I like shiny things
I can't help it. As I've said, I have the mind of a crow. So my disappointment when my "NOS" barcon shifters arrived was palpable. Were they New Old Stock? Er... no. Were they shiny? Not as such.
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| "NOS" Suntour Barcon |
Bleh. That is not a shiny thing.
That does not get my inner crow excited. Off to the hardware store! Back in a flash with a cotton buffing wheel for my grinder and some kind of buffing...sticks. Compound. Four colors in a pack.
[Cue sound of thoughtful tinkering.]
After some experimentation, I started to see small patches of shiny aluminum. Brown Tripoli. It was then that I realized the shifter was not dull and oxidized, it was painted. Painted silver, to be exact. Silver metal, metal that takes a nice shine, painted dull silver. Who is so out of touch with their inner crow to do such a thing?
Grumblling, I stomped over to get a piece of emery cloth. There's no sense in being delicate. After about ten minutes of hand sanding, most of the paint had been scuff sanded though, and the aluminum below was showing. Back to the buffing wheel and the Brown Tripoli. (That was a Rolling Stones song, right?) Ten minutes later...
CAW! CAW! CAW!
Now we're talking! Here's the before and after:
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| Mmmm... Shiny! |
My inner crow is well pleased. On the off chance the rest of the world likes them dull and painted, I left the other one alone. I'll probably be selling it on eBay soon. Maybe I'll give folks the option of shiny or dull.
