Question about removing anodization from rims?
 

I did a search and found out how to remove the anodization from aluminum rims. I found a set of cheap black rims and I want to bring them back to natural color. My question is, if I just want the brushed look (my bike is white and I think it will match better than polished) can i just strip off the anodization with the oven cleaner/steel wool method? Do I need to put any wax or anything on the rims after to protect them or will they be fine? Thanks

A wax coating will probably make the brakeshoes slide, rather than grip the rims.

If you go ahead with this, test a little spot with a q-tip dipped in oven cleaner and your steel wool. Oil the threads of each spoke ( put a drip of penetrating oil down each nipple) so that the oven cleaner doesn't seize the nipples to the spokes.

Also, have good heavy rubber gloves and wear clothes that you can throw away if they get spotted with the oven cleaner.

I've heard of using oven cleaner to remove anodizing but it leaves a nasty looking surface that needs a lot of sandpaper or similar work to give it a nice brushed look. And on rims the eyelets will be in the way so you won't be able to do a nice job around them and they'll all have a halo of funky looking nastiness. On top of that the oven cleaner is a caustic soda (ie; lye) that if you don't clean away totally will continue to eat at the metal until the caustic soda is used up. And the surfaces left behind are prone to the white corrosion that occurs with bare raw aluminium. For example around the eyelets again or inside the channels of the extrusion where you can't rinse very well. If not rinsed well enough you run the risk of premature failure at one or more eyelets or in some other area due to more of the metal being dissolved than just the anodizing.

All in all it's better to pay a little more and get silver anodized rims in the first place. Especially since they are usually cheaper. Or learn to love the black rims.

Bare metal alloy rims corrode very quickly. You don't care about the brake surface since the shoes keep them buffed anyway, but the rest of the rim will darken or get white spots and a mottled finish out in the real world, especially if there's any salt around.

Leave the anodizing alone, and if you want silver rims, buy a pair of silver anodized rims.

I've done this to an anodized stem. It required a lot of time soaking in the oven cleaner and a lot of scrubbing. The anodized layer is a layer of oxidation and dye. Once the layer is removed, your rims will begin to oxidize again. This time they will form a frosted silvery white oxidation layer. This layer will build up over time and ultimately provide you the protection that the original anodized layer did. The wording of your original post implies that you already knew the white layer would form. Others have been trying to discourage you on the basis that the end result will not be silver rims. If I'm reading right, you are aware of this, and you don't want shiny silver rims anyway.

From my experience, some of the other warnings given to you should be considered. Particularly the warning about the difficulty of removing the anodization around the spoke nipples. It took over an hour for me to scrub away the anodization in the cracks and crevices of a stem. I can only imagine the time required to get the spoke nipple areas perfectly clean.

Also, you shouldn't expect the new oxidation layer to look uniform and beautiful the way the anodized oxidation layer did. Anodization is done in a controlled way with electrical current and dye. When the new layer forms on its own, it will have a more amateurish look.

Yes, bare aluminium should only be a desired finish if you want it shiny and are planning on polishing it on a regular basis to keep it that way. Otherwise the natural oxidation will look bad. Better to get silver-anodized rims if you want that colour.

I believe that you are talking about clear anodizing, not silver.

I have three bikes with bare aluminum rims to keep polished. I've had one of them for 36 years. I agree that you should not strip the anodizing off unless you enjoy polishing rims.

Yes, technically it's clear anodizing as no colour dye is added before the surface is sealed. However, that causes confusion with a lot of shop people when ordering to see a list of rim colours, red, blue, green, black and clear? Huh what? Are the rims transparent? So it's common practice to call clear anodizing a silver colour to make the catalogue listing simple to understand. :)