YES. I'll give this a go on the frame, along with 'Tire Gloss' on the rubber. The ceramic coatings are not maintenance free but will be a s-ton better than wax or silicone. Some manufacturers have developed coatings formulated explicitly for use on vinyl wraps, if you are into that. It certainly beats my old school moto-x anti-mud technique: PAM vegetable oil aerosol. Bio - good. Smell - fair. Price - cheap. Thick mud falls off. Coat the bike, then easy to wash off the remaining mud between motos. In recent years I've applied automotive" Tire Gloss " silicone products to my mtb frame parts, rims and tire sidewalls. This works ok for about 3 wet rides. Reapply lazily on the next cleaning, then go ride. Chemistry (can) make life better. 😄
I'm sorta surprised that more bike manufacturers aren't sending their bikes out the door with a ceramic coating. Wouldn't add that much more cost to the bike and would be a good differentiating feature.
Spending 10 dollars more at manufacturing level would add huge $. Calculate the mark-up all the way through to retail, doubling each time, will bump the frame price a lot in the end. This treatment only lasts about a year, maybe two. Look for automotive reviews.
@@Kev2Bee I don't think it would be that much. Granted, most of my supply chain experience is on the consumer electronic side (laptops, game consoles), but I'd think that something like a bike would have even a shorter supply chain.
@@roncri Ok. How much do you think it would cost in labour hours? Build in Taiwan $. Ship to country for paint/anodizing $. Receive in market area and transfer to dealers $. Dealer markup $. I don't work for free, do you? I apologize for being blunt here, but every step of the process incurs a cost that is never absorbed by the previous level in the chain of supply.
Actually cerakote is tougher than hell and considered an abrasive coating, and helps retain heat in the turbo of your car as well. Stays on a set of Subaru headers for years. Being an abrasive coating it’s meant to take the wear instead of the part. So on all the aluminum parts and stuff it would be great, don’t know about the carbon frame. The ppfe wrap is probably the best on the carbon.
Contrary to some people here, I don’t like frame wraps. A nice job of Turtle Wax liquid ceramic (go see Project Farm tests on ceramic coatings) once (or twice) a year and everything cleans easily. No expensive wraps to redo. Way faster and cheaper than frame wraps. Warning: REMOVE your rotors and brakes pads when doing this job! That stuff will KILL them if you ever spray some on them. Its a good time to inspect the pads and rotors… Sand and brake clean them while you’re there!
I've been using Turtle wax paste for wax and then a wipe down after that with Mother's CMX ceramic. The bike cleans up so easily and stays cleaner longer. Been doing this for years on my 2013 Giant XTC and my wife and sons bikes. Actually just makes life easier overall.
Whenever I see Ben I instantly hear his cracking back, it was the first video I saw of him. Been using ceramic coating for a while, time saver when cleaning.
I miss Ben and his Norman Wisdom approach to teaching... Not quite sure how the Pink Bike umbrella works, but I wish he would do more videos on MTB'ing skills and thrills...
I’m the “let it dry, then brush off” type of cleaner. As long as my stanchions, drivetrain, and cockpit are taken care of, I’m good! Also, large fenders front and rear make a big difference, but it seems that the bike industry largely rejects rear fenders.
@ Microfiber on the stanchions, followed by WPL fork seal boost. Chain gets a pass through different microfiber and then lube; deep clean with chain cleaner device if warranted!
or you could just not blindly pressure wash your bearings. that technique seems to have worked for decades for people that can spend an extra 30 seconds exercising a minimum of care.
I fully agree. directly spraying with a jet wash will obviously kill bearings fast. I also think we can all agree though that even when being careful there will always be a certain level of contaminants forced into places they don’t belong. The point I tried to make in the video wasn’t “JET WASH BAD!”. The main point was the interesting science behind how the product works and that it CAN make it easier to clean with lower pressure. It’s also easier to clean at higher pressure. Either way I thought it was interesting.
Cleaning a bike is a subjective thing with no binary answer. I was able to reduce the water pressure, which will help with bearing longevity, AND remove the brushing stage of my normal washing routine which saves time. How much time will depend on how long you brush for. I’d bet you could get a bike pretty clean with just a jet wash faster than any other method. I wouldn’t find that to be clean enough though and would still add a soap/brush/rinse after that.
@@BenCathro times that took you to clean, please. If we consider subjectivity, the cleanliness of both sides would still be out of the equation since you are the only person jetting or scrubbing and ultimately, inspecting. My bet, though, people applying coatings still pressure wash and still destroy the bearings. But save on water and time.
How people choose to clean their bike is ultimately up to them. The focus of the video was on explaining the “how” of the product and not an in depth review. We don’t do paid reviews at Pinkbike. Internally this type of video is classed as Explain/Explore. We explain a product or topic in an interesting and educational way and explore the potential benefits/negatives without delivering an in depth opinion. Maybe we need to package the video in a way to make it more clear that it’s not a review.
@@BenCathro I am genuinely confused with this answer. Are you a BenGPT now? 😅 I came to see your personal experience and was wondering about "the main takeaway" you promised at the end of the video. Not this gibberish.
I feel like I explained in great detail about how ceramic coatings work and how that can make it easier to remove contaminants from a bike which qualifies “The Main Takeaway”. I also feel that my last comment outlines the purpose of this video quite clearly. I’m not sure how to explain it better without going over the character limit. It does appear that I need to improve how this type of video is packaged and prefaced to avoid further misunderstandings. I’d love to give a big opinionated, deep dive review but I work in commercial video which makes bias impossible to eliminate.
Your painted bike has a polymer, 2 part coating, so probably it will also work on wraps. Some manufacturers, have developed coatings formulated explicitly for use on vinyl wraps for cars. Whether these can be applied to bike "Wraps" would need to be tested or answered by the manufacturers. It would be easy to do a test spot on an area that's out of sight or on a leftover scrap of wrap.
Yes, I'd be curious to know if he sprayed that coating along the moving parts on the outside of the wheel hub at areas of the drivetrain that move along with the suspension like you mentioned
I applied the coating on everything except the tyres, rotors, drivetrain, saddle, grips and stanchions. The ceramic coating is applied with the small round sponge applicator, not the spray bottle. The spray bottle was bike cleaner made by the same company.
Before I even watch it… the answer is Nope 👎🏻. Want to protect it, it needs wrapping with PPF like invis, ridewrap etc. it will help to keep it clean 🧼 and make it easier to clean
This. Ceramics for automotive finishes were made to pull more money from car enthusiasts pockets..... They work fine in that application where you work hard at keeping your ride clean and beautiful all the time and spend a fuk ton of cash on doing just that...... We're talking mountain bikes.. they are only cleaned between every 3-5 rides.. maybe 1-2 for you guys in wet climates... Again... It's a $10k mtn bike meant to shred in dirt gravel mud etc etc...not a $40k Audi meant for the highway...
@@RaptorV1USA If you can afford a 10k MTB, 20 bucks for a bottle of ceramic coating doesnt need budgeting for. It objectively does what it says, unlike many of the most popular chain lubes on the market
Ceramic coatings can be applied on top of PPF and is actually recommended by Gtechniq. I would do the combo if I was starting again. Also, there’s many parts that you don’t put PPF on that you can apply a ceramic coating to. Neither is essential but both have their specific benefits.
I wraped the frame with PPF and time to time put wax (the one i use on my car). Works great. Sucks that you haven’t tag this video as a commercial. 👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻
Wax works mint too but doesn’t hold up to any abrasion so would require many more applications over the lifetime. I figured the big disclaimer stating that it was sponsored video at the start would cover it. Funding from brands allows us to make cool educational videos like this about how technology in the bike industry works. I found this process really interesting and enjoyed learning how it works. Figured the public would find interesting too.
@@Charliezfabrykiczekolady You should check out sealants when your wax runs out (unless you like the process of rubbing on the wax). They are a good in between of wax and ceramic coatings. A few years ago the Turtle Wax Seal and Shine was one of the go-to sealants (inexpensive and works well), but I am not sure if that has changed over the years. You do need to be careful because they usually spray on (would not want that stuff on my brakes) and my bottle of Seal and Shine dried up a bit after 2 years.
Now I would agree if you had to choose between a product that is not essential and a ride with your mates… Pick your mates every time. Also, “fork service” comes way before “ceramic coating” on the priority list. Actually, if your forks do need a service, allow me to be the one to say, give it a try. It’s not crazy hard and there’s plenty good vids on how to do it.
I'm a certified detailer and ceramic coating specialist. If you're interested in getting your bike coated and you're in lower mainland bc just send me a DM.
Spent 3 days drawing all the atoms for this 😂. Hope it makes sense and helps you understand how things work just a little better.
really fancy some blue m&ms now, cheers Ben 😅
😂
You missed a couple
Z x
I'll drink this Kool Aid topic. Yes it works well. Thanks!
YES.
I'll give this a go on the frame, along with 'Tire Gloss' on the rubber. The ceramic coatings are not maintenance free but will be a s-ton better than wax or silicone.
Some manufacturers have developed coatings formulated explicitly for use on vinyl wraps, if you are into that.
It certainly beats my old school moto-x anti-mud technique: PAM vegetable oil aerosol. Bio - good. Smell - fair. Price - cheap. Thick mud falls off. Coat the bike, then easy to wash off the remaining mud between motos.
In recent years I've applied automotive" Tire Gloss " silicone products to my mtb frame parts, rims and tire sidewalls. This works ok for about 3 wet rides. Reapply lazily on the next cleaning, then go ride.
Chemistry (can) make life better.
😄
I'm sorta surprised that more bike manufacturers aren't sending their bikes out the door with a ceramic coating. Wouldn't add that much more cost to the bike and would be a good differentiating feature.
Spending 10 dollars more at manufacturing level would add huge $.
Calculate the mark-up all the way through to retail, doubling each time, will bump the frame price a lot in the end. This treatment only lasts about a year, maybe two. Look for automotive reviews.
@@Kev2Bee I don't think it would be that much. Granted, most of my supply chain experience is on the consumer electronic side (laptops, game consoles), but I'd think that something like a bike would have even a shorter supply chain.
@@roncri Ok. How much do you think it would cost in labour hours? Build in Taiwan $. Ship to country for paint/anodizing $. Receive in market area and transfer to dealers $. Dealer markup $.
I don't work for free, do you?
I apologize for being blunt here, but every step of the process incurs a cost that is never absorbed by the previous level in the chain of supply.
Ben is the best! make everything funny!!
Actually cerakote is tougher than hell and considered an abrasive coating, and helps retain heat in the turbo of your car as well. Stays on a set of Subaru headers for years. Being an abrasive coating it’s meant to take the wear instead of the part. So on all the aluminum parts and stuff it would be great, don’t know about the carbon frame. The ppfe wrap is probably the best on the carbon.
Contrary to some people here, I don’t like frame wraps. A nice job of Turtle Wax liquid ceramic (go see Project Farm tests on ceramic coatings) once (or twice) a year and everything cleans easily. No expensive wraps to redo. Way faster and cheaper than frame wraps. Warning: REMOVE your rotors and brakes pads when doing this job! That stuff will KILL them if you ever spray some on them. Its a good time to inspect the pads and rotors… Sand and brake clean them while you’re there!
I've been using Turtle wax paste for wax and then a wipe down after that with Mother's CMX ceramic. The bike cleans up so easily and stays cleaner longer. Been doing this for years on my 2013 Giant XTC and my wife and sons bikes. Actually just makes life easier overall.
Whenever I see Ben I instantly hear his cracking back, it was the first video I saw of him. Been using ceramic coating for a while, time saver when cleaning.
I miss Ben and his Norman Wisdom approach to teaching... Not quite sure how the Pink Bike umbrella works, but I wish he would do more videos on MTB'ing skills and thrills...
Ben rules!
Ben is just like most of us, except more talented.
Welcome back Ben, it's been a while man.
Does it work on sheds?
Genius! Give me a week…
I’m the “let it dry, then brush off” type of cleaner. As long as my stanchions, drivetrain, and cockpit are taken care of, I’m good!
Also, large fenders front and rear make a big difference, but it seems that the bike industry largely rejects rear fenders.
But those are the parts that need that water cleaning
@ Microfiber on the stanchions, followed by WPL fork seal boost. Chain gets a pass through different microfiber and then lube; deep clean with chain cleaner device if warranted!
Brushing is the way.
Your washing style goes against Big Pink.
How is that going to work with all the matte paint that is so common these days?
Ben you make the best MTB videos, so entertaining. Which ceramic coating cleaner would you recommend after coating the bike? Cheers
MOAR Ben content plz.
Ben, try fork lube on one side of the fork and none on the other to a just serviced fork to see how much cleaner the foam seals are after a while.
Ben love our work’
I ceramic coated almost every part of my current bike during the initial build.
cool, thanks!
or you could just not blindly pressure wash your bearings. that technique seems to have worked for decades for people that can spend an extra 30 seconds exercising a minimum of care.
I fully agree. directly spraying with a jet wash will obviously kill bearings fast. I also think we can all agree though that even when being careful there will always be a certain level of contaminants forced into places they don’t belong. The point I tried to make in the video wasn’t “JET WASH BAD!”. The main point was the interesting science behind how the product works and that it CAN make it easier to clean with lower pressure. It’s also easier to clean at higher pressure. Either way I thought it was interesting.
While we're on the subject of bike protection, can anyone recommend the best 3M tape for DIY bike wrapping ? Peace ;)
Venture shield probably your best bet
Or just use a hose with mild soap and a cloth
Don't see the data on the main claim. Where are the times to clean with pressure vs with a hose?
Cleaning a bike is a subjective thing with no binary answer. I was able to reduce the water pressure, which will help with bearing longevity, AND remove the brushing stage of my normal washing routine which saves time. How much time will depend on how long you brush for. I’d bet you could get a bike pretty clean with just a jet wash faster than any other method. I wouldn’t find that to be clean enough though and would still add a soap/brush/rinse after that.
@@BenCathro times that took you to clean, please. If we consider subjectivity, the cleanliness of both sides would still be out of the equation since you are the only person jetting or scrubbing and ultimately, inspecting.
My bet, though, people applying coatings still pressure wash and still destroy the bearings. But save on water and time.
How people choose to clean their bike is ultimately up to them. The focus of the video was on explaining the “how” of the product and not an in depth review. We don’t do paid reviews at Pinkbike. Internally this type of video is classed as Explain/Explore. We explain a product or topic in an interesting and educational way and explore the potential benefits/negatives without delivering an in depth opinion. Maybe we need to package the video in a way to make it more clear that it’s not a review.
@@BenCathro I am genuinely confused with this answer. Are you a BenGPT now? 😅
I came to see your personal experience and was wondering about "the main takeaway" you promised at the end of the video. Not this gibberish.
I feel like I explained in great detail about how ceramic coatings work and how that can make it easier to remove contaminants from a bike which qualifies “The Main Takeaway”.
I also feel that my last comment outlines the purpose of this video quite clearly. I’m not sure how to explain it better without going over the character limit.
It does appear that I need to improve how this type of video is packaged and prefaced to avoid further misunderstandings.
I’d love to give a big opinionated, deep dive review but I work in commercial video which makes bias impossible to eliminate.
you might want to consider ceramic coating your cabin as well as all the mud ended up there and not on your bike.
Sounds expensive.
e pivots have to be the ugliest bikes ever and I love pivots
Nice
Would you use ceramic coating on top of ride wrap?
Your painted bike has a polymer, 2 part coating, so probably it will also work on wraps. Some manufacturers, have developed coatings formulated explicitly for use on vinyl wraps for cars. Whether these can be applied to bike "Wraps" would need to be tested or answered by the manufacturers.
It would be easy to do a test spot on an area that's out of sight or on a leftover scrap of wrap.
Did u put the ceramic costing on the stantions of the fork and rear shock aswell? Are you supposed to?
Yes, I'd be curious to know if he sprayed that coating along the moving parts on the outside of the wheel hub at areas of the drivetrain that move along with the suspension like you mentioned
I applied the coating on everything except the tyres, rotors, drivetrain, saddle, grips and stanchions.
The ceramic coating is applied with the small round sponge applicator, not the spray bottle. The spray bottle was bike cleaner made by the same company.
You can get Carpro brand ceramic coatings for rubber/tyres (blackout), and plastic/vinyl (dlux). I'm sure other brands have similar too @@BenCathro
Why not on Stanchions? I do mines with the Turtlewax liquid ceramic stuff…
Before I even watch it… the answer is Nope 👎🏻. Want to protect it, it needs wrapping with PPF like invis, ridewrap etc. it will help to keep it clean 🧼 and make it easier to clean
This.
Ceramics for automotive finishes were made to pull more money from car enthusiasts pockets..... They work fine in that application where you work hard at keeping your ride clean and beautiful all the time and spend a fuk ton of cash on doing just that......
We're talking mountain bikes.. they are only cleaned between every 3-5 rides.. maybe 1-2 for you guys in wet climates...
Again... It's a $10k mtn bike meant to shred in dirt gravel mud etc etc...not a $40k Audi meant for the highway...
@@RaptorV1USA If you can afford a 10k MTB, 20 bucks for a bottle of ceramic coating doesnt need budgeting for. It objectively does what it says, unlike many of the most popular chain lubes on the market
Ceramic coatings can be applied on top of PPF and is actually recommended by Gtechniq. I would do the combo if I was starting again. Also, there’s many parts that you don’t put PPF on that you can apply a ceramic coating to. Neither is essential but both have their specific benefits.
If you watch the video he mentions putting it overtop protective films/clear coats
How does that protect bearings?
I wraped the frame with PPF and time to time put wax (the one i use on my car). Works great.
Sucks that you haven’t tag this video as a commercial. 👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻
Wax works mint too but doesn’t hold up to any abrasion so would require many more applications over the lifetime.
I figured the big disclaimer stating that it was sponsored video at the start would cover it. Funding from brands allows us to make cool educational videos like this about how technology in the bike industry works. I found this process really interesting and enjoyed learning how it works. Figured the public would find interesting too.
@ for me wax is still cheaper than ceramic coating. I’m sure i don’t need both :) only smart solution on a frame is ppf.
Marry Christmas Ben 🎄🎁
@@Charliezfabrykiczekolady You should check out sealants when your wax runs out (unless you like the process of rubbing on the wax). They are a good in between of wax and ceramic coatings. A few years ago the Turtle Wax Seal and Shine was one of the go-to sealants (inexpensive and works well), but I am not sure if that has changed over the years. You do need to be careful because they usually spray on (would not want that stuff on my brakes) and my bottle of Seal and Shine dried up a bit after 2 years.
meh
Just more bs to waste money on. I'd rather have just one more ride with my friends. On a dirty bike. That needs a fork service.
Now I would agree if you had to choose between a product that is not essential and a ride with your mates… Pick your mates every time. Also, “fork service” comes way before “ceramic coating” on the priority list. Actually, if your forks do need a service, allow me to be the one to say, give it a try. It’s not crazy hard and there’s plenty good vids on how to do it.
Hmmm ceramic coat the stanchion tubes for extwa performance 🧐
Aluminum can save your bike from being ruined.
alu bearings? Now that's something new!
I prefer oak bearings soaked in mineral oil.
I'm a certified detailer and ceramic coating specialist. If you're interested in getting your bike coated and you're in lower mainland bc just send me a DM.
Can Polish Save Your Bike From Being Ruined? Is the true title of this BS video.
Genuinely curious, what part do you feel is BS?
As much as you pay for these overpriced bikes, they should come with ceramic coating
e pivots have to be the ugliest bikes ever and I love pivots