EDITORIAL
Pummelled Patina Or Perpetually Polished?
Purple, Purple, Purple
I have loved anodized purple bike components for as long as I can remember. In truth, I missed the first edition of the trend. But the first shop I worked at had a few hold-over parts that came to the surface when we moved. Glorious anodized purple finds that the owner was only too happy to sell. I'm not much of a collector - the stuff actually was ridden - but I still have a pair of well-abused Cook Bros cranks and an ATAK rear hub.
I bought this ZS44/EC44 Chris King headset when they re-released anodized purple a decade ago (and how about that Answer bar?!)
It's been in a few frames now. Luckily the beer can headtube standard has stuck around - at least for custom steel hardtails
As much as I love anodized purple, when it comes to opening my wallet its application does have limits. I wouldn't purchase purple cranks, purple rims, or purple pedals. Actually, for all these applications my strong preference is for silver when possible, and if not, anodized black.
Where a seat collar, headset, or hubs don't get smashed and bashed through regular use, pedals look like slag within a season. I'm all for amortizing nice things over many years, but I don't find it exciting pushing fresh guts into a shit-kicked pedal body.
That sounds stupid as I write it. After all, I quite enjoy all the nicks, snags, and scrapes that cover my frame and fork, but there's something about pedals that I think look best in polished silver.
These Cook Bros cranks are not mine... they're comparatively so fresh.
Ringlé and purple anodizing. Purple anodizing and Ringlé.
For more, check out Three Tears For The Too-Fresh Retro Rigs.
I bring it up because the lack of a silver option was my one nitpick when Wolf Tooth released their Waveform flat pedals and they've just rectified that decision. I'm actually quite surprised how many premium flat pedals don't come in a similar 'Raw Silver' option. It looks incredible.
It's awesome to buy something that's made in-house, made to last, and well-supported - features that aren't unique to Wolf Tooth or my other favourite machined platform, the NSBillet Daemon - but at least give riders the options to keep them looking just fresh as they continue to function.
Fresh Waveform pedals. Ultraviolet Purple is amazing out of the box.
Used Waveform pedals. Coloured ano finishes are never as fresh after tangling with rocks.
And yes, if you get really close, and I mean way closer than I like to have a stranger standing next to my bike, you can see that my NSBillet pedals have been smoked. They're scratched, chipped, and gouged. They've had fresh internals and a fair few pins replaced, and they're still rad.
Take a step or two back and I've been asked multiple times by the same friends if I have new pedals. Silver ano is forever, and if I'm paying for top end gear that I'll be smoking into rocks under the assumption I'm going to have it forever, I'll take it.
Up close, my NSBillet Daemon pedals look mangled. They've had multiple pins replaced as well as bushings. From a distance - beautiful.
Wolf Tooth just released new colour options for their Waveform pedal. The only one that matters to me is 'Raw Silver' - beautiful.
Apparently, I'm more than a bit weird in this regard but I can own that, and whatever, humans being human, right? I'd love to run silver pedals and cranks on all my bikes because they look fresh forever. Rims, too. Anodized purple will be great for all the other aluminum bits.
Yes, I know, it's a mountain bike. My rigs aren't wrapped and, as I noted, I delight in the various wounds that are part of their story, so I'll own the contradiction. But I still have to ask the question:
If you were buying one pair of premium flat pedals you had to keep running for the next decade, would you choose a pummelled patina anodized colour or perpetually polished silver?
Comments
cheapondirt
2 years, 1 month ago
I'd prefer silver, but impulse-bought black pedals last summer. It's ok. It just set me back a little on the timeline of entropy, where silver is the final colour state of all metal pedals.
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Andrew Major
2 years, 1 month ago
I’ve talked to a few riders lately who’ve polished their own crank arms with good results (not just heal-rubbed the faces silver) and I do wonder how hard it would be to do pedals.
I know it’s weird, I just love the juxtaposition of up close they’re beaten but from a few steps back they look new forever.
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cheapondirt
2 years, 1 month ago
I don't think it would be too hard with the right tools (maybe Dremel polishing bits, after a chemical attack on the ano). Just time consuming.
In my particular case the pedals are magnesium. They'd turn matte grey rather than holding a polish.
(Giant Pinner Pro Mg - Only time will tell if they are worth repeated rebuilds. It's not a sure bet like with Chromag/NSB etc. But my feet are very happy so far.)
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Andrew Major
2 years, 1 month ago
I didn’t know anyone was still doing magnesium flat pedals. Lightweight, certainly.
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cheapondirt
2 years, 1 month ago
All but obsoleted by plastic, I'd think.
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DancingWithMyself
2 years ago
Would be interested to hear exactly how they polished the cranks since it went well.
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Andrew Major
2 years ago
Oven cleaner and elbow grease, a few grades of sandpaper, and polish/cloth.
If you didn’t already, scroll down and check out TwistedNipple’s sweet Aeffect polish job.
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GB
2 years, 1 month ago
Many moons ago working at Race Face I was given a few sets of cranks, to test . Cold forged and CNC carved beauties made locally. They were pre production , non anodized turbine cranks . I gave a set to my bro . He took them to work and got them bead blasted . Oh man they looked sweet and that soft dimpled look was rather unique.
A quick Google search implies that a local bead blasting company will charge around 50 to 100$ an hour.
Using craft beer diplomacy I bet I can get that price down .
I am seriously thinking about getting my Grey SLX cranks with the mirror polish from my shoes refreshed with a bead blast finish. Maybe get the pedals done to match .
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Andrew Major
2 years ago
If you go ahead definitely post the results or fire me a photo. Very curious to see how that would turn out.
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danithemechanic
2 years, 1 month ago
Silver Dmr Mag V12 are on my list.
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Michael Klein
2 years, 1 month ago
Pummelled patina for me thank you very much.
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Andrew Major
2 years, 1 month ago
So, ten year old pedals, multiple sets of bearings later, you’re taking the pair that’s half-anodized colour/half-rock strikes over the polished pair that still look new from a couple feet away?
It’s so hard for me as I’m normally the patina person.
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Gage Lejay
2 years, 1 month ago
I don’t care much about the colour but we should talk about the right to repair that Wolf Tooth has signed up for.
All small parts are available as single orders. What this means is that you will be able to repair these pedals at a reasonable price for a long long time.
Chromag and NSB charge for a whole kit, axle and bushings/bearings. This combines a high wear and much longer lasting item with something cheap and disposable leading to added expense and waste. A lot of times I only need to replace bearings and the plastic bushing not the whole axle. Why not stock these parts separately?
If I pay >200 for a pedal I do not want to fork out an extra 60-70 dollars every year or two to rebuild it and accumulate spare axles.
I am hoping Chromag and NSB start to stock their pedal bushings and bearings as separate SKUs in the future.
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Andrew Major
2 years, 1 month ago
I've definitely talked about Wolf Tooth and 'Right To Repair' in my Waveform pedal review and the first look and teardown of their Resolve dropper post. I'll also hit on it again in my upcoming review of the Resolve dropper. But thanks for pointing it out in the comments as I certainly could have hit on it here again.
I wouldn't single out any other specific brand for not following their lead, but I absolutely agree it would be awesome if more brands making products in-house similarly offered individual small parts. There's a business case for it too in terms of those parts acting as order builders (I'm not just shipping a pedal bushing).
In general, I'd love to see more bike companies offering better long-term support for their products and in particular, I'd like to see affordable frame repair of carbon and aluminum.
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olaa
2 years, 1 month ago
Totally with you on silver pedals! But I still couldn't resist the bronze Look pedals that perfectly match my hardtail frame :)
But raw / silver cranks are even higher on the wish-list. Just imagine how good those Æffect cranks in the photo above would look if they were polished.
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Andrew Major
2 years, 1 month ago
I’ve recently talked to a couple riders who polished their own cranks and both said the voids in the back of the Aeffect R arms would be hard to do.
But yeah, I’d be keen on polished cranks. Aeffect R is a first choice, but I’m also hoping Shimano with do a limited edition silver XT group like GRX.
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TwistedNipple
2 years, 1 month ago
I too wondered how good Aeffects would look polished, so this weekend I made it happen.
Just a quick effort, could be better, and the voids on the back are hard to get into but they look passable by my standards. The ano on the chainring was tough so more work to be done there.
Short Aeffort
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Andrew Major
2 years, 1 month ago
That looks awesome!!!
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Pete Roggeman
2 years, 1 month ago
Those look so sick.
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Steven Hambleton
2 years, 1 month ago
So the graphic design stays intact? What tools did you use to polish your cranks and chainring?
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TwistedNipple
2 years, 1 month ago
I was surprised the graphic stayed. I thought it was a waterslide decal and would peel but it looks to be lazered, maybe?
The process was fairly simple. Taped up the axle to ensure that was untouched. Soak in oven cleaner for 30mins. Rinse throughly and scrub with a toothbrush in water. Scotchbrite pad for 10mins to remove colouration and create a bite. 30mins to polish the cranks with autosol, microfibre and an old toothbrush for the nooks. Done.
The chainring definitely needs a second go but I’m not too worried. Quite chuffed overall.
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Steven Hambleton
2 years, 1 month ago
I think it looks amazing! It would certainly make for a nice YouTube video!
Andrew Major
2 years, 1 month ago
Thanks for sharing the process. They look brilliant.
Do you think with a careful tape job and spray-on rather than soak method you could just polish the face and leave the rest of the crank black?
TwistedNipple
2 years, 1 month ago
Absolutely, I think you could. It didn’t seem to creep under the duct tape on the axle in any way. It did make me want to two-face a stem…
When I say soak, I used a Selley’s Gel applied with a paint brush and then left to do its thang hanging from a coat hanger over a bowl. No submerging occurred.
As an aside, your views of the world and words are magical, Andrew, thank you.
Andrew Major
2 years, 1 month ago
Wow. Thank you & thank you!
TwistedNipple
2 years ago
Turns out taping with insulation tape works pretty well. I got my overlap slightly off and it followed the line perfectly.
Taping works
Andy Eunson
2 years ago
How much would you charge to strip and polish my frame?
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TwistedNipple
2 years ago
Less than it would cost for you to ship your frame to me in New Zealand…
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Andrew Major
2 years ago
Hahaha. Where are you based in New Zealand? Had a rider in the shop today visiting the North Shore from Rotorua.
TwistedNipple
2 years ago
I’m down in Wanaka now, moved from near Rotorua a year ago. I really miss Roto’s forest, that place is something special.
Originally from the UK, 4 years in this amazing place.
Andrew Major
2 years ago
I’d love to take my daughter when she’s older. I’ve never been but all the Kiwis I’ve met & worked with have been solid, friendly, and kind people.
Karl Fitzpatrick
2 years, 1 month ago
Your going to have to explain that welded bar/stem unit above your purple-O beer can head tube...
It looks integrating... I mean interesting.
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Andrew Major
2 years, 1 month ago
It’s made by WZRD. Three pieces - clamp/stem/bar that are brazed instead of bolted.
It allows for a shorter equivalent stem length than I could get with a bolt-on (25mm) and exists as a way to play with negative effective stem length.
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Andy Eunson
2 years, 1 month ago
Clear anodized parts are practical in many instances but you wouldn’t want non anodized rims. I had some Dura Ace tubeless wheels with a carbon "fairing" attached to a non anodized rim. The brake track would get buffed by the brakes but the sealant inside the tire caused a bunch of corrosion inside. Anodizing puts a thin layer of aluminum oxide, Al2O3, which is super hard and seems to prevent corrosion because the previous DA wheels were anodized and did not corrode from Stan’s sealant. Non anodized parts can look pretty shitty pretty quick.
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Andrew Major
2 years, 1 month ago
Yeah, my silver aluminum rims are anodized. There’s still corrosion outside where it’s been scratched but as with the pedals they look good from a few feet away.
Actually built them up recently from my used stash - after pulling old pre-CushCore dents out of them. Look great considering what they’ve been through.
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jhtopilko
2 years, 1 month ago
Patina all the way. My ripmo has plenty of chips.
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fartymarty
2 years, 1 month ago
Andrew - I bought some silver Burgtec MK5s after seeing your silver Daemons. They look awesome and I would love another pair for the bike they aren't on. It's definitely one of the best bits of advice I've read on NSMB.
I have a very beaten up pair of black MK4s which I may have to strip and polish when I rebuild them.
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Andrew Major
2 years, 1 month ago
Cheers Marty!
Will be curious to hear how the stripping goes with all the various nooks and crannies.
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fartymarty
2 years, 1 month ago
I've done a few bits already - cranks, pivot hardware etc. I used drain unblocker and it came up fine once polished. Pedals will be fun tho - as you say lots of nooks and crannies... maybe i'll just leave them patinaed.
Bars were probably the easiest - I just sanded them.
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FlipSide
2 years, 1 month ago
I've been on the Raw program for almost 20 years. It started with raw Middleburn RS7 cranks and Thomson Elite stem for me.
Not sure if I am happy or not to see raw parts becoming trendy. Potentially more raw options sounds good, but I loved having friends explaining to me how my raw parts looks unfinished... ;)
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Cr4w
2 years, 1 month ago
My roommate at the time saw me unbox my Geometron G1 and asked if it was welded by a homeless person.
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fartymarty
2 years, 1 month ago
I hope you skooled them accordingly. Nicolai = weld porn.
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fartymarty
2 years, 1 month ago
FlipSide -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bB1RYVMBqQg&ab_channel=Ol%27DirtyBastard-Topic
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Andrew Major
2 years, 1 month ago
I’d love some polished cranks.
Sorryish to contribute in any way to mainstreaming your niche!
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FlipSide
2 years, 1 month ago
Haha! No worries Andrew! If anything, it contributes to prove I was right all along, so I'll take it! :)
I believe there may be some polished cranks available in the near future that would complement your polished pedals perfectly...
@fartymarty: Thank you for that! ODB in my ears makes for a perfect monday morning! :)
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Andrew Major
2 years, 1 month ago
Hahahaha.
Polished rings (with clear ano) I’ve seen. Excited to see cranks too.
For my #1FG I like 175mm arms and I’d prefer Cinch, Shimano, or SRAM chainring mounting standards so options are more limited.
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fartymarty
2 years, 1 month ago
No worries - I've been on Cuban Linx all day.
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Offrhodes42
2 years, 1 month ago
Color choices are always good.
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Andrew Major
2 years, 1 month ago
It’s nice to have options, even if most folks choose black. Bike grips always make me laugh in this regard.
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dolface
2 years, 1 month ago
Sliver for me, and I'm so glad that more brands are starting to offer it as an option. Nice to see others feel similarly!
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Andrew Major
2 years, 1 month ago
I think especially with pedals, but I’d also love some raw cranks.
I saw that NSBillet is going to be selling a clear-over-polished option for their chainrings.
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Allen Lloyd
2 years, 1 month ago
After trying plastic pedals I don't think I will ever go back. I have broken a couple over the years, but every time I ride metal ones there is a harshness that I just don't like. Added benefit they gauge but never look like scratched metal ones.
On CK headsets, I have one in Mango along with a set of hubs bought 6 months later. They are completely different colors and it drives me crazy.
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Andrew Major
2 years, 1 month ago
Yeah, Red is the only colour where you can (almost be guaranteed to) make a consistent match between brands and within brands, but King has had some incredible variations over the years.
I actually have two mango hubs that don’t match and at one time they were in a frame with a mango headset that didn’t match - so I feel your pain. The hubs are an old #1FG hub with Fun Bolts and a QR hub converted to 15mm. I should find a purpose for them (lack of matchy-matchy aside).
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Andrew Major
2 years, 1 month ago
Plastic pedals - I also appreciate the ride quality of a big bodied composite pedal, and I think for many riders there’s a strong min-max argument. But, the guts don’t last very long on my #1FG bike and even with bearing retainer replacing them is inconsistent at best, so for my rigid bike it’s metal going forward. I’m just creating too much garbage.
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doodersonmcbroseph
2 years, 1 month ago
Silver pedals if they are alloy, black pedals if they are plastic.
If you want to polish the cranks (not that I am suggesting you should) you could have them lightly sandblasted (or U-Blast) then use metal polish or a metal polishing kit that fits a drill and go nuts. For best results you will probably want a buffing wheel on a bench grinder. I am sure there are lots of youtube tutorials.
It would be cool if more companies just sold them that way in the first place.
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Andrew Major
2 years, 1 month ago
Yeah, I can’t take on another project right now so for me it’ll be companies selling them that way.
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doodersonmcbroseph
2 years, 1 month ago
I'm sure most businesses that do alloy wheel repair for automotive could easily do it for you.
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Morgan Heater
2 years, 1 month ago
I'd definitely take beat up anodized over boring silver any day of the week. Preferably bright red.
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Andrew Major
2 years, 1 month ago
I appreciate that. I want to be that guy loving decade old pedals with half the anodizing scraped and scratched off them. Really. Silver just is so timeless! So classic!
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[email protected]
2 years, 1 month ago
Pre-patinated and pay a pretty premium for the privilege please
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Andrew Major
2 years, 1 month ago
HAHAHA like jeans with the knees pre-ripped?! I'm not much of a fashionista but I'll never wrap my head around that one.
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Squint
2 years, 1 month ago
Black or no finish, either is fine. Trying to match colours seems hard to get right.
There's also something I like about a polished (by my shoes) bare patch on a crank, or beat to crap pedals, or scratched counterpunches, that says my bike is used for its intended purpose.
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Andrew Major
2 years, 1 month ago
Pummelled Patina seems to be getting a lot of votes. Generally, I love it but for pedals, I guess I think I'm getting it both ways - up close they show their usage but a few steps back they look fresh.
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XXX_er
2 years, 1 month ago
I got shop bro to thro in some pedals with the bike and they are plastic, really ? he said don't worry they had sold maybe 150 pair and they don't come back. So I got yellow to match the lettering on Maxxis tires and the Santa Cruz which looked good for 15 min until the plastic got dirty, so the last pair i got were black
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Andrew Major
2 years, 1 month ago
Higher-end plastic/composite/resin pedals certainly have their place and the performance-to-price ratio is excellent and an excellent min-maxing option for many riders.
On this bike (single-speed) I find I go through the guts too quickly and the plastic pedals aren't gut-replacement friendly so I've switched back to aluminum bodies with the goal of seeing how long I can make the pedals last just replacing bearings and bushings. Hence the silver v. ano-colour debate.
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Kyle Dixon
2 years, 1 month ago
In the short time I've had a set of Ano Blue Daggas on my Tyee they've taken a bit of a drubbing as I acclimate to the new geo and lower BB height of a modern Enduro wagon. I kind of dig the beat up look as my pedals now match the rider, y'know, weathered, banged up, scrapea and scars, Kinda busted lookin, still gets the job done with a big grin the whole time though!
As an aside, I think Chromags Ano Blue is the richest deepest most pleasing blue on the market.
Conversely though I can see your point about raw silver always maintaining that original sheen despite years of use , abuse, and otherwise.
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Andrew Major
2 years, 1 month ago
My kid agrees with you. She loves that deep ano blue.
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bushtrucker
2 years, 1 month ago
I'm running patina'd black on the hardtail, and polished on the full rigid. You can have it both ways. I much prefer the way parts look when they're all beaten up, in black or silver, and this preference extends to pedals. So my next pair will be black for sure.
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[email protected]
2 years ago
I just got some silver DMR Vaults for my Cotic FlareMax build...I'm hyped on the color or lack thereof.
Build thread on MTBR: https://www.mtbr.com/threads/cotic-flaremax-gen-4-build-diary.1215600/page-2
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Andrew Major
2 years ago
Those look very clean!
It probably comes as little surprise, but I love the colour of your Cotic!
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[email protected]
2 years ago
Thanks! It was metallic purple or slate gray...easy choice.
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Andrew Major
2 years ago
Easy choice!
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Cr4w
2 years, 1 month ago
Technically it was called 3D violet back in the day.
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Andrew Major
2 years, 1 month ago
Wolf Tooth calls their colour “ultra violet” and undoubtedly there are other names circulating - I’m comfortable calling anodized purple.
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manu_moisan
2 years, 1 month ago
OMG the bar/stem on the purple bike , what are they ?
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Andrew Major
2 years, 1 month ago
WZRD Bikes, custom steel brazed.
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earle.b
2 years, 1 month ago
I've been here for the first, second, third...what are we in now the fourth wave of purple anno? Still never purchased a single bit of purple (3d violet as Cr4w pointed out).
Purchased some gold NSB IS brake adapters mostly because pewter was out of stock (pandemic hardships), pretty sure this was the first specific coloured anno part I've purchased since getting my first mtb in 1987.
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XXX_er
2 years, 1 month ago
After a season the pins were noticably lacking in traction from all the pedal strikes on an E-bike so i got another pair and took the pins out of one side of the pedal, sometimes I'm hunting for the side of the pedal with the pins but mostly it was a good idea and I got a whole nuther set of pins
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jhtopilko
2 years, 1 month ago
I had the same purple cranks and spds back in the 90s on my team Marin. Currently I only have a purple stem cap, but no budget build I'd have purple vesper hubs. Pedals get beat up, I use catalysts and trail spd depending on the day.
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Andrew Major
2 years, 1 month ago
If you like Team Marins and ano-purple check out Chris from Marin’s new rig.
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Poz
2 years, 1 month ago
I have an equal love of purple ano and machined raw. In a world of carbon I like the raw metal look particularly. I searched high and low for a relatively cost effective raw crankset last year but ended up with blue atlas cranks.
I am decidedly in the plastic pedal camp however. I find the price point and weight to be deciding factors especially now that there are a lot of competitive options out there.
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Steven Hambleton
2 years, 1 month ago
For bars, it seems only Title make a silver polished bar - perhaps a bit too stiff for general trail use. Perhaps I should polish my handlebar (Chromag FU50). I'd need to find some decals first!
I'd love to see more silver hubs and wider platform pedals. Those Crankbrothers Stamp 7 Silver pedals look great but too expensive here in Australia ($300!)
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Velocipedestrian
2 years, 1 month ago
Spank (used to?) do a polished Spike bar.
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TwistedNipple
2 years, 1 month ago
Hunter makes the Smooth Move bar in silver, if you’re into 15d backsweep. Goat Cycles in NZ has stock. I’ve just put a pair on a new build (will post in the hardtail thread soon enough) so can’t comment on riding perf but reviews seem to like them.
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Steven Hambleton
2 years, 1 month ago
So silver pedals with silver chainring and black cranks? Or all silver?
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Andrew Major
2 years, 1 month ago
Ooo. I’m silver cranks black ring I think… or stainless steel ring.
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Steven Hambleton
2 years, 1 month ago
That would look nice!
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Cee Cee
2 years, 1 month ago
Bacterial or viral?
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