Has anyone been riding an Argon 18 for any length of time? One of my training partners has one and the frameset is doing something pretty interesting. Over time the white color accent paint on his carbon frame has taken on a funky yellow oxidation color. I tried to take pictures of it last night, but with the flash you can't see it like you can with the naked eye.

He's has had the frame now for 11 months and has put on it about 7500 miles. I am just wondering if this is a normal occurance. We do train in some nasty conditions at times, but my bike has held up to the elements so far. Has anyone else noticed something like this on their framset? I just thinks its an interesting phenomenon. Structurally the bike seems fine, but we are starting to wonder if the carbon itself is starting to emit something the paint may be trapping. Any ideas?

Either the white paint is discoloring, or the clearcoat over it is yellowing. Yellowing clearcoat over darker colors might be hard to see. Either way, there's nothing that can be done to fix it other than refinishing. The most likely cause is UV exposure.

I've had no problem of that type on LOOK frames that have white lettering.

Either the white paint is discoloring, or the clearcoat over it is yellowing. Yellowing clearcoat over darker colors might be hard to see. Either way, there's nothing that can be done to fix it other than refinishing. The most likely cause is UV exposure.

I've had no problem of that type on LOOK frames that have white lettering.

UV could be the cause, but I never knew it could happen so soon. He stores his bikes in a climate controlled room when not riding them. I wonder if it is not something more. Maybe they painted it with some pails of that Chinese Toy paint that got recalled. :thumbsup:

Does he wear sunblock when he rides? Could that be doing it?

The same thing used to happen to Zipp wheels when the stickers were under the clear coat. This IMO is a cosmetic problem