Anodised bearing surface?

[mk1Matt]

I'm awaiting delivery of some custom made headset cups for my Klein (to allow fitting of 1 1/8 forks ) but they're just bare alloy, and I've specified a deeper lower one to keep the geometry correct, so it'll be quite visible. I'd like to get them anodised either black, red or blue.

The question is, is anodising the bearing surfaces ok, or do I need to mask them somehow? I wasn't sure if the anodised surface would damage the bearings, or wear in an unexpected way since the surface properties have changed.

Any thoughts?

Matt

 

[MiniNinjaRob]

I would have thought anodising the bearing races would not be a good thing, but I don't know why - maybe when it starts to wear it might cause issues??

Anyway, for the small amount of time needed to do the masking involved it's not really worth the risk.

 

[AMPrider]

Anodizing is a process for surface hardening aluminum. Aluminum is not a hard enough bearing surface material, even if it is anodized. The races will deform.