Befitter

Hello Bike Forums Friends,

I have this Shimano rear 36-hole, 6-bolt disc hub that is nearly perfect. I want it to be a silver/polished color.
Which would be best: paint it, powder coat it or vinyl wrap it ???

smd4

I think all of those options would look terrible. Only slightly better would be removing the black coating/anodizing completely. Best would be to just get a new silver hub if that’s what you want.

Iride01 

I would just get the hub in the finish that I want. Might have to change brands. That said, I've become accustomed to the black finishes that the manufacturer's only want to offer now for wheels and group set components. Sure I'd like chrome, gray or silver. But I'd rather ride than futz with it.

smd4

I don't mind futzing with stuff to get what I want, but in this case, getting what he wants--outside of getting a new hub--really isn't practicable. Even removing the coating/anodizing--while obviously to me the 2nd best solution--will result in a hub that will need to be constantly polished to maintain a nice appearance--and with a hub and its attendant web of spokes, this would definitely be a PITA.

Iride01 

Well you do realize that I was just saying that I wouldn't go to the effort. Not that I'd think bad of the OP if they choose do something I wouldn't.

Why do you feel compelled to to tell me that you and possibly others will? I know that y'all do. And it doesn't bother me that you do.

Or am I misunderstanding, and this is just your way of enforcing your opinion to the OP?

smd4

This.

And it isn't "reinforcing," so much as explaining what needs to be done if he does decide to remove the coating.

smd4

Do what?

terrymorse 

It's way too much work to make a black hub silver.

Much easier and cheaper to buy a new silver hub.

PhilFo 

+1 for buy a new hub.
If you have an M525A, that hard anodizing is not-quite-bulletproof, but it really is strong. You're not going to be removing it easily. Powdercoating and vinyl wrapping are ridiculous for a $35 hub. If you are dead set on making it silver, spend a few dollars on some good quality painters tape, mask off the freehub body, put greased bolts into the rotor mount, and mask off the NDS axle, then rattlecan it to your heart's delight. Montana SilverChrome is a great high luster paint, but it's acrylic, so it's eventually going to flake. You can get some good automotive chrome paints, but you may have to bake them, and that hub isn't going to take baking without some extra work. This is a bunch of man-hours of planning, prep, and labor which will far exceed the actual cost of the hub itself.
Then again, anything is possible with enough money...

wolfchild

Pointless and a waste of time.

Atlas Shrugged

What is? Reading your response or taking the time to write it.

Reynolds 

None of them. Best would be stripping completely, removing the anodizing and polishing IMO. Is it worth it? That's another story...

veganbikes

Get a proper hub in the color you want or just don't worry about it, you probably won't see it while riding and if you do "WATCH OUT THERE IS A CAR COMING TOWARDS YOU". Truth be told yes I like high end hubs and did buy a blue hub from Project 321 (or bought a wheel from Astral using that hub technically) and also bought some pink anodized Phil Wood hubs but in the end any color would be fine for just riding. For just looking at I understand but looking at a hub that used to be black will not look good no matter what you do unless you spend a ridiculous amount of time and toxic chemicals to maybe get what you want but in that time I could just get a nice silver White Industries hub and problem solved and I have a really high quality hub that will last probably forever or near to it.

gravelfan

I have a XTR crank for my single speed MTB that I took to a local chrome plating shop and they stripped off the anodized finish and polished it. Over 10 years later it still looks as. good as the day I bolted it on.

denaffen

Yellow can ez-off oven cleaner will remove the anodizing. It’s nasty toxic stuff but it will do it. After that you will have hours spent polishing the hub. It will be a LOT of work. But it is doable.

Russ Roth

denaffen nailed it, oven cleaner will strip it off though the results may not be pretty, can always chuck it on a drill using a bolt and nuts to polish it with some fine steel wool and then you only have to worry about polishing the disc flange. Will still be a lot of work.

shelbyfv

If you strip and polish it, you might want one of these to keep it shiny.

Reynolds 

When we were kids, we made those out of old inner tubes.

Befitter

I got a new hub, THANK YOU EVERYONE :0)

tFUnK

The most anticlimactic resolution to a BF thread is when the OP actually follows advice/conventional wisdom/common sense. *puts popcorn back*

Befitter

Hello Bike Forum Friends,

But I also ended up sandblasting the black of that hub, in Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico for 350 pesos = 20 US dollars

smd4

Do you think that looks good?

Befitter

Oui, Si', Yes

veganbikes

For most builds probably not but for an old Kestrel frame with the stone grey color (I cannot remember which one it was as I saw it on my shop years ago in for repair but I didn't handle it just looked at it) it would actually look kind of cool.

smd4

As they say, there’s no accounting for taste…