My bike is starting to look shabby and this weekend i’m going to give it a spruce (I know i’m so vein…that i’ve even been looking at new bikes even though there is absoloutely nothing wrong with the old one – it just is starting to look very used).

One of the main problems is the SLX cranks which are starting to look scratched to shite. I therefore am going to give polishing my cranks a go this weekend.

I think aluminium polish and a polishing ball on a drill are the best steps…is there anything else I should use…I’ve been advised not to bother with the wet and dry.

Secondly has anyone tried spraying their cranks with a clear lacquer after polishing to prevent them from getting oxidized and scuffed again or am I wasting (even more) of my time? Whats the best thing to use?

P.S. picture above is of what I’m going to have achieved this weekend!

Ummm shiny!

I’d etch something personalised on it, then cover with heli tape.

As for polishing, I’d just use some AutoSol polish and a rag, it won’t take too long.

Well dont take to much of and weaken them. They are hollow on the inside

I did my Hones with caustic soda, no problemo!

Polished mine up a treat with wet and dry and then some fine stuff, very shiny. 3 weeks later they’re looking pants again. Worth the effort for a new build but wouldn’t bother after that.

scratches won’t come out with just polishing unless they really are just surface deep.

We use a kit of this stuff at work for stainless and aluminum. They also do a satin finish kit which does stay better longer.

In my experience aluminum will oxidize very quickly if not protected with lacquer. We are very careful not to touch prior to lacquering as even clean fingers leaving prints that come up later under the lacquer.

I have a set of M960s the i polished up. Tried lacquer when i first polished them but it didn’t last long. They do scuff up and oxidize quickly, i just repolish them. Soon going to try an experiment. After lookng into it at work best option seems to be – polish – alochrome then get a few layers of lacquer on there within 12 hours. The alochromeing is a conversion coating that will allow the lacquer to bond properly to the surface.

If you wet and dry them, to get them smooth I can finish them for you but you will needto polish them monthly to keep them looking bling like mine above.

EDIT: Can’t load images at work?

XTR polished cranks by mathew.sims, on Flickr

EDIT: Can’t load images at work?

You copied the link to your photostream, you need the actual .jpg location. On Flickr, Click Share, Grab BBCode, copy and paste here. 😉

Ta