Worth 'touching up' paint on alluminium frame?

[oldworld]

I can see the benefit from touching up scratches on a steel frame to prevent it rusting.

I have an alluminium frame and wonder if attending to the scratches is worth it?

I know alluminium corrodes but not in the same way as steel and much more slowly, so is it OK to just leave it?

 

[Paulus]

Hi there, personally I wouldn't bother, you won't be able to get an exact match so it will look odd.

 

[davidphilips]

Small tin of enamel paint might not be an exact match but should look better than scratches and may prevent water damage?

 

[DCLane]

If you can get a match with enamel it's worth doing: I tend to use Humbrol.

 

[Cathryn]

Clear nail varnish works well too.

 

[fossyant]

Worth doing as you can get corrosion spreading under the paint which looks a right mess. The material oxidises under the paint and lifts it causing bubbling.

 

[Drago]

If you can get paint or even nail varnish thats a close match then Inwould ve inclined to touch it up. Alloy corrosion looks horrific when it sets in.

 

[Big John]

Worth doing as you can get corrosion spreading under the paint which looks a right mess. The material oxidises under the paint and lifts it causing bubbling.

That's what I've got. Looks bloody awful ☹️

 

[Cycleops]

The rear triangle on this old 2007 Trek I rescued was badly scratched so I painted it satin black rather than silver which you will never match. Looks okay.
Paint is missing on other parts but you can't really see it unless you look closely.

 

[Dag Hammar]

Speaking of corrosion, take a look at this Raleigh that‘s being advertised fo £110 on FB marketplace.
That’s some serious rusting near the BB.

 

[ColinJ]

I know alluminium corrodes but not in the same way as steel and much more slowly, so is it OK to just leave it?

Worth doing as you can get corrosion spreading under the paint which looks a right mess. The material oxidises under the paint and lifts it causing bubbling.

Alloy corrosion looks horrific when it sets in.

That's what I've got. Looks bloody awful ☹

For example - my singlespeed bike's frame. I was given the frame and it already had some damage to the paintwork where the band-on front mech. had been attached. It has got worse since then...

 

[ColinJ]

That has got me thinking about trying to stop the rot before it gets even worse!

I aim to put gears back on the bike and take it down to Devon to leave at my sister's new home there. It would be nice if it didn't rot away altogether in between post-Covid holidays...

 

[weareHKR]

Speaking of corrosion, take a look at this Raleigh that‘s being advertised fo £110 on FB marketplace.
That’s some serious rusting near the BB.

He must be on crack or something, would be lucky to get that if it was mint!

 

[DRM]

He must be on crack or something, would be lucky to get that if it was mint!

It probably didn’t cost that much new, a full on chancer, the chains red rusty too

 

[DRM]

That's what I've got. Looks bloody awful ☹

There’s nothing worse than when it bubbles under the paint, it does look awful