Originally Posted by
gearbasher
I had a set of Ambrosio Super Elite rims that were hard-anodized. At like the above post stated, they did start to crack around the ferrules. With that said, I did get about 10,000 miles out of them in all conditions.
Yes, I too used various hard-anodized rims in the years after they were introduced and got good enough service from them, despite the cracks around the ferrules. Among the guys I raced with back then, we'd as soon have been seen without the latest dark anodized rims as shown up at the start line with unshaven legs. If I were building up an '80s-era racing bike, I'd probably try to find some hard-anodized rims for it, for nostalgia's sake.