Silver wheel rim blacking question

[morphix]

Hi all,

I have a need for black 16" 349mm 36H wheel rims (same as used on Brompton) and they seem to be virtually impossible to get hold of in this size, (unless anyone knows a UK-based supplier?)

I'm converting a Mezzo which uses the same wheel rims, but my bike is black so the silver rear rim I have had my hub motor built into doesn't match the front wheel. This was a custom wheel build as you can't 349mm rim hub motors ready built up. I didn't think about the rim colour at the time! The wheel rims are readily available in UK in 349mm 36H in silver and come in brushed aluminium, but as I said, black, not available oddly.

Right, so here are my options:

1) Use the original black wheel rim which came with the bike, and get the extra holes drilled for motor hub spokes. I imagine this would not be easy to do by hand with an ordinary drill and mean going to a workshop or specialist factory?

2) Spray-painting a silver wheel rim black or using some other black paint products. I need a matt finish and obviously it needs to be durable and not scratch off in 5 mins! Is this viable? I'm thinking with perhaps with an undercoat, some matt black spray paint and a matt/satin finish lacquer overcoat it might do-able? I know there are other paint products on the market though, eg: Birchwood Casey ALUMINIUM BLACK Metal Finisher.

3) Taking the silver rim to a factory workshop that specialises in anodising aluminium and give it the acid bath powder coating treatment. I imagine this would be the most expensive option.

Which option do you guys think is the cheapest and easiest? Perhaps you would approach this problem differently?

No "change the front hub to silver and live with the silver" comments please! It's simply not a solution.. the bike is black, it has to be kept original looking, and the wheel rims have to be black.

 

[Thud]

Clean your silver (assumed aluminum) rim of any labels & such, use a self etching primer to bond to the alloy, then paint with a quality spray paint of choice.
Pay attention to drying times, you should have no problems with peeling or chipping.

For ultimate durability, you can buy epoxy based paint/topcoat .......practically indestructible

 

[Chalo]

The cheapest, easiest, and most effective remedy is to let go of a childish overemphasis on "matching" colors.

It's a machine. Metal color goes with everything.

 

[morphix]

The cheapest, easiest, and most effective remedy is to let go of a childish overemphasis on "matching" colors.

It's a machine. Metal color goes with everything.

Thanks Elvis, you're probably right, but I have to do black rims regardless.

 

[morphix]

Clean your silver (assumed aluminum) rim of any labels & such, use a self etching primer to bond to the alloy, then paint with a quality spray paint of choice.
Pay attention to drying times, you should have no problems with peeling or chipping.

For ultimate durability, you can buy epoxy based paint/topcoat .......practically indestructible

Thanks I might just try this approach. Someone told me powder coating is the way to go, but I'm not sure there's DIY powder coating solutions readily available, I think this is something a specialist workshop might have to do eh?

 

[Thud]

Powder coat is total over kill IMHO, but if you have a shop near by, black is prolly their #1 requester color & prolly not too expensive if you can wait for space on an upcoming run through the oven.
A few guys do small parts in their garage....google powder coating.

You can buy a home powder coating set up for 15 times the price of can of paint & primer...then build an oven that will fit your rim for baking the finish.
http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?q=Powder+coat

 

[chisixer6]

morphix;

Not sure if this exactly what you are looking for,BUT, it's 16" 36h and 349mm, and you can have any color as long as it is black...

http://www.niagaracycle.com/product_info.php?products_id=437193

 

[Wurly]

Morphix, the best thing to do is, get some 320grit wet or dry, sand down the parts of the rim you want repainted. Sand it right down to the aluminium. Mask off everything you dont want painted, then have a word with a local car paint shop and ask them to spray it with some etch primer the next time they have some mixed up. It's not DIY as it has acid in it (a busy paint shop will be using it all the time). Lightly flat the etch but don't go through. You can then get a 'flat black' spray can from Halfrauds and spray it yourself. Start lightly and build it up leaving it to dry inbetween the coats. The etch is the most important layer if you don't want the paint to fall off each time you clean the bike. Let it dry for a couple of days and carefully peel off the masking tape. Lightly polish the edges and you'll be surprised how good it looks. I did this with mine even though the wheel was built up.Yours will be a bare rim so it's dead easy.