You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
Anyone done it, or can suggest a company that can do it, ideally in Hampshire.
I want my seat clamp, stem, crank arms and a suspension link changed from red, or rather pink as they have become, to black.
The few I've contacted have a £100 minimum order.
Maybe try cerakote?
There was an article on here a few months back about one such company who did frames etc, looked like a decent option. Should be easy to find.
If search worked...
Ah it does for articles
https://singletrackmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/cerakote-harder-better-faster-stronger/page/2/
Not near you mind
At work we use Acorn Plating in Sandhurst which might be fairly local depending on which end of Hampshire you are? You'll find there's normally a batch charge but for a common colour like Black you might find they're running it anyway and can put your parts in for a partial batch cost?
The few I’ve contacted have a £100 minimum orde
Seems fair to strip and re-anodise 6 pieces?
"jfab
Full Member
At work we use Acorn Plating in Sandhurst which might be fairly local depending "
Yes it's their website I saw the £100 min order amount. I'll email them with a pic, may come back cheaper ta.
Well that was worth an email to acorn. £50 Inc postage. Winner.
Glad you found a solution so quickly.
I was going to say that there's loads of DIY anodising videos on YouTube. The most difficult thing seems to be colour matching or consistently achieving the same results but I imagine black is probably the easiest way to go.
It's one of the things I'll get around to trying eventually.
Bear in mind that the parts come back a bit smaller when they're done. That could mean problems if you have bearing seats in linkages etc. that are not quite snug enough a fit already.
Ha yes I've seen the YouTube videos. I would not trust myself to do this!
I'm hoping threads and bearing surfaces will be masked. I'll certainly check when dropping the parts off.
Acorn Plating is probably better known in bike world as Steve the Anodiser, he did my Hemlock and then my Remedy for me a few years back- loved the result, it looks so different to other finishes.
Just had some car bits cerakoted since that got mentioned too, by matt at cerakote up north (same guys who did Neko Mulally's Frameworks dh bike, and the feature on here a while back with the Orange) Again a lovely finish and interestingly different from paint. I should probably mention that the colours worked out quite different to what I expected/requested (which is not a problem, but could have been if I'd needed an exact match) and it took 2 and a half months including multiple gentle chaseups to get the parts back. Overall I'm definitely happy, would do it again, but I think at the moment they're just spinning too many plates and mine happened to get dropped a few times.
Yes it was Steve who very promptly replied to my email.
The bits I'm getting done
I'll put up with pink hope brakes till I replace them.
Some of the stuff on this website is tantalising! If I still had my raw Geometron I'd send them the whole frame.
https://www.acornplating.com/custom-work
How do they do the guitars though? I'm assuming they're made of wood.
I was going to say that there’s loads of DIY anodising videos on YouTube. The most difficult thing seems to be colour matching or consistently achieving the same results but I imagine black is probably the easiest way to go.
It’s one of the things I’ll get around to trying eventually.
A member on Retrobike did some parts for me. He was saying one of the hardest things is you have to spend a long time preparing the surface, then get that surface perfectly decontaminated.
The parts need to be free of defects, as anything will show up on the finished part and get highlighted so wont look so good. New parts were preferable, but again after stripping, the stripping solution gets into the pores of the metal and needs extremely well cleaned to get rid of it all or that affects the finish to.
He did some of the first Hope tech levers in purple as they didnt come at that time in purple(Haters look away) So to fit in with my narcissistic attention seeking leanings, I was the only person at that time had hope tech levers, bore caps and master cylinder covers in purple.
Then those sob's at Hope released the tech evo in purple 👿
You can actually see a bit of a score on the bottom left master cylinder cover. That wasnt evident to the same degree when i sent them off, but the re-anodizing really highlighted it.
They are also a different alloy grade/type to the levers and bore caps, so the colour was a bit hit/miss and didnt turn out so well.
DIY ano tends to be pretty weak, too- I did it myself a long time ago and found it scratched and wore disappointingly easily. Probably I could have done a better job but it was already a ton of effort just to do a fairly poor one.
I’m hoping threads and bearing surfaces will be masked. I’ll certainly check when dropping the parts off.
They won't be as that would leave those parts raw and they would corrode down the line. The process removes all the old coloured material in an acid dip, and then dyes the now exposed raw stuff that's left. Were talking microns here, so it's only a problem if you had parts that were borderline for tolerances already.
Steve's done some stuff for me too in the past and is a great fella. I'm sure there's no real money in it considering the prices he charges but I get the impression that the mtb stuff just fits in and around their more commercial work and it's a bit of fun for him.
Just make sure there are no helicoils inserted into the part as that can make a proper mess of things.
Well that was a bit easier than expected.
The stem and seatpost clamp obviously came off easily.
The Nicolai rocker axle pressed out with a 13mm bolt. They had also incorporated a flat edge on the spacer in the blind bearing to allow easy extraction of them. Excellent design.
The previous owner supplied me with the hope crank tools so doing a few mm each side allowed removal of the spindle.
The only tool I don't have is the one to remove the spider.
Well what a fantastic job by a fantastic company.
Replied to my query within 30 mins, completed the work within 24 hours and charged £30. I felt like I was robbing him so paid £40.
The other company never even replied.
Be gone faded red hope anodised tat!
Love the stealth hope logo left on the cranks 👍.
That looks mint. Nice price as well.
This thread has me looking for another Geometron. Thankfully there's nothing nice for sale!
Glad that worked out well! I'll be honest I didn't realise he did so much in the way of MTB/custom parts, we just use him for regular black anodising on automotive bits/inserts for the most part!
Looks so much better .
Wonder what the previous owner used as bike cleaner to fade all that red so much
Great to hear there's still some people doing great things at great prices out there
If you'd been going black to pink he's have added another 50 to the price ;-: as a deterrent.
And been doing you a favour