I have a painted aluminum road bike where much of the paint has chipped away where the dropouts are (all on the rear ones have). It is a result of wheel / skewer removal and insertion. Is this something to be concerned with, as in the safety of the bike and structural integrity on the dropouts?
I’d like some insight on this as well as the left fork dropout on my new P2C is doing the same thing. I assume it doesn’t affect the structural integrity of the fork…or does it?
Not a problem…do not worry it is expected.
This is a normal and is generally not a issue. It can become a issue if the aluminum starts to corrode and this will travel under the paint. So left as is it could cause cosmetic issues and even structural in extreme situations. If you do not touch it up I would make sure to keep it free of sweat.
I always remove paint from the mating surfaces of a dropout before I even install a wheel on a new frame or fork with metal dropouts. But that was what I was taught to do back when I learned bike mechanics. It prevents paint chips later on the dropouts.
Don’t get me started about what doesn’t happen in frame prep these days. Frame prep is supposed to happen in the shop before the bike gets on the floor. What I see these days makes me cringe…
You shouldn’t have to worry about structural integrity. But it does look kind of ugly when you have all of that chipping paint.
Is it still generally accepted to not be concerned when noticing chipped paint on your dropouts? I took my bike off the trainer today and noticed some paint flaking/chipping off around the rear skewer and wasn’t sure how concerned I should be.
I have a B16 if that matters any…
I have a 2011 B16 as well, same issue
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From all I’ve been able to find, this shouldn’t be much of a concern. But all write-ups that I can find are from a few years ago and didn’t know if the proliferation of all-carbon frames (like the B16) has caused it to become a real issue?