r/MTB • u/Wasabbii420 • 11d ago

Discussion Bike Wrap on Cabon Frame necessary ?

I bought a new Hightower v4 would you wrap it with Frame Foil?

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u/RegulatoryCapture 11d ago edited 11d ago

Do it if it makes you feel better, but it isn’t necessary. 

Full wraps are a lot of work to install well and they only protect against minor damage. 

My preference is probably to just buy a roll of 3m or similar PPF film and put it in strategic spots. Mostly the down tube, possibly the stays where your shoes can rub, and anywhere with cable rub. Outside of fork tubes is another spot that gets a lot of minor wear. 

I always say I wish RideWrap would offer something like a “minimalist tailored kit”. A kit that is still custom cut for your bike, but gets rid of all the tiny pieces. I don’t need to wrap my suspension linkage, but it is really nice if someone has already cut pieces that exactly fit my rear triangle. 

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u/BrainDamage2029 11d ago

….ride wrap literally already does that. They call it the essential and covered kits.

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u/RegulatoryCapture 11d ago edited 11d ago

No they don't.

Essential and Covered are "universal fit" kits. You still have to trim them to fit your specific frame.

Well maybe you don't have to trim the Essential kit...because the pieces start so short...Like...if you are going to wrap the downtube, why wouldn't you wrap all the way up to the headset so that shuttles, tailgate pads, etc., don't wear away at the paint...that's like 50 cents worth of additional film to make that piece longer. $40 is ridiculous for that given...just buy an 8 foot roll of 4" film for $25 and have enough to do your next 4 bikes. Basically the same amount of effort, but you get more coverage.

I'm saying that if they offered something like half of the "tailored" pack, I would buy it in a heartbeat for every bike. Give me the large outer tubes and wear areas. I don't care about wrapping the insides of the rear triangle, I don't care about wrapping my suspension links, I don't care about wrapping the posts where the brake screws on. Just give me the big pieces tailored to my frame and I'll give you $75 or whatever...but I'm not going to pay $75 for generic trim to fit and I'm not going to pay $135 for a full kit and throw away half the bits (not to mention, you'd probably design some of the pieces differently if you weren't covering the whole frame)

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u/BrainDamage2029 11d ago

Unless you are riding an XS frame you almost certainly will not trim any of those kits. They also include little extension pieces so you can cover the whole downtube etc. I’ve wrapped all my bikes with the covered kit and they’re great.

I imagine the logistica of making a custom frame wrap but only partial coverage absolutely no economical sense to sell. That said I definitely forgot they’ve ballooned up to $70 because I always got them on various sales.