Removing blackened anodizing on ergo levers

If anyone has a pair of Silver ergo levers that have gone black over time I thought I'd share my effort to fix their appearance. They are pretty easy to remove and re-fit( I didnt remove the gear shifter paddle, only the brake lever).

I thought if I simply stripped the anodizing with some oven cleaner it would get rid of the black but it appears to be very minor pitting in the metal itself , perhaps salt or something got under the original anodizing ..

Anyway after some wet and dry and some Autosol they went from this

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...To this

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If you want to preserve that finish you'll need to clear it with lacquer.

Really? I've got plenty of hand polished components on my bike and had no problem keeping them in this condition with a very occasional polish. I think autosol leaves a protective coat ...

It'll oxidize as soon as you have taken the anodizing off it. It's not so bad on other components, but the light acids from constant use of your fingers on the brakes will (albeit slowly) degrade the metal, not just cosmetically but mechanically.

Just take a look at vintage levers on eBay with grooves in them, worn away by sweaty fingers. And that's just the ones that have survived! Autosol is shit all protection. Personally I wouldn't remove the anodizing from anything, and even then a good few coats of clear for protection. It's kinda there for a reason...

Hmm thanks for the info, I've never seen any that bad but would be interested to see some images.

I'll keep an eye on them and report back here any noticible damage, will be an interesting test to see how they hold up . I understand it's there for a reason but it doesn't seem like the original anodizing was doing a great job anyway !

Perhaps I'll try an auto body wax, not sure if I'll get a clear coat or laquer to adhere without keying them again.

I wonder if there's some sort of vinyl that could be applied which would both slow oxidization and stop the sweat?

Back in the 90s I used to have textured rubber grips that slid over my canti brake levers, they were good for cold weather as well . Anyone know if something similar is available for road levers ?

Slip some heatshrink over them? I probably wouldn't choose to, but don't see any reason it would be a problem.

You can still buy BMX lever 'grips' on eBay which should stretch to your Campag.

Bluemels NOS lever rubber covers:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281756773600