104 4 bolt 42 ring in silver

[NickJP]

Silver stuff is still anodised. It's not plain alu.

Not all. I have both Rohloff and SON hubs that are polished rather than anodised. To keep them looking good they need a polish every couple of years. I wonder if the quality of the original polishing effects the time it takes for them to become tarnished.

Ditto. The plain alu Rohloff hub on my touring bike is almost 25 years old, and I've never done any more cosmetic maintenance on it than using a rag to clean off the dirt and oil. Here's a photo I took of it in 2016 when I had to replace the original worn-out rim.

[Mick F]

Silver stuff is still anodised. It's not plain alu.

Not all. I have both Rohloff and SON hubs that are polished rather than anodised. To keep them looking good they need a polish every couple of years. I wonder if the quality of the original polishing effects the time it takes for them to become tarnished.

The silver stuff on all of my bikes have all been anodised silver. If not anodised, then a very VERY tough varnish.
Never ever needed any polishing ........ ever.

On Moulton, the rear hub is SA3sp and as shiny now as the day I fitted it. Front hub is a SP dyno hub as as shiny now as the day I fitted it. Mercian has a Campag Chorus front hub, and that is as shiny as it was for the past 20years. The rear hub was Chorus too, but prone to freewheel body breakages, so I removed it and fitted a Miche, and that is shiny as the day I fitted it. The old Chorus hub, is just sitting on a shelf in the shed, and looks as good as new. All anodised.

I must add though, that it's not "all" as my Campag Victory DT levers are plain alu, but they are continually "polished" by dint of them being used.

Recently sold my Shimano Dura ace indexed DT levers. They were/are silver anodised.

[alexnharvey]

Does anyone know of a good quality 4 bolt 104 BCD 42t single ring (no ramps etc) available in silver?
A few (incl TA) are available in black, a few are available in silver but no bigger than 40t.
Intention is for a single ring on silver Middleburn square taper cranks/104 4 bolt Rohloff spider for Rohloff chain line.

I could use a 110 BCD 5 bolt spider, but that would require a long square taper axle (127mm?), which is in all probability a dieing breed in the long term, shorter axles are more likely to be available for some time I suspect.

Thanks.

Bike punx would make you one in stainless steel I think, although they don't have a 42t listed at the minute so you may need to order them. They make them themselves using CNC so it shoud be simple. They're about £27

https://bikepunx.com/ https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/bikepunxuk

[PT1029]

Thanks for the advice/comments.
In the end I took the Liz Truss/Quizzy Qwerty approach (try to break the bank) and went for Middleburn cranks with a 40t TA ring.
I have not got the frame yet, so have not worked out BB length etc.
Unlike Lizzy/Quizzy, I had a plan to pay my bill ...... (now paid).