# Easton says not to anodize....?



## Jared (Jun 24, 2005)

Hi guys , i have a quick question.
I just brought a new Ellsworth Flight frame. It is made with Easton aluminium alloy or scandium tubing. My LBS told me that the frame is anodized and i have heard that anodizing such a frame material would weaken it's structure. Sure enough when i read the construction of the tubings from Easton's website, they said not to anodize as it will weaken the frame. So i was wondering if any of you have the same frame and/or if you know if Ellsworth does take precautions to make sure that the frame has 100% of it strength even after anodizing. Thanks.


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## wasfast (Feb 3, 2004)

Weaken is probably the wrong word. Anodizing is an electro chemical process that grows aluminum oxide on the surface of the aluminum. It's very thin (less than .001" usually depending on how long they leave the part in the tank). It's also an extremely hard surface (Rockwell C scale 70 or so, about the same as a hand file is). This is good for abrasion and scratch resistance but makes the material very brittle. Thus the material isn't weakened but actually much harder.

Think about the issues that many have had with anodized rims with stress cracks around the nipples. That's the potential issue at the stress areas such as the tubing intersections of the tubes.


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## TheDon (Feb 3, 2006)

Anodize strips away a very small amount of metal in the process. This shouldn't weaken the frame considerably but if a frame is anodized multiple times, bad things could happen. I doubt anodizing a frame once would cause any harm. Trek probably says that so they can't be at fault if a frame gets anodized multiple times and too much of the frame is stripped away. Anodizing is used on materials that undergo much more stress than bike frames. So if it's good for the goose it is good for the gander.


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## samh (May 5, 2004)

if anodizing makes rims more brittle,
why are rims anodized? can't they just put a separate braking surface like mavic ceramic rims?


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## Kerry Irons (Feb 25, 2002)

*let's be clear*



samh said:


> if anodizing makes rims more brittle, why are rims anodized? can't they just put a separate braking surface like mavic ceramic rims?


There are different depths of anodizing. The anodizing we (mostly) see today is quite thin and is just for cosmetics and protection. The "hard anodizing" that was/is a problem puts on a much thicker coat of oxide. This thick coat is britle, and so cracks easily. Those surface cracks serve as stress risers and so then propogate into the softer aluminum substrate, causing failures. If the OP's frame was lightly anodized, then no worries. If it was hard anodized, then I would be more nervous.

Ceramic coated rims are for improved braking in wet weather, tend to chew up brake pads, and have nothing to do with the concerns over anodization.


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