Anodized Silver vs Polished Components. Which do you prefer?

[Michael]

I'm struggling to decide between polished vs anodized silver for Bronze Green Sam build. This would be for
-Brakes

-Brake Levers

-Rims

-Edelux Light

I went into this sold on polished but folks at Riv have me reconsidering. Anyone have input?

Thanks

[Brian Turner]

Why not have some fun with it? I like to have some sort of anodized component color on all my bikes. My trouble is, that color usually turns out to be gold no matter what... but it's fun and I think it looks cool.

Brian

Lex KY

[lucky...@gmail.com]

I have a titanium bike completely outfitted in polished goodies (Paul, White Industries, Velocity), and I have to say it’s gorgeous. I won this bike in a raffle and never would have treated myself to such luxury but it’s really a sight to see. 

I have the regular silver Paul brake levers and thumbies on a different bike and while the parts are awesome looking in that smoothly utilitarian Paul way, they don’t have the same luxury vibe (insane to say this about Paul, I know). 

I say if the bike is super special to you, go polished. 

Liz

On Aug 12, 2024, at 12:12, Michael <mcant...@gmail.com> wrote:

I'm struggling to decide between polished vs anodized silver for Bronze Green Sam build. This would be for

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[Brian Turner]

My apologies. I misread your question. I assumed you were asking if you should go with polished or an anodized ("pop") color.

In that respect, I tend to go down the path of letting the rim finish choice dictate whether most of the other stuff is polished or just silver.

Brian

Lex KY

[Nick Payne]

Anodised will look a bit better a few years down the road than polished.

On the Mason that I most recently built up, I had no choice of colour for a lot of the components I was using - e.g. C-F rims are black, SRAM AXS shifters/derailleurs are black, the Shimano XT M737 cranks I had are silver anodised, as was the Ritchey seatpost, but I decided on a bit of colour co-ordination to go with the Orange BxB saddlebag I already had and would be using, so I fitted orange Hope disc calipers and used orange handlebar tape.

Nick Payne

[Ryan]

Personally I like the polished components from Paul and WI and the satiny finish on Nitto and I opted for the silver(polished) Paul racers and WI hubs on my 2016 mixte(metallic burgundy). My personal opinion is that silver doesn't detract from the elegance of a Riv frame which is the star of the show. OTOH, Leah's anodized builds are so fun. Some dark gold anodized parts would be nice with that bronze-green, I bet.

After prolonged use; you are going to RIDE the bike after all, the components and the paint job are going to show beausage whether they're anodized or polished. 

@Michael...what did Riv HQ say that made you reconsider?

[Bill Lindsay]

The OP just asked which I prefer.  I prefer non-polished silver over polished on my Rivendell builds.  I have some polished parts, like Rene Herse cranks, on other builds that I consider more dainty and fashionable.  My Riv builds are not so hoity-toity.  

Bill Lindsay

El Cerrito, CA

[Peter White]

In fact, anodized will look a whole lot better a few years down the road if you ride year 'round on roads that get salted in the winter. I tend to ride my fat tire bike in winter which has a B&M IQ-X headlight. The Riv has an Edelux II polished, and rarely if ever gets road salt on it.

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Peter White

[Ed Fausto]

Hi Michael,
I tend to agree with Nick and Peter.
I previously bought brand new polished Son hub and Cliffhanger rim which after 1 year of use have tarnished which regular cleaning would not make any difference.

So all my succeeding purchases where silver anodized which held up better even after prolonged use.

Just based on my personal experience.

Ed Fausto

[Garth]

To me polished to be sustainably sparkly is best reserved for raw/unfinished aluminum parts. I have Specialized Stage FW hubs from the 80's that are that and with some simple hand polishing using Blue Magic and a rag become shimmery rotating hourglasses. Most vintage derailleurs are raw also and take to hand polishing well. Velocity NoBS rims are raw and would take to polishing too. Yes it requires periodic polishing to keep it that way, but to me hand polished parts look better than factory polished. There are few if any new raw/unfinished parts these though, save removing factory black anodising  and polishing the raw finish. Otherwise anodised silver is acceptable for parts. I must say, seatposts are especially lovely when hand polished, as are stems, as are cranks ..... oh hell ...... what isn't ? Ahahahahahaaa !  

When I hand polish I dont set out to get into every nook and be overly detailed about it. "Good enough" is the motto. It's like shaving with double edge safety razors, the "good enough" shave is easy peasy and fun and remarkable durable. 

[Ryan]

Well...thanks all...I learned something(as I usually do in this group)....maybe thinking about it would have led me to the conclusion that silver-anodizing is more durable than simple polishing because the anodizing is a protective coating. But it doesn't  last forever. My late partner took off his 90's XTR cranks from a 90s Specialized carbon S-works Stumpjumper that delaminated at  the driveside chainstay(alas) and put them on my old PX10 SS...and you can see that the anodizing has worn off on the crank arms from use. Functionally , they're just fine however. 

[Peter White]

Well sure. The anodizing on a crank is going to wear from abrasion with your shoe. That's hard to avoid. But there's usually nothing rubbing on brake calipers or rear derailleurs, seat posts, front derailleur clamps, or handlebar stems.

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Peter White

[Steve]

Ryan, regarding the worn anodized finish on the cranks; that's when it's time to strip and polish them. They'll. look better than ever, though it is a bit of a project.

[Bikie#4646]

Garth and others,

I love the way I can bring out the tube of Simichrome polish a few times a year and have my VO fenders looking like new. Like you, I rarely spend more than ten minutes at it, which is all it takes to do more than the out-of-sight places on the fenders anyway. It can remove all but the worse scuffs with a little elbow grease.

Paul Germain

Midlothian, Va.