I have been looking at Middleburn cranksets and I'm ignorant about the choices for the various rings.
The options appear to be normal anodised, slickshift, hardcoat or slickshift and hardcoat.
Considering that the whole setup represents a fairly sizeable investment of money and assuming that the hardcoat does what it says it does (making the sprockets more durable)and that the hardcoating only adds a little to the overall cost, is there a good reason to not specify hardcoating? As a middle aged trail bimbler who has no intention of racing, would I notice the difference between slickshift and 'normal' anodised finish?
I had intended that the crankset would be as a long lasting durable but lightweight addition to a do-it-all hardtail (9 speed cassette and triple ring).
Could you enlighten me please?

The slickshift chainrings are different because they have ramps and pins to aid shifting, not because of the finish on the rings themselves, I think.

http://www.middleburn.co.uk/chainrings_mtb.php

If you have to have Middleburn do get slick-shift, otherwise it's a stern test of the front mech every time to shift them, the ramps and pins make a difference (not a lot, in comparison to Shimano they're still crap shifting)

hard coat like wise makes them last longer if you're up to your knees in winter mud and gloop.

Personally whilst they look OK, I'm not a fan of the rings at least, the cranks are nice though