Anodising is a good way to protect auminium from corrosion and wear and by introducing dyes during anodising (or under-printing) the finish can be in any number of bright colours. Bright colours are not unusual in the bike business with aluminium alloy skewers, headsets, stems, levers and now cranks and chain rings available in classic black, blue, red and yellow annodised colours (as well as less popular green and pink).
The Ellsworth Moment caught my eye with its aluminium frame and a triple anodising process. This is where the bike is covered with stickers in various shapes prior to treatment. After the first electrolytic bath the first layer of stickers are removed. Also after the second bath stickers are removed and after the final bath the three layers of annodised dyes (match the contours of the stickers) overlapp. The result as seen on the Ellsworth frame is the blue camouflage effect.
An added advantage of anodising is that subsequent finishing (stickers / lack) adhese well. The Ellsworth moment on display was bright and eye catching, other bikes on stand also used various anodising techniques.
The same triple anodising process can be seen on the Da Bomb Revolver rims. These heavy duties rims for dirt jumping are not new for 2009 (infact they are imported by Steve Cramer Products) however certainly can stand out amoung the competition. The Sun Ringle Rhyno Lites also feature camouflage anodise optics however hold back on colour with just grey tones.
Styling is ever important these days as differences between products on the market become narrower. Styling can highlight a product and with current white trends, bright and odd colour trends, the triple anodising option will help companies who adopt this process to create stronger brand recognition and differentiation for their products. I would expect to see more aluminium products such as brake levers, headsets, skewers etc to adopt these more adventurous styling techniques in the future.
