Polish a Salsa SUL?
 

I stripped the black powdercoat off mine, leaving a dull (and rustable) steel-gray color (makes sense, right?). I like it.

Get it chromed and then polish it?

Poptop stems are overrated. My poptop SUL creaks in a very annoying way and I have changed my bars exactly 0 times.

Grease the bolts.

It's amazing that all those mountain bikers and roadies can ride them dealing with all that creaking... ;)

i've got several poptops and none of them creak.
could that be a SUL problem then? Anyone else have an SUL that squeaks or creaks or honks or sneezes?

Did it before installing. It appears to be the junction at the "upper lip" part that's rubbing/creaking somehow. I've greased that too though.

I have to retape my bars soon. I guess I'll mess with it again then.

The Salsa SUL is made of CrMo, not aluminum. You can strip it and polish it, but it'll rust rather quickly.

There are a few options for open face quill stems that aren't Salsas. Deda Murex, Cinelli Frog, 3TTT Mutant, ITM 800, etc. I don't know how many of those are still in production, but I'm sure you can find some on eBay.

You polish the chrome before chroming.

Actually, no. The S.U.L is Salsa's "Stiff Upper Lip" technology. They offer both CroMo and Aluminum versions although the quill is only available in CroMo.

dont forget about scandium.

Right, and we're talking about the quill version here. So, actually, yes.

Perhaps.

...

strip it, polish it, then paint it with clear laquer or enamel which should provide a little rust protection.