone interested in swapping a 548 Ohlins coil (with flakey paint) for a 500ish one?
Has it gone all rusty where it’s flaked?
Yeah, it's not pretty. needs all the paint off, sanding down, and then...more paint I guess. Might try plasti-cote. what's the worst that could happen?
Maybe message them and ask what they recommend - you never know, they might offer to swap it.
Sounds unlikely but I've had it with both Gerber and Leatherman, asked them if they were able to sharpen the serrated blade as a paid service, they said no, but send the tool back and they'd replace free of charge...
No, really!
Yeah, it’s not pretty. needs all the paint off, sanding down, and then…more paint I guess. Might try plasti-cote. what’s the worst that could happen?
Have you considered just getting a pot of Humbrol enamel model paint in a vaguely matching yellow?
I suppose the problem is it'll just flake more though.
I suppose the problem is it’ll just flake more though.
Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. You can see where the edges of the flaked parts are creased and lined, the paints obviously as cheap as they can get away with, and it's just degraded. If I start to sand it down to get a decent finish I'll probably end up sanding all the paint off anyway and I think Humbrol would just go the same way but just quicker, wouldn't it?
Yes, it's a terrible idea TBH 😀
Keep us updated if you do end up retreating the spring somehow anyway.
I'd probably just switch to another brand's spring. I have a Cane Creek Progressive spring on mine and it fits fine, their standard Valt spring would probably be OK too.
I've used Plasti-Dip spray on truck coils before - works well, but colours are limited to blacks and greys, or VERY brights - no normal colours that i could find. It's basically a rubber paint. If you use it without a primer you can peel it off at a later date - with the primer it becomes permanent. I sand blasted the coils first too.