Anyone can put scratches on a bike, auto, piece of furniture, when working on it. A good craftsman normally doesn't though, out of respect for the customer, and not least of which is the extra work one can create for yourself that can really piss you off. Accidents can happen, but it's not a good picture of professionalism, and pretty bogus. Using them is different. The degree of care is dependent on the user, but these items are essentially tools. They unavoidably get dinged up to some degree...or if you are paranoid, make it a collection piece.
Dennis Young I've been bogus in Hotaka, Japan.
I've always gotten excited when building one of my own bikes,
> and instead of being careful (as I would with a client's bike),
> I would tend to rush the build so I could get it out on the
> road ... this is how the dings happened on the first couple
> of bikes.
>
> Since then, it's almost been a badge of honour to see how soon
> that first nick would make it in.
>
> I'll probably take a little more care with my e-RICHIE, though ...
>
>
>
>> Steven,
>> I understand your view about this, but nicks, scratches and other
>> "badges of honor" are meant to be earned out on the road, not the
>> result of a mechanic fumbling with a greasy wrench. It's aggravating
>> for me to have a customer due to pick up his high zoot Candy pearl /
>> fade tiger- striped flame painted wonder bike in the morning and the
>> mechanic comes back to my hovel at 4 pm the day before with a nice
>> big chip on the top tube and ask "Can you make this look like it
>> never happened?" It's unacceptable in our shop for this to happen,
>> so our "constructeur" uses low tack blue painter's masking tape
>> (available at Home Depot) and runs a length of this tape on top of
>> the down tube, top tube, seat stays and chainstays ( you can also
>> put some on the fork blades if you wanna be real safe). We buy it in
>> 1" and 2" widths for different size tubes. I've seen him drop
>> wrenches on the frame from time to time and they bounce off the tape
>> with no harm done to the finish underneath. Many headaches are
>> avoided this way. When all work is done, simply pull the tape off
>> and clean any residue with some Pledge or other mild cleaner. If the
>> paint comes off with the tape, THAT is a whole 'nother problem altogether.
>> Many times people will pick up their bike and remark that "It's too
>> nice to ride". I tell them that the bikes are made to be ridden no
>> matter how beautiful and to not worry about scratches, because we
>> won't live long enough to see these bikes attract insane monetary
>> value, so enjoy them. One last note, if your bike does get scratched,
>> put some kind of paint over the gumby to seal it from the air. If
>> you don't, this is where rust will start to creep in and gradually
>> deteriorate the area. I don't care what kind of paint it is, Testors,
>> fingernail polish or whatever, just cover any bare metal or primer.
>> Ride your bike and accept the nicks and scratches; they all have a
>> story to tell.
>>
>> Joe Bell
>> San Diego