Started taking components off the frame and fork. The previous owner did a great job packing the bike for shipment, even removing the front and rear derailleurs and the crankset. There wasn’t a lot left for me to remove after the packing material and pipe wrap were gone.
The protective film on the underside of the down tube proved a real nuisance to remove, because the film came off but left the adhesive on the downtube. That adhesive was tenacious. A little heat and some patience (which I don’t always have in abundance) finally took care of it, but not before I wound up with blisters on both thumbs from working to remove the adhesive. I also removed the protective rubber on the top of the DS chainstay, but I’ll replace that after the frame is polished and waxed. Polished and waxed makes it easier and faster to clean when it gets dirty.
I’ll use polishing compound on the fork first, just because it’s a smaller job than the frame. There are a couple of scratches on the fork that I think will need to be fixed before the final polishing and wax. Not bad though, I’m just particular about maintaining my bikes. Ask anyone that knows me – they’ll say it’s not a surprise.
Next I went over the frame, cleaning and seeing scratches and rubs that will need to be polished out and/or repaired. I only found a couple, so I’ll handle those at the same time as the fork. It will take a few coats of lacquer over a couple of days to get them built up to the level of the clearcoat. Then some 1000 and 2000 grit sandpaper will clean them up nicely.
Change of plans – I’m not going to touch up the scratches, or a couple of paint chips either. It’s just not worth doing on a gravel bike that will get ridden on gravel. More scratches and paint chips are inevitable, so I’ll save myself some time and polish the frame and fork, then wax them and move on.