Thing of Beauty on cyclingnews.com

[Matno]

This from the lastest posting on Interbike...

Custom polished Avid Juicy brakes. Dang they look sweet!

[jeffhop]

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....yeas please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jeffhop]

imagine that and carbon!!  stop drooling at the back!!!!!

[Carbon_Angus]

and a Single~Speed to boot!

[smiley=beer.gif]

[Frankd3000]

Retro-grouches will now be able to laugh (and somehow still groan).... the cycling world now RE-enters the famed and fabled POLISH IT days. The first aesthetics cycle is now complete!!!

The weight weenie crowd will realize fruitition with lower weights (geeez, who'd have thunk paint weighs sooooo much).

The newbies will marvel at the new bling factor possibilities.

Why would the retro-grouches groan? It's all thanks to disc brakes. [smiley=laughing.gif]

I guess anodizing everything is only about 3 years away now. Thank god! Billet should be in again at the same time. [smiley=nod.gif]

Looks good. Too bad the rotors won't stay polished for long.

[Dennis]

Frankd,

you must have been reading my mind, man. Even though I agree that the polished look is good, wouldn't those brakes look ever so much better if they were anodized, say, turquoise? (see my gallery re: blue crush).  

btw, does anyone know what the Avid Cable Disc calipers are made out of? they have a matte gray finish that sort of hides the material, and the avid website offers no clue as to the material they used to make these things. I have an idea that I may want to pursue for Blue Crush.

[smiley=groucho.gif]

[Matno]

and a Single~Speed to boot!

Not JUST a single speed, it's a 29er single speed... I'll have to give those 29ers a try sometime...

btw, does anyone know what the Avid Cable Disc calipers are made out of?

I'm pretty sure they're aluminum of some kind or another. Definitely not steel (at least a magnet won't stick to them). I'd say the gray finish looks a lot like anodizing.

[Simon]

I think these are the cranks from the same bike.

[Frankd3000]

Dennis - yes, the Avid calipers are made of aluminum. If you're thinking of stripping them and having them anodized then go for it. Show/discuss your plans with the anodizer BEFORE you do anything, though - be sure he/she agrees it'll work. Keep in mind that anodized coatings are usually pretty thin, though, so you'll probably want to polish them before the anodizing process so you get that brilliant glow when they're done.

Simon - (cranks) - ooooh, for shame.... the chainring isn't polished. [smiley=laughing.gif] And it STILL looks good! Nice finds!

[Matno]

Did you notice that Avid's Juicy Seven is now available with a carbon lever? How cool is that. Now if only they could come up with carbon calipers, those all-carbon builds on all of your Oz's would be complete!

[Dennis]

Matno,

well, we could always send our calipers off to those guys who put the hydrographic carbon fiber finish on car dashboards. I had a "brushed alu" finish put on lexan and plastic fenders for Blue Crush (have since taken them off the bike). they can put that finish on any smooth surface. it wouldn't be real carbon, but would look like it.

Frankd,
I have had other parts anodized for my bike (seat clamp, bar end plugs, valve covers on the tubes, precision billet twist shifters) and the place I worked with actually removed the old wrong color anodizing and then did the new color to match a sample I had sent them. different alloys show a slightly different shade, but I think it worked out well. I wonder how hard it is to get those calipers back together correctly. I know taking 'em apart won;t be a problem, but getting 'em back together is always a different story. when i did the twist shifters, I took pics at each stage of disassembly which helped a bit. I guess Avid gives directions for dis and reassembly so it should work. will keep you updated.

ok, here's an  update (a few hours after the above). I searched and found www.caswellplating.com  not only do they sell "anodize and chrome stripper" but they sell home (small volume) plating and anodizing kits. the anodizing kit comes with a color wheel for matching and recipes for mixing up colors. maybe I will go into the anodizing business on my own. they also have a metal sealer for sealing polished alu. the problem with polished alu is that it doesn't stay all nice and shiny for all that long. I'll let you know if I decide to do it.

[smiley=groucho.gif]