I've never owned a carbon bike, but all these wraps feel like they're for the adult version of the kid who kept his Star Wars action figures in their original packaging instead of playing with them
Not really a good analogy since you can still use your wrapped bike as you normally would... Yes mtb's are inevitably going to get dinged and scratched but why not try and lessen the blow? Especially if you plan to sell one day. Ain't nothing wrong with that.
We spend thousands of our hard earned money on these bikes. God forbid we want to protect them as much as we can. What a dumb thing to rag on people for.
My bike is a little over 9k retail i want to protect it so i wrap it, i usually keep my bikes for a season and ride a lot of chair lift which in turn i slam from time to time... wrap keeps the paint good! I don't see what the problem is I want to sell my bike looking good as possible and get as much of my money back.
I'm not fan of protective vinyl wraps for the following reasons:
- starts to age (gets yellowed from UV) (4~5 year old rigs i've seen wrenching at the shop) - dirt accumulates around the edges of the tape over time. - easily scuffed by by tailgate pads and looks like shit. - any significant rock strike is still going to damage your frame - I have seen people remove protective wrap from an area that took an impact and all the cracked up clear coat and paint comes peeling off with it..
So for me, the "protective" wrap may look good on a fresh bike and protect it from light scuffs from shoe and cable rub, and thats really about it. I don't mind my bike having some normal wear and tear and I like the ability to detail it and a nice close look at potential areas of damage.
its like putting protective wrap on an offroad jeep or trying to keep your atv or dirt bike plastics scuff free... its goofy. just use the damn thing and keep it clean. inspect for damage when you eat shit. sell it with honest battle scars.
I'm really really really unimpressed with my DyedBros ride wrap from this year. Every one of the pieces has shifted, so now the edges are all full of dirt and generally it just looks like shit now. I'm going to pull it off this winter. Worst $60 I ever spent
Bikes are for fun right
On the other hand I had many years of fun gradually destroying them through play as a kid.
- starts to age (gets yellowed from UV) (4~5 year old rigs i've seen wrenching at the shop)
- dirt accumulates around the edges of the tape over time.
- easily scuffed by by tailgate pads and looks like shit.
- any significant rock strike is still going to damage your frame
- I have seen people remove protective wrap from an area that took an impact and all the cracked up clear coat and paint comes peeling off with it..
So for me, the "protective" wrap may look good on a fresh bike and protect it from light scuffs from shoe and cable rub, and thats really about it. I don't mind my bike having some normal wear and tear and I like the ability to detail it and a nice close look at potential areas of damage.
its like putting protective wrap on an offroad jeep or trying to keep your atv or dirt bike plastics scuff free... its goofy. just use the damn thing and keep it clean. inspect for damage when you eat shit. sell it with honest battle scars.
I would like to point out that I have no idea if DyedBro yellows or not am with age.