Polishing Spokes vs Plating

[conbs]

Depending on the condition of the zinc plating on your spokes, polishing may be a good alternative. Plating them requires taking your wheel completely apart, plating of the spokes and then relacing your wheels and truing. It is a lot of work and for a rider likely more work and expense than you need.

I have been working on a couple of Dream wheels for a rider. I used Flitz to polish the rims, then the hubs. While working on the hubs I got some Flitz on a couple of spokes and when I hit them with the polishing wheel I was surprised how shiney they got.

It is still a lot of work to polish your spokes, but I have been surprised how well ithey turn out. It normally takes 4 -5 applications of Flitz, each time rubbing it on the spokes to reduce the oxidation and then wiping it off and polishing with the cloth. I did 2 spokes at a time, front and back. Be patient and keep repeating til they shine like chrome. An old T-shirt works great. You can also hit it with a cotton fabric polishing wheel in a drill to make it pop. Not too much pressure. The Flitz also leaves a protective coating.