Bike ordered. Have I gone soft?

phutureproof

New Member
Jun 4, 2021
94
73
Oxford
It's done. After several weeks of dithering, and several years of dissing them with my mates, I've settled on a Whyte e150RS.

My title asks "Have I gone soft?".

I have asked the bike shop to apply Invisiframe. I've never bothered with that sort of thing before. (OK, I lie. I sometimes put screen protectors on my phones.) But protective film on a MTB?? Is that just sad? A bike is to be (ab)used, surely?

But I always have this dilemma going on in my head: I want to be able to just use the bike without worrying about grazing it. I don't want to have to prance about, delicately balancing it against a wall or fence so it doesn't slip and scuff itself somewhere. I want to be able to chuck it in the back of my car and not worry about something rubbing against it and causing a little scratch on my way to the next ride.

But I know I'm going to faff about and be overly cautious just like I have done with my lovely raw lacquered Brompton bike.

So I am getting it 'invisiframed'!

But while my 2011 Orange Crush is a bit bruised and battered, it's great. I can just use it without worrying. If it falls over, so what.

I think I've gone soft...or it could be that I have never spent so much money on a flippin' bike before!

How long will it be before my Whyte turns into another Orange Crush and I can just relax and use it?
 

Jackware

Fat-tyred Freakazoid
Subscriber
Oct 30, 2018
1,876
2,027
Lancashire
It's natural to want to protect your new investment but you know it's going to get scuffed and scratched. Just don't get too anal soft and destroy the motor/wiring by jet washing every crevice on the bike when you get home.
 

Tubby G

❤️‍🔥 Hot Stuff ❤️‍🔥
Dec 15, 2020
2,557
5,140
North Yorkshire
I’ve just read this thread and by pure coincidence have literally just come from the Invisiframe website checking out the cost of a kit for a carbon framed Orbea Rise I have on order

I’ve also never wrapped a bike before, never worried about it, don’t mind the odd scratch or chip, but seeing how many people on this forum do wrap their frames has got me wondering whether I should be doing it on the new bike when it arrives. £85 for the kit and no doubt I’d pay an LBS to fit it as I have no patience at all with sticky wrappy things. Is it worth it? I have no idea, never done it before
 

phutureproof

New Member
Jun 4, 2021
94
73
Oxford
I think my other issue with wrapping frames (which I am committed to now having ordered the product and instructed the bike shop!) is that you never actually see your own bike in all it's glory. Its always covered in a plastic film that will presumably start to look crap after a few rides.

At least it means if I ever sell it the new buyer will see it in its new condition, even though I never have ;-)
 

Tubby G

❤️‍🔥 Hot Stuff ❤️‍🔥
Dec 15, 2020
2,557
5,140
North Yorkshire
I think my other issue with wrapping frames (which I am committed to now having ordered the product and instructed the bike shop!) is that you never actually see your own bike in all it's glory. Its always covered in a plastic film that will presumably start to look crap after a few rides.

At least it means if I ever sell it the new buyer will see it in its new condition, even though I never have ;-)

yes I think you’ve just persuaded me not to invisiframe mine ?
 

EME

MUPPET
Subscriber
Aug 14, 2020
262
229
Zug
@phutureproof I’d invisiframe it.

I’m a total beginner so no idea. This does however mean that I get more crap and shoite- hits than most. I did not do from new but wish I had. I’d say it’s 95% as good as it was 10 months and 4K km ago.

Up to you though.

I can’t afford that much nail varnish.

Ps. Since 2010 I’ve been protection wrapping my cars too. Saved loads of money with repaints etc.
 

Gyre

Well-known member
Jan 25, 2021
625
413
Pasadena, CA
I figure the most important function of any bike is that it motivates you to ride any time you see it. If having a bike that looks pristine helps with that, don't second guess the cost of protecting it.
 
  • Agree
Reactions: EME

jbrown15

Well-known member
May 27, 2020
741
627
Chilliwack, Canada
Nothing wrong with wanted to protect an expensive toy. Personally I don't bother with wrapping aluminum bikes, I always wrap carbon frames though. I just find the paint seems to chip and scratch easier on the carbon frame bikes I've owned and the aluminum painted frames seem to hold up allot better to abuse for some reason.
 

NotAveJoe

Member
Nov 19, 2019
29
45
Wyoming
I'm just assuming your living room looks like this.

B0THbtnCYAAhKcy.jpg
 

phutureproof

New Member
Jun 4, 2021
94
73
Oxford
Another useful analogy (or is it a simile?) is when we all buy a new shiny iPhone, or (Spit-The-Dog spit!) an Android-thing. The first thing we do is buy a hulking plastic protective case and cover the beautifully and carefully designed object we were in amour of in the first place!

Humans. So silly.

Now...that pint of IPA...
 

j3ayy

Well-known member
Oct 10, 2020
279
504
North Yorkshire
My invisiframe will be the first thing to be added to my Rail 9 when it arrives. You can hardly tell they are fitted as the vinyl is that thin.
361904B7-224C-41FF-8B85-3DB690F1E650.jpeg
 

mtb64

Member
Oct 22, 2018
14
2
UK
Yes, you’ve gone soft. Chill. Give it a crash or 2 and a winter, then it’ll start looking like its been used. Then you’ll relax (hopefully).
 

Gavalar

Active member
Feb 4, 2019
286
175
UK
It's done. After several weeks of dithering, and several years of dissing them with my mates, I've settled on a Whyte e150RS.

My title asks "Have I gone soft?".

I have asked the bike shop to apply Invisiframe. I've never bothered with that sort of thing before. (OK, I lie. I sometimes put screen protectors on my phones.) But protective film on a MTB?? Is that just sad? A bike is to be (ab)used, surely?

But I always have this dilemma going on in my head: I want to be able to just use the bike without worrying about grazing it. I don't want to have to prance about, delicately balancing it against a wall or fence so it doesn't slip and scuff itself somewhere. I want to be able to chuck it in the back of my car and not worry about something rubbing against it and causing a little scratch on my way to the next ride.

But I know I'm going to faff about and be overly cautious just like I have done with my lovely raw lacquered Brompton bike.

So I am getting it 'invisiframed'!

But while my 2011 Orange Crush is a bit bruised and battered, it's great. I can just use it without worrying. If it falls over, so what.

I think I've gone soft...or it could be that I have never spent so much money on a flippin' bike before!

How long will it be before my Whyte turns into another Orange Crush and I can just relax and use it?
And yet you probably park a mile away from the pavement so as not to scuff your alloys.
it's not about being precious it's more about protecting your investment, the price of any mid to top end bike these days warrants Invisiframe for what it costs, I've used it on every build over the last 9 years, you'd be a mug not to use it or any other similar brand.
 

Rockstar

New Member
Jan 31, 2021
7
0
San Diego
I’ve always covered my bikes with some kind of protection since my first mountain bike in 2000. I don’t get to crazy with scratches and scuffs though. The protection isn’t 100% and if you ride hard and send it you’ll eventually get scratches through the barrier. In 2017 on my first ride on my Santa Cruz 5010 I sent it off a 4 foot rock drop and landed miserably. It scratched right through the invisaframe hahaha
 

Binhill1

🍊 Tango Man 🍊
Mar 7, 2019
2,573
3,732
Scotland
Yes if scratches etc bother you they probably still will when the invisi gets damaged as well , that put me off doing it.
 

Manc44

Member
Jun 22, 2021
120
39
Manchester
Invisiframe? I had to look up what that was. Looks like Helitape to me :p

The only place I put this is on the underside of the down tube. I recently peeled some really cloudy/dirty/pitted tape off 2010 Boardman carbon (that's had 11 years of use) with bright yellow paintwork down the down tube and it was absolutely immaculate looking. I cleaned any adhesive from the old helitape and fitted a new strip of it.

I think it's worth doing on parts where you might have a really bright colour to the paintwork, because it gets dull after years of dirt, washing, dirt, washing, but with helitape put on from the very start, any time you peel the old stuff off to replace it, the paintwork looks like it came from the factory, regardless of how old the frame is.

I suppose it is going soft but it seems this is the world we now live in. Men are wearing moisturizer etc lol.
 

SiDobsFig

Member
Apr 20, 2019
43
48
Ross-on-Wye
Sounds like a good idea. I was thinking about it for the Orange 6E but will spend the money on a re-spray in Halifax (UK) ;-) . I don't know if White offer that service? If they had entered the E-bike market when I bought, I would have gone Whyte, as my 901 is so much fun to ride.

Have you test ridden the Whyte?
 

Ripping g

E*POWAH Elite
Dec 8, 2019
694
544
West yorkshire
I think my other issue with wrapping frames (which I am committed to now having ordered the product and instructed the bike shop!) is that you never actually see your own bike in all it's glory. Its always covered in a plastic film that will presumably start to look crap after a few rides.

At least it means if I ever sell it the new buyer will see it in its new condition, even though I never have ;-)
Full Invisi from new used and abuse for year and half every weekend

C6DDD199-B305-4266-BA2D-E4294FAB102E.jpeg
 

lightning

Well-known member
Apr 5, 2021
715
409
UK
l love my new Kona Ebike and have looked after it, but haven't stuck any protective tape on it.

After 900 miles (in under three months!) l've not picked up a single mark on the frame.

The only casualty has been the wheels, which seem to constantly get twatted by stones.
However these are easy to touch up with satin black paint and still look perfectly good.

l have put rubber protectors on the ends of the crank arms as they quickly became marked by rock hits.

l also managed to bend a pedal axle hitting a boulder on landing a rock step.

The manufacturer (Burgtec in the U.K.) repaired them free of charge "we've not had a bent axle before"

I paid a lot for the bike and won't get another any time soon, so let am going to look after it, but l am also going to use it and not be worried about the odd scuff or mark.
 

Gyre

Well-known member
Jan 25, 2021
625
413
Pasadena, CA
Invisiframe? I had to look up what that was. Looks like Helitape to me :p

It's a lot like helitape but thinner and very unobtrusive. When I helitape a bike, it often looks a bit like the proverbial Greek sofa above. Invisiframe is very clean, but I'll double up on the surfaces most exposed in a fall.
 

EMTB Forums

Since 2018

The World's largest electric mountain bike community.

518K
Messages
25,440
Members
Join Our Community

Latest articles


Top