black chainrings (road)

[Michael]

I'm considering buying the newer 105 crankset (whole group in fact) in black for my commuting bike,
because I'm much less obsessed about keeping that bike clean than my other bikes. The silver finish
on most parts (crankset and derailleurs especially) makes it far hard to keep obsessively clean (and
I'm obsessed that way), so by getting a black finish I can leave the bike in a far more reasonable
condition (I keep it in fine mechanical condition, but don't want to care about grime).

But what's the availability of replacement chainrings in black when the time comes? Will I have as
many options available if I want to change sizes, like 30->26, 42->39 or 52->53?

 

[Phil Brown]

>I'm considering buying the newer 105 crankset (whole group in fact) in black for my commuting bike,
>because I'm much less obsessed about keeping that bike clean than my other bikes.

Don't mean to burst your bubble but black shows dirt and grime far more than silver. Phil Brown

 

[Stan Cox]

"Michael" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I'm considering buying the newer 105 crankset (whole group in fact) in black for my commuting
> bike, because I'm much less obsessed about keeping that bike clean than my other bikes. The silver
> finish on most parts (crankset and derailleurs especially) makes it far hard to keep obsessively
> clean (and I'm obsessed that way), so by getting a black finish I can leave the bike in a far more
> reasonable condition (I keep it in fine mechanical condition, but don't want to care about grime).
>
> But what's the availability of replacement chainrings in black when the time comes? Will I have as
> many options available if I want to change sizes, like 30->26, 42->39 or 52->53?

TA chainrings are available in red blue & Black and have been for some time. They are available in
most sizes. The below is cut from http://www.parker-international.co.uk/components.htm prices are
in Uk Pounds

TA Shimano 130 (38 - 41) £19.75 TA Shimano 130 (42 - 45) £22.95 TA Shimano 130 (46 - 49) £27.50 TA
Shimano 130 (50 - 53) £31.75 TA Shimano 130 (54 - 57) £32.95 Sizes in silver all above Sizes in
red, blue, black - 38, 39, 40, 42, 44, 48, 50, 52, 53, 54

Stan Cox

 

[Michael]

> Don't mean to burst your bubble but black shows dirt and grime far more than silver.

You really think so? Dirt is brown and grime is black.

I could believe that MTB's show actual brown dirt and mud (i.e. earth) worse on black components
(seems to be true of the dirt on my black fork vs various silver components), but mine is a road
bike that's subjected more to road splatters and grime that are dark/black than actual dirt and mud.
Seems to me that dark grime would be less obvious on dark components.

Besides, most MTB components (Shimano anyway) are black. Why, if not due to exposure to so
much dirt?

 

[Jeff Wills]

[email protected] (Michael) wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> > Don't mean to burst your bubble but black shows dirt and grime far more than silver.
>
> You really think so? Dirt is brown and grime is black.
>
> I could believe that MTB's show actual brown dirt and mud (i.e. earth) worse on black components
> (seems to be true of the dirt on my black fork vs various silver components), but mine is a road
> bike that's subjected more to road splatters and grime that are dark/black than actual dirt and
> mud. Seems to me that dark grime would be less obvious on dark components.
>

Black components show dried mud/road spooge worse than silver parts. You can't win.

> Besides, most MTB components (Shimano anyway) are black. Why, if not due to exposure to so
> much dirt?

Marketing. Ten years ago there was a great wave of purple-anodized parts for mountain bikes. It
didn't make them any better- just purple.

If you're worried about keeping road grime off of your bike, you should get fenders.

Jeff

 

[Jon Bond]

"Jeff Wills" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> [email protected] (Michael) wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> > > Don't mean to burst your bubble but black shows dirt and grime far
more than
> > > silver.
> >
> > You really think so? Dirt is brown and grime is black.
> >
> > I could believe that MTB's show actual brown dirt and mud (i.e. earth) worse on black components
> > (seems to be true of the dirt on my black fork vs various silver components), but mine is a road
> > bike that's subjected more to road splatters and grime that are dark/black than actual dirt and
> > mud. Seems to me that dark grime would be less obvious on dark components.
> >
>
> Black components show dried mud/road spooge worse than silver parts. You can't win.

True.

> > Besides, most MTB components (Shimano anyway) are black. Why, if not due to exposure to so
> > much dirt?
>
> Marketing. Ten years ago there was a great wave of purple-anodized parts for mountain bikes. It
> didn't make them any better- just purple.

But how well did the purple show the dirt?

> If you're worried about keeping road grime off of your bike, you should get fenders.
>
> Jeff

Just make sure they're black fenders... I mean, silver... I mean...

Jon Bond here's to brown-anodized components

 

[Jon Bond]

"Phil Brown" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> >> Don't mean to burst your bubble but black shows dirt and grime far more
> >than
> >> silver.
> >
> >You really think so? Dirt is brown and grime is black.
>
> Don't believe me? Buy a black bike and find out. I won't again. Phil Brown

Or just buy a mountain bike. Even Santa Cruz's "Rootbeer" color gets dirty. But ain't that
half the fun?

Jon Bond

 

[James Messick]

"Michael" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> > Don't mean to burst your bubble but black shows dirt and grime far more
than
> > silver.
>
> You really think so? Dirt is brown and grime is black.

Definitely. That's why I drive a white car. They're actually the best about now showing the dirt.

 

[Chalo]

[email protected] (Michael) wrote:

> Besides, most MTB components (Shimano anyway) are black. Why, if not due to exposure to so
> much dirt?

Because black parts look like **** after the scratches of a season or two in the real world. It's a
situational incentive to buy another Shimano gruppo, or a new bike that happens to come with a new
Shimano gruppo.

You never notice how not-black road grime is until you get it on something black.

If you want a bike you'll never be tempted to clean, get a Shimano Santé gruppo from around 1988. No
amount of attention will keep white powdercoated components looking sharp, and you'll soon give up.

Chalo Colina

 

[Jasper Janssen]

On Fri, 20 Jun 2003 23:13:55 GMT, "Jon Bond" <[email protected]> wrote:

>here's to brown-anodized components

Yeah, great idea. A bike and parts that look like ****. Literally.

Jasper

 

[Matt O'Toole]

"Jasper Janssen" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

> On Fri, 20 Jun 2003 23:13:55 GMT, "Jon Bond" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >here's to brown-anodized components
>
> Yeah, great idea. A bike and parts that look like ****. Literally.

I seem to remember a year or two in the mid 90s when Specialized, Bontrager, and a few others were
into the ****-brown, pondscum green, and plumbing-pipe gray "industrial" or "grunge" look. Those
bikes sat unsold for a couple of years. Sales seemed to rebound when they got back into colorful
colors again.

I do think black outer chainrings help camouflage chain dirt. But in general, I really hate black
parts, particularly cranks. They get chafed and scratched, and generally look like **** after a
couple of years. I'm sure this is a conspiracy to get people to buy new stuff. Silver parts don't
show the scratches, and can even be polished back to their former glory.

Matt O.

 

[A Muzi]

> On Fri, 20 Jun 2003 23:13:55 GMT, "Jon Bond" <[email protected]> wrote:
> >here's to brown-anodized components

"Jasper Janssen" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Yeah, great idea. A bike and parts that look like ****. Literally.

In Trek's early days the colors available were brown, taupe, grey, tan, sable, beige, etc. We used
to quip that the Trek color chart was a tweed jacket.

--
Andrew Muzi http://www.yellowjersey.org Open every day since 1 April 1971

 

[Jeff Wills]

"Jon Bond" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<TyMIa.1003889$OV.1107121@rwcrnsc54>...
> > Marketing. Ten years ago there was a great wave of purple-anodized parts for mountain bikes. It
> > didn't make them any better- just purple.
>
> But how well did the purple show the dirt?

I dunno- they went on my wife's yellow road bike. They faded to a nice shade of lavender after a
couple years.

>
> > If you're worried about keeping road grime off of your bike, you should get fenders.
> >
> > Jeff
>
> Just make sure they're black fenders... I mean, silver... I mean...

Planet Bike has fenders molded in smoke color (clear with a touch of grey shading) in addition
to yellow and "titanium". That way, you can see the dirt on the inside of the fender as well as
the outside.

A couple of local bike nuts have built fender set out of bent birch plywood. Once they're finished
and sealed, they look rather elegant.

Jeff

 

[Matt Temple]

In article <[email protected]>, "Matt O'Toole"
<[email protected]> wrote:

> "Jasper Janssen" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
> > On Fri, 20 Jun 2003 23:13:55 GMT, "Jon Bond" <[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> > >here's to brown-anodized components
> >
> > Yeah, great idea. A bike and parts that look like ****. Literally.
>
> I seem to remember a year or two in the mid 90s when Specialized, Bontrager, and a few others were
> into the ****-brown, pondscum green, and plumbing-pipe gray "industrial" or "grunge" look. Those
> bikes sat unsold for a couple of years. Sales seemed to rebound when they got back into colorful
> colors again.
>
> I do think black outer chainrings help camouflage chain dirt. But in general, I really hate black
> parts, particularly cranks. They get chafed and scratched, and generally look like **** after a
> couple of years. I'm sure this is a conspiracy to get people to buy new stuff. Silver parts don't
> show the scratches, and can even be polished back to their former glory.
>
> Matt O.
>
>

I'll second that and more. I got a neat (well, ok, cheap) Coda triple crank last year. There's a
curb here in Boston that I have to use when crossing a busy street near our hospital zone. A local
good citizen has put a ramp up to it but I always manage to scrape a crank arm occasionally. The
arms now look quite unsightly, but the rings themselves still look great.

mht