Corrosion of anodising on alu cranks

[FiveAlpha]

I have some Shimano RX100 cranks, that have seen little use, but are obviously old. The anodising has ‘crazed’ - is there any way to clean this up, other than removing the anodising and polishing?

Thanks

 

[Peachy!]

Yup; removing the anodising then re-anodising!

Seriously though;
1. Strip & re-anodise (you won’t save any money stripping them yourself, may as well let the professionals do it)
2. Strip them yourself (harder than you might think) then hand polish and wax up.
3. Fine vapour blast at local powder coaters, then;
A. Clear powdercoat as is
B. Silver powder coat (metallics are not as tough and can fade)
C. Or pick a solid colour ie black or white...

And of course, you can rattle can spray them.... :facepalm: (might last if you don’t use them!)

Ps. Most anodisers will have a minimum charge, so if you go down that route you may as well get a bunch of stuff done.

 

[FiveAlpha]

Thanks for the info. It's a shame to strip them (of the logo especially), as they are part of an, otherwise perfect condition, RX100 groupset. I am tempted to just leave them as is. The left one is much worse than the right, as well.

Cheers

 

[mattr]

Isn't that just the lacquer?

 

[FiveAlpha]

Isn't that just the lacquer?

No idea? I assumed it was anodising, because, until the 105SC generation, Shimano used to anodise, not paint everything (except Dura Ace, which was polished and lacquered).

You've got me thinking now - perhaps because it is a 'bright' finish, it might be lacquer. Hopefully someone with more knowledge than me will confirm which it is.

 

[hamster]

IIRC RX100 was simply a lacquer. That looks like corrosion worming under the coating.