Polished wheels for an alu bike - yay or nay?
 

Warning, aesthetics question.

Last year I built up a 2007 Cervelo Soloist with (almost) all aluminum components - the matte black anodized frame with some silver Ritchey and SRAM bits for 'contrast'. The wheels are alloy Fulcrums with silver spoke nipples from around 2010.

I had a crash - delivery guy swerved into me head-on - and bent the rims. I've repaired them to "usable" but there are some dents that can't be fixed, so I'm starting to look for new wheels.

I'm considering polished rims to go with the whole "silver on matte black" look, though maybe it's too much silver. If anything I'd prefer matte to polished.

Something like these: https://rolfprima.com/collections/al...pecial-edition

Here's the bike:

https://i.imgur.com/cwlYgA3.jpg

Thoughts?

Polished hubs/spokes would look good, the rims would be a little much. Everything is so all black now that bikes have lost their personality. They all look the same, just bland.

https://preview.ibb.co/kkqCXS/11111.jpg

Thats exactly what I was thinking when I built this bike - something to NOT make it 100% matte black. There are surprisingly few components out there finished in silver. The cockpit is new Ritchey, but the brakes are SRAM Red from 2010.

I don't want to go overboard, though.

JMO but those are pretty expensive wheels for that bike. Why not another set of Fulcrums? Anyway, silver (not retro high polish) wheels would be fine but the silver stem has to go. Your seatpost and stem should match in color.

The stem stays! It's like the centerpiece of the whole silver accent thing. If I could have gotten a silver post for this bike, I would have.

It neither is nor is like a centerpiece of anything. What it is is the proverbial sore thumb.


https://i.ytimg.com/vi/gYNUOkqzcVA/maxresdefault.jpg

There was a rider at the BlazinSaddles75 last year with polished rims on her bike...I do not remember the brand, but it looked really sharp. Do what makes you want to ride it.

ok

I think would look pretty "throwback" awesome.
Sand and polish the seatpost and then throw a set of these Hunt Sprint wheels on there.
https://www.huntbikewheels.com/produ...-31deep-24wide

Polishing the post could be cool, though removing anodizing sounds like it would be difficult.

Those Hunts look nice, I’ll check them out.

It's not hard to do at all. I did it on a set of Campagnolo Chorus cranks that looked they had been in a 25 year battle. They look absolutely beautiful now.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4397/...28bc5b1c_o.jpg

They don’t get oxidized/rusted over time? Did you finish them with any clearcoat?

I like polished box-section rims, but I haven't yet become a fan of polished deep-section rims. Just seems like too much. Black, with the shiny brake track on the way to the tire, keeps it from looking too monotonous. :thumb:

I'm with you, and I say "thumbs up" to polished rims, too! I think it'd look sharp and distinctive.

it's only been about 1 year since I polished them, but no oxidization issues yet. They do show rub marks from contact with my shoes, but they buff out very easily with Blue Magic metal polish cream.

this thread has some detailed info on the process. It sounds like a lot of work, but it only took an afternoon to do the crankset. A seatpost would take much less time.

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...ng-thread.html

Ritchey Zeta II Classics

Ritchey Classic Zeta wheelset

Polished and under 1500grams.

Well look at that. My Fulcrum Racing Zero are 1430g and cost a lot more than $600

Yeah, these have been on my radar a good while. The Hunts as well, though their design suits a classic frame better.

The Ritcheys would look great on my 2013 TCR SL1 Aluminum frame. Had a set of polished Mavics on there that were tanks that came with the bike (bought second hand), and these are much better looking in what is a bonafied climbing wheel in weight. Been wanting to go back to the polished look for a while to switch up the look.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ALU

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium

shouldn't it have been clear that I wasn't referring to the periodic table, since elements are only represented by two characters and "alu" has 3?

Sorry about that.

What does "alu" stand for?

It’s the first three letters of the word “aluminum” my dude.

Aluminum oxidizes instantly when exposed to air, forming a thin protective layer of corundum. Anodizing improves corrosion protection by thickening this layer, but for many bicycle components, this doesn't matter all that much.

Whoa whoa, what did you do to accomplish that - I have an old Mavic crank (square taper!) that needs some TLC. Rotary tool and some polishing compound? Or something easier than that. Never mind, I'll check out your thread.

To polish aluminum to a mirror finish all you need is some wet sandpaper in different grits and Blue Magic metal polish.