Nuts 'n' bolts

cantdecide

My Mille is generally a pretty clean, straight bike but one of the things that ages it is the condition of the fasteners around the bike. A lot are stainless but there are quite a lot of then that aren't and most are pitted and scabby looking and pretty much all over the bike. I'm reluctant to paint them as I'm pretty sure they'll just become scabbier over time but I'm wondering if there are other options?

Wossack

can be replaced with stainless ones (pro bolt etc.. $$$$$), or could look into getting the existing one bright nickel electroplated. I was tempted to get a kit off ebay to do some diy plating, sounded relatively simple

CJhaughey

Personally I'm not a fan of stainless fasteners they aren't usually very strong and can make sh1te of threads if they are in anyway galled.
I'd much prefer to electroplate the old ones.
There are a couple of companies selling DIY plating gear, Gateros and Caswell Europe are two that I know about.
The advantage is that the bolts can be plated in anything you choose, bright nickel doesn't suit all bikes a lot of bikes had olive chromate finished fasteners.

Wossack

yea, quite liked the sound of it too. The various finishes you could get with very minor changes in the electrolyte solution was a definite plus. And that you could do loadsa stuff (axle castle nuts for example, which are crazy money to buy in a nice finish, and impossible to buff up manually due to their shape) - only really limited by the size of the bath

had read that the electroplating process can weaken the metal however, and that probably not recommended for anything high stress - caliper bolts etc. Any thoughts CJ?

CJhaughey

Wossack wrote: »

yea, quite liked the sound of it too. The various finishes you could get with very minor changes in the electrolyte solution was a definite plus. And that you could do loadsa stuff (axle castle nuts for example, which are crazy money to buy in a nice finish, and impossible to buff up manually due to their shape) - only really limited by the size of the bath

had read that the electroplating process can weaken the metal however, and that probably not recommended for anything high stress - caliper bolts etc. Any thoughts CJ?

Caliper bolts I buy OEM new anyway, I can't bring myself to trust anyone elses torque values.
For the small extra cost its peace of mind.
There is some cool finishes like black nickel etc that look awesome on the right bike/finish.
I really don't like too much bling on bikes myself, its a personal thing.

Wonda-Boy

Its like the rim tape on wheels some people love it some people hate it.