Polished Rims

[jhcakilmer]

Wondering if anyone knows of a road rim (700c) that comes in a polished silver finish? I'm looking to build a new wheelset for my wife, and she would really like an shinny wheelset...she likes bling, and I think it would look great on her bike.
I think I've seen the IRD rims polished, but I don't know if that is a factory finish, or custom. I guess a follow-up question would be if none come with a polished finish, how can I get them polished?

Thanks

[sr51]

Here is one option for getting polished rims:
http://chainringtransitauthority.com/workshop/cta_specialties/hp_rims.shtml

I haven't seen one in person so I don't know how good their polishing is or how much maintenance it takes to keep them looking nice.

[LegendRider]

Troy at Ligero Wheelworks can do it:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ligerowheels/1142837228/

[jhcakilmer]

Troy at Ligero Wheelworks can do it:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ligerowheels/1142837228/

yeah, those are the IRD Aero rims that I've seen. What about other rims, can any rim be polished? Thanks

[musgravecycles]

Jason,

A lot of the Velocity rims come in what they call a "bright silver" finish. It's not quite as bling as Troy's IRDs, but it's nicely done. I think that'd be just the ticket for Heidi...

The real question is are you gonna treat her to Tubs?
;)

[LegendRider]

yeah, those are the IRD Aero rims that I've seen. What about other rims, can any rim be polished? Thanks


Do they come from the factory polished or does Troy do it himself?

[SamIAm]

Do they come from the factory polished or does Troy do it himself?

I have these rims from Troy. I believe he has somebody do it, but it does not come from the factory.

[musgravecycles]

http://www.jestcoproducts.com/buffing_compounds1.html

Type 2 #739 works very very well for these types of jobs.

I've got some, used to use it for polishing bike parts for people when I worked at Doug's. It'll polish the piss outta anything (will leave a mirror finish if you take it that far). If you are polishing something that's been ano'd black you'll have to strip the ano off first. They've got an anodizing remover (#797) on the next page that works very well...

[jspa]

I've got some sun cr18's on my mountain bike that are polished. Shiny enough to see a reflection in.

[handsomerob]

I have a set for sale.

Record 10 speed hubs on FIR EA65's.

Couple more pics in this thread. http://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=32306

[tv_vt]

"They've got an anodizing remover (#797) on the next page that works very well..."

Musgrave - you have used this stuff? I have a pair of Open Pro rims in a funky blue I'm not too fond of. Otherwise good wheels. Could I use this to strip off the blue? What would I end up with - silver?

Thanks.

Thom

[musgravecycles]

Yes I've used this stuff. Just turned a black Thomson to a mirror finish for my Wife's new custom frame a couple of weeks ago.

It will take the ano off, but you WILL have to polish afterwards. Some of the 'coloring' of the ano will still be there until you hit it with a buffing wheel. Hope that helps...

[musgravecycles]

Here's linkage that might be helpful for those interested:

http://fixedgeargallery.com/articles/polishing/

[PoppaWheelie]

I went through this a few months ago...you can get the Velocity Aerohead's in polished silver, but not the OC variant rear...that only comes in Bright Silver for some reason. They don't run the polished versions all the time I was told, so any possible lead time would depend on what they have on hand. At worst it was a several week wait...

[musgravecycles]

tv_vt,

I was thinking about your blue OP's on the way home. You'll have to check with Jestco because i don't know how the chemicals in the remover will react with the SS eyelets in those rims. I know it works dandy on non-eyeleted rims though...

Several other related things:

I mentioned polishing a Thomson post, I would not recommend anyone trying this. Thomson leaves a 'ribbed' machined finish on their posts. To polish it, I had to remove ALL of those. It was a major headache.

As Velocity rims are manufactured 'down under' any rims out of stock at Velocity USA can take some time to come back in. I had to wait 8 months for a restock on a Pro-Elite rim that was Velocity's mistake in sending me the wrong drilling (32h rim labeled as a 28).

Jason is going to treat his wife right ;) and pick up a pair of tubular Escapes for her, I know these come in Bright Silver because I've built them up before...

[tv_vt]

Hey, thanks for the heads up. After looking at the photos, I'm not sure how I'd do it - soaking the rim in solution for 20 minutes, etc.

I'm wondering if some Simichrome might actually take some of the anodizing off. But it's not like the color is awful... just doesn't go with as many bikes and tires as I thought it would.

T

[guyintense]

Oven cleaner will take off most coatings.
Lye eats everything, especially skin.

[jhcakilmer]

tv_vt,

I was thinking about your blue OP's on the way home. You'll have to check with Jestco because i don't know how the chemicals in the remover will react with the SS eyelets in those rims. I know it works dandy on non-eyeleted rims though...

Several other related things:

I mentioned polishing a Thomson post, I would not recommend anyone trying this. Thomson leaves a 'ribbed' machined finish on their posts. To polish it, I had to remove ALL of those. It was a major headache.

As Velocity rims are manufactured 'down under' any rims out of stock at Velocity USA can take some time to come back in. I had to wait 8 months for a restock on a Pro-Elite rim that was Velocity's mistake in sending me the wrong drilling (32h rim labeled as a 28).

Jason is going to treat his wife right ;) and pick up a pair of tubular Escapes for her, I know these come in Bright Silver because I've built them up before...


Thanks for the suggestions, I knew velocity has the Bright Silver on some rims, but like you said if they're out of stock they might take forever to get them in. I'll have to check.

Yeah, yeah, I'll probably go with the escapes.

Also, I'm thinking about putting a Brooks on, and even considering the leather bar tape....I think it would look nice, but which model and color would you recommend? Does Heather use a Brooks? Do you remeber the color of Heidi's frame.....candy apple red.