Which do you prefer on classic bikes -- shiny, highly-polished aluminium, or the dull patina acquired from decades of use?

voted shine, but it really depends on the bike.
If we're talking components only then I have no qualms about cleaning
and polishing up the bike.
Patina on nice campy hubs looks like road dirt to me.
besides I think a well maintained, clean component just works better.

Marty

You need a both category. I will clean a part and use Mothers on it. I won't buff out scratches or those tiny tiny black pits, but the Mothers does get rid of that dull gray finish.

I prefere the patina look, it adds more to the "Ooooohs and Aaaaahs" one gets from the masses while riding a vintage bike

I personally like the preservation over restoration if the bike is at all original or in decent shape.

For me it's not a question of Restoration vs Preservation for this specific poll/thread.
I think it's more a question of cleaning up the bike, removing it's hard won road grime
and oxidation (i.e. see the Zeus hub that another poster found). For me again cleaning
up is part of the preservation.
If we are talking paint here, thats a completely different story and I usually opt for preserve
the original finish.
To quote myself (quoting someone else) "It's only original once", but it can be clean
many times and still be original..
good thread.

marty

Dirt is not patina. As far as fine racing bikes are concearned, proper maintenance should be an ongoing part of the bikes life.

To me this includes cleaning and polishing parts, and replacing tatty bar tape and cables,etc. when needed. I have no problem with a frame showing scratches, faded paint, torn decals, etc. But I'm still going to make sure that frame is free from grime and waxed. I have no problem with alloy cranks showing strap marks and chain scratches, or levers showing a bit of road-rash. But I'm still going to clean and polish those parts, scratches and all. In a nutshell all parts should be made to look as good as they can without altering (re-finishing).

This way a 30-40-50 year old bikes looks its' age but you know everything is tuned, adjusted, safe, quiet, and rideable.

Besides I can't work on a dirty bike. If I'm re-packing hubs, those shells get cleaned inside and out. It might be important to leave oxidation on a Van Erps lamp base not a fine bicycle.

I vote for polishing the heck out of any aluminum that has dulled.

The components weren't dull when new, why should they be kept dull?

Take care,

-Kurt

+1

I like shiny things and I voted accordingly. But I have no problem with patina, either. Old bikes are just cool any way you slice it.

Yeah I like shiny parts and voted accordingly too, but I'm getting real tired of polishing alloy wheelsets and am getting behind as a result.

I'm in the 'tweener camp, clean but with lustrous patina. Vintage parts have earned the slight dulling around that shiny spot where your thumb hits on the shifter or your fingers grip the levers. There's no need to shine the crap out of everything.

Think about it, which looks like it belongs on a bike that is loved and ridden... a new out of the box Honey Brooks or one that seen a couple 10,000 miles complete with divots and sweat stains?

To me nothing says I'm loved like the latter.

A leading question your honor!

Most aluminum alloy parts on bikes are clear anodized, which gives them a satin, not mirror finish. This coating is a lot harder than bare aluminum and will not polish up any shinier unless you power buff it long and hard. After that you will have to polish it over and over again periodically if you want to keep that mirror finish. Your choice; leave it alone or polish it forever. The only time I would polish aluminum is if it was never anodized or is really corroded and scratched up.

I saw a collection of over 60 mostly 70s and 80s VLWs yesterday. Including two bike built for roger de vlaminck, with pantographed RdV in the fork crown. The owner is a machinist and polished most of his cranks including considerable rounding in some cases and milling out the flutes and cutting out the shift levers. Everything is accented mostly in yellow by his hand. Many of the bike are immaculate, all get ridden and all have look pedals (wonder where he keeps all those originals?). Needless to say I vote polish. I was truly swayed by the beauty and amount of work he put into these machines. I have wondered if I should build corky with "patina" or strip and polish the very beat up cranks and scratched up levers, But now I know what I have to do. Polish polish Polish, relace wheels (to polish the hubs)... polish the rims, new decals... full refurbish. Sure if you find the bike in good condition with some patina, by all means clean it and ride it. But for a restoration, polish away.

Can we get some visuals in here? I *think* that I like patina but I need an example of exactly how far along this patina is because I keep thinking of grime on a bike, which would not be a good thing.

No pics of this guy's collection cyclotoine?

Here is a rough shot of my unrestored ~1974 Cinelli SC. Still riding like a dream. Has a few scratches and scrapes, but what the heck ,what you expect after 35 years of use

I didn't want to ask. A few bikes I'll mention...

He was riding at late 70s RdV colnago yesterday, beautiful...
He had a 1984 Olympic Battaglin... full 50th anniversary group (he had another full 50th).
A 70s cinelli track bike in amaing shape with chromed alloy old logo 1R and criterium bars and chromed campy seatpost.
To name a few....
I'd like to get to know him better to get some help polishing my parts.

I think C&V regular nlerner has a few examples of nicely patinated bicycles. It appears he cleans the bikes, but doesn't always polish all the bits. If I'm wrong, Neal, I apologize!

https://web.mit.edu/nlerner/www/lernerbikes.html

When I asked the question, it was more philosophical rather than practical, but here's the sort of patina I had in mind. Clean, not dirty, but the finish is "untouched"....

Ok, here's an example of my ideas on this (my 1974 RIH).
the hubs were cleaned and repacked, there is some
pitting evident (patina). I did not buff off the anodizing and polish to
a high gloss shine.
note difference between chrome dropout and hub.


Also note the rubber QR cover, it looks filthy but what you see is that the
rubber is permanently stained, I have no clue as to how to clean this without
destroying the part. As this is original to the bike (as delivered to me) this
is patina that I can live with.

Marty

More pictures. Cleaned and rubbed with Mothers, no buffing wheel. And no, I won't rechrome anything either.

Bikes with oxidized aluminum parts just look neglected to me. That's not the look I'm going for with my vintage bikes.

Concur. The original Campag. high-flange hubs on Capo #2 still take a lustrous shine after 47 years.

Love shiny, but will settle for patina-look once I get the message that hours of buffing didn't make much difference - then I tell everyone it's supposed to look like that!