So I think after seeing Lostdog's GS, I'm going to re-paint my bike in matte black (my paint is chipped, sun spotted, and scratched to hell). Since I'm going to do this, I think I've been thinking of stripping my wheels down to the bare aluminum to match the rest of the bike, rather than the stock white which they are right now. My question is, what will this look like? I know they won't rust, and I know that over time aluminum oxidizes, I'm just wondering what my options are for a matte aluminum look. I don't want to polish it, but some sort of sealant or top-coat might be nice ... anyways, thanks!

-me

Why not paint them silver?

... not a bad idea, not a bad idea at all. I guess I really just want to know what's going to happen to the aluminum if I leave it unprotected, and on what kind of time table,

-me

It would likely oxidize over time and it would be very hard to keep clean.

I, personally, would just paint them.   It would certainly be easier than stripping them.

-Turd.

strip them to metal and have them powder coated silver.  It'll last forever and look just killer.

Another option is to have them anodized.

I stripped mine down to (mostly) metal and painted them gold. It's really hard to get all the paint off of the rims, even with stripper. If you want to spend the time to strip it all and polish it up with steel wool so it's shiny and pretty, put a clear coat on it so it doesn't oxidize. Clear powder coat would be pretty clean; I think you can get that.

The bare alumionum would oxidize pretty quickly I think, especially in the rain. If you want to remove all the paint, sandblasting is the best way to go, it'll give you a nice even finish too that'll be perfect for paint or powdercoating to attach to as well.

Rattle can clear coats aren't very durrable, I'd definatly recomend having them powdercoated either clear or whatever color you want. should probally cost $75-$100 including the sandblasting. You may need to get new wheel bearings too, since they have to bake the clear coat on at a pretty high temp. If you're carefull you could probally remove your bearings before taking them in for the powdercoating.

Rattle can paints in general I think are too flimsy for wheels, and having them painted for you would probally cost the same as the powdercoating, but still not be as durrable.

i polished the alum on my old virago it looked great but i had to keep after it.   i had clear coat turn yellow and had to strip it off.   clear powder coat sounds good to me.

Do they make a clear powder coat? I got some cage wheels powder coated white and their very shiny like they already have a "sealer"...I though that's what happens when the part gets baked at 600*F--the paint sort sort of melts 

Anyhow rattle can will do fine on wheels if you choose a dark color such as flat black or silver. Either way you should technically strip the paint, sand then prime, then paint.....no primer=paint won't stick and will peal off.

If you polish defently have to keep the polish around on a semi-annual basis and/or find a really good clear coat...Krylon won't cut it......

Thanks for all the response. I'm now considering looking into either a clear powder coat and price for that. Otherwise, I think I'll take Jake009's advice and go with striping, priming, and flat black, could look pretty cool too. I'll keep y'all updated with pics and whatnot, thanks again

-me

Check out MNSBR.com and throw a post up there, there might be someone local who can do it for cheap