anodized hubs : when do they work when do they not?
 

a nice ano is always tempting but will I regret it? curious on everyone's thoughts on colored hubs (anything not polish or black)

They’re gorgeous in the right condition and I always chicken out! Black or silver on my last two wheel sets :(

I had gold Onyx hubs that looked amazing. Made me smile every time I fell off my bike and saw them covered in mud.

Chris King red turns into pink. Black hubs for me these days.

I finally committed to pink T11s, but I'm having tons of second thoughts before I build them up :confused: gold is the happy medium imo

Depending on what you wash your bike with, those black hubs might soon turn purple or brown. That pink Muc-Off spray is notorious for fading ano, and Simple Green products will do it too.

If these things matter to you, colored hubs seem to reduce resale value of the wheels.

They also won't necessarily matchy-match with your next bike, unless you want to limit your frame choices based on your hub colors.

Black or silver work with almost anything.

I never use degreasers on my bikes. Only water with a mild car wash soap or a waterless car wash spray for quick touchups. I have hubs going on 5+ years old that still look new. I wax my chains so no more need for degreasers.

not to derail the thread, but some of the comments make me really glad I just use Dawn detergent to wash my bikes.. not really sure what the point of a special wash is for general cleanliness..

A lot of folks with steel bikes avoid Dawn and the like because it contains salt. Car detailers generally reserve it for a 'just this once' emergency treatment on cars that have been left parked under sap-shedding trees for years, for the same reason.
Modern bike wash detergents are usually formulated to have a grease-cutting action whilst also being biodegradable and safe to wash away, but not all of them are equal. Some are harsher than others. It's definitely a consideration if your bike has any coloured anodised parts to take care of, and it's relevant to this thread imo.

good info!

If the price is the same, always go for the more colorful option. Don't be another boring black bike with black components.

I'm a colored hub and nipple fan, but can't commit to it on my own bikes.

I did see a CAADX yesterday that was dark grey with teal and lime accents, and the hubs were a matching Lime color. BEAUTIFUL!!!

Coming from someone that anodizes a decent number of parts, it's a tricky process often carried out by people with substance abuse issues. All ano finishes are UV light sensitive and will fade to some extent over time. There are things that an ano shop can do to lessen this effect but as a consumer you've got no idea if those steps are done. Bikes that spend a lot of time outside be it while riding or on a car rack will see this way more than the bike that usually gets ridden for a few hours from the home and stored away in a garage away from the sun. I've got a set of green Project 321 hubs on my MTB and they look as good as the day I built them. But that bike generally gets ridden in the woods and might see 15-30 minutes on a rack per ride. I see some of our old ano'd tools once in a while and sometimes they look great and other times they've faded into green like colors. It just kind of depends on which ano shop they came out of. As a side note, we've been using the same shop as King for the last 5 years and those guys are awesome. The people before them, not so much.

I came really close to buying Hope wheels with orange hubs. It would have matched the Hope headset and seatpost collar on my gravel frame.
I went with some handbuilt wheels from prowheelbuilder instead for the same cost and weight.
The Hope hubs would have looked cooler for sure.

I like annodized hubs if it matches an accent color on a bike. I dont like them nearly as much when they match the main color of the bike.
Blue bike with orange accent?- orange hubs.
Black bike with purple accent?- purple hubs.

For those looking to accessorise coloured ano hubs they already have (or are thinking about) Wolf Tooth are taking the ano baton and running with it. Loads of options across their catalogue now, including an 'Espresso' brown that would look smart on naked Ti builds.

https://www.wolftoothcomponents.com/...ition-espresso