black AL brake track pics?
 

don't want to discuss the merits, i'd just like to see pics of how the new dark finish aluminum brake tracks are holding up. we all know how anodizing wears down, i'm talking about the new era brake surfaces like the boyd ceramics, mavic exalith, campy mille, etc.. if you've got a pic and maybe the number of miles you've put on em, that'd be great.

dont have pictures, but ive put 20k mi on my HED Ardennes Black with no fading on the brake track

my boyds are pretty bad in the back and mostly ok in the front, I will take pictures when I can.

I also have a set of Blacks as my everyday wheels and after years of hard use the sidewalls show no signs of wear.

dave

That's good to hear. How have the hubs held up?

The HED Black wheelset sounds pretty nice, too bad they are $$$. (And they don't offer the rims alone for sale AFAIK).

It’s annoying to me that all these manufacturers with the exception of A force refuse to release the black sidewall version as rim only.

I'll post pictures of my Al33 sometime this weekend. It's got some parts where the bare metal is showing but overall in decent condition.

You can get Boyd Altamont Ceramic (regular or lite) as rims only.

OXICs from DT Swiss
 

also extremely durable...actually the coating with the proper pads has better braking than traditional (silver) brake tracks. Bought a second pair (the deeper rim) after two seasons with the first 21 mm deep pair

Oh... that’s interesting. Didn’t know. Anyone have luck getting the boyd logo off? No offence to anyone with his namesake but the wheels might as well say John Matt Jeff or Jim four times on the rim wall...


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boyd logo can be removed
 

I removed the Boyd logo with acetone and salt or baking soda to add a bit of non-abrasive grit. Never been a fan of logos, so they had to go :)

Good to know!!


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You didn't ask me but since I have the same wheels.....mine have held up very well. They are spooky smooth when you spin them and the ratchet is pretty quiet. I've used mine hard in all weather for a number of years and they still feel like new. I also like that they come apart with simple and common tools and they are super easy to service should the need arise.

One thing the Ardenne Black rims have that can get your attention right at first is a textured sidewall so they make a little noise when you use the brakes. It's not loud but it's there. It seems to lessen with use even though there's no sign of wear on the sidewall. The good thing is that the braking even in the wet is awesome. For me the very small amount noise while braking is worth how well the brakes work regardless of the weather.

dave

IME, eventhought the anodizing in everything ive used is really good at some point will fade... there's no way to avoid that. Sometimes takes 5 years, sometimes 2 years, sometimes more than that.

One thing tho, some colors fade really ugly and other ones fade kind'a ok. Like for example black. Grey/dark grey like anodizing fades ugly IMO.

+1 on the HED Black wheels, I've been using them in dry and wet weather with no effect on the brake track. Hands down my favorite factory built clincher wheel to date.

And, what brake pads are people using with the HED Black rims?