Damaging the paint on the frame of your new ebike is annoying! Fortunately, you can protect it from stone chips and scratches just like you protect your new smartphone with a case and protective film. The key words here are protective film. We took a look at the best frame protectors available on the market.
Does this scenario sound familiar? After carefully lifting your new smartphone out of the box and setting it up with all your data, you immediately put a case on it and cover the screen with protective film. Only then are you ready to test its new features. However, with the new ebike for which you’ve saved and waited so long, it’s out of the box and straight off to the trails. There’s nothing actually wrong with this. After all, a good mountain bike is designed to cope with jumps, rocks, roots and the occasional crashes. However, many riders get annoyed when they chip or scratch their frame’s beautiful paintwork, making their new bike look old and beaten up. On some cockpits, even perfectly routed brake and shifter cables will rub against the head tube and frame, and the heels of riders with big feet can rub against the seat stays. These scuff marks, scratches and chips aren’t just unsightly, but can also reduce your bike’s resale value unnecessarily. To avoid this, we recommend covering your new frame with protective film before hitting the trails. There are various options available on the market.
Basic version – Buy any generic protective film and cut it to size
We visited Jens Müller, the owner of a vehicle signage shop in Leonberg and picked his brain for some advice on how to apply any protective film. He gave us 3 tips to consider:
- Matt finish: Protective film doesn’t stick well to a matt finish. This is because matt paint contains silicone, which doesn’t bond that well with the adhesive on protective film. As a result, the protective film will start to peel off at the edges.
- Original paint: In general, all good protective films are easy to remove by heating them, using a hairdryer, for example. However, if you’ve got an after-market paint job, you might end up removing the newest layer of paint with the protective film.
- Air bubbles: When applying the adhesive film, there’s no way of avoiding trapped air bubbles. The good thing is that they will occasionally go away by themselves after some time. Making a hole in the bubble doesn’t always help.
If you can’t find specially cut frame protectors for your ebike, which are typically expensive, or simply want to save some money, you can protect the exposed parts of your frame with a good generic protective film. According to Jens Müller, it should ideally be between 0.3 and 0.36 mm thick. The best place to get this is at a signage shop. They often have offcuts lying around from other jobs and can also help you apply them if need be. Depending on the shop, this won’t cost much more than buying the film online or at the hardware store and cutting and sticking it to the bike yourself. Either way, it will certainly save you time and nerves.
Comfort version – Special frame protection sets for ebikes
In the case of frame protection sets, the individual pieces of film are already tailored to cover the exposed parts of your frame. It’s up to you to decide whether you want a transparent film – clear or matt – to keep the original paint job, or whether you want to pimp the look of your bike. There are countless providers on the market, offering designs to suit every taste and budget. Below, we will introduce you to some of the best options.
Luxshield
Luxshield based in Konstanz, Germany, offer an extensive 20-piece frame protection set for ebikes. The kit includes everything you need: cleaning and application fluid, a microfibre cloth and a felt squeegee to scrape away the application fluid from under the film. The universal kit is compatible with most common frame sizes. There’s an instruction video that clearly explains the individual steps.
DYED Bro
By bikers for bikers: the founders of DYED Bro compete in the Enduro World Series and are based in Madrid, offering countless designs. They also make universal kits for eMTBs priced at € 49.99. A set like this includes protective film for the top and down tube, two additional pieces for larger frames and two pieces each for the chain and seat stays.
rie:sel design
Based in Dresden, Germany, rie:sel design are dedicated to making bikes more colourful and fun, offering matching mudguards, stickers and a lot of accessories along with their frame protectors. The rie:sel protectors rely on a paint friendly adhesive, allowing you to stick them to your freshly cleaned bike without any concerns.
Moreover, they’ve deliberately added some texture to the surface of the so-called TAPE3000, which should help conceal trapped air bubbles. The film is easy to apply, though it gives a slight yellow tinge to white frames. For € 32.95, the set includes 17 pieces of film measuring between 70 x 340 mm and 30 x 30 mm, offering complete protection for the top, down and seat tube.
Mucky Nutz
Based in England, Mucky Nutz offer numerous bike protection products. The so-called Skinz are pre-cut, simply requiring you to clean the bike and get sticking. If you don’t like any of the available print designs, you can also customise the Frame Skinz set with your own design. The Frame Skinz are available for £ 25, while the customised version goes for £ 45. The Frame Skinz set contains 17 pieces ranging from 32 x 28 mm to 220 x 65 mm in size, including protectors for the stays, top, down, and seat tube, as well as cable rub patches.
AMS Bike Guard
Spanish brand Allmountainstyle, or AMS for short, specialise in frame protectors, mudguards and grips. The frame protectors cover all parts of your frame and come in a huge selection of designs and colours.
Luxury version – The high-end solution: tailor-made kits for specific bike models
If you want the ultimate in frame protection, you can get a frame protection set made especially for your bike. In this case, you get a whole sheet with pre-cut pieces and precise instructions telling you which piece to attach to which part of your bike. We ordered a set for our FOCUS JAM² test bike from invisiFRAME. Unfortunately, other manufacturers like Chameleon Skin from Italy and Slicy from France couldn’t deliver in time for our test.
invisiFRAME
UK brand invisiFRAME offer tailor-made frame protectors in all shapes and sizes for most common bike brands and models – for both carbon and aluminium frames – including our FOCUS JAM².
Regardless of which version you choose, it’s generally advisable to always apply the film wet. That way you can make corrections as you go so that it’s perfectly aligned. First of all, however, the frame needs to be cleaned. Some manufacturers, such as Luxshield, supply a special degreaser and a lint-free cloth with their kit. Once the bike has been cleaned, you spray your fingers and the film with the soapy application mixture supplied. If there’s no application fluid included, you can also make it yourself: most pros recommend adding 4 drops of baby shampoo to 500 ml of water. Make sure that it doesn’t contain any additives, such as those in commercial household detergents. For best results, take care to touch the adhesive side of the film as little as possible. Doing so leaves unsightly fingerprints, which you’ll see once everything’s dry. It helps to regularly wet your fingers with the soapy mixture. Once the film is on and aligned, use a squeegee (alternatively a credit card, preferably an American Express platinum card, or a piece of felt) to scrape away the excess water.
Ideally, your room temperature should be around 20 to 23 degrees Celsius since the adhesive doesn’t stick properly when it gets cold. It’s also recommended you do it in an enclosed space: you can get unwanted dust and dirt between the frame and the foil when working outdoors and there’s a sudden gust of wind. A hair dryer helps the film stick better around the edges and displace the last bit of moisture. When you’re done, you should wait at least 24 hours until the last bit of moisture has evaporated and the adhesive has set.
Factory frame protection
More and more manufacturers are shipping their new bikes with protective film already on the frame, including the likes of Canyon, SCOR and Specialized. While the down tubes of the 2022 Canyon Spectral:ON and the Specialized S-Works Turbo Levo come with protective film, you have the option of including purpose-made protectors provided by Slicy for your SCOR 4060 Z ST XT’s top and down tube as well as stays when placing your order. SCOR have kept the branding on the frame very discreet, giving you a lot of freedom in customising the bike’s look with frame protectors. You can either get creative yourself or use the available design templates in the configurator. The first set of custom frame protectors is included for free when you order a bike.
Things to consider when removing the film
At some point, you’ll want to replace the film with a new set, to give your bike a fresh, new look or just present the unscathed frame when you want to sell it. If you’ve had the protective film stuck to the frame for a long time, it might help to heat it up a little – a standard hair dryer should do the trick. This method is also recommended if the film has been stuck to sensitive or already damaged surfaces, preventing damaged paint from sticking to the film and being peeled off with it. Some manufacturers, such as Luxshield, recommend peeling the film off at a 180° angle. If there are any adhesive residues left on the frame, you can simply remove them with a little detergent, alcohol or silicone spray and a cloth.
Conclusion:
Whether you cut the film to size yourself, choose a generic or custom kit, all three frame protection options work well. None of them is better or worse, it just depends on your skills and how much time and money you want to invest. Ultimately, all that matters is that your bike is protected and the paint remains unscathed for as long as possible. It doesn’t just look better, it will eventually save you money too. After all, if it isn’t scratched, you’ll be able to sell your bike for more when the time comes.
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Words: Susanne Feddersen/Manne Schmitt Photos: Manne Schmitt
