i was thinking of different ways to paint my spokes flat black... not the outer part, imjust gonna leave it chrome..but my spokes are in pretty rough shape (previous owners mistake).. any ideas??

 

mask up the rim and hub, sand the spokes lightly, spray with high temp black paint, let sit for a few hours and tear off the masking tape and ride! i do this to the motorized bicycles i make. lasts awhile, and easy to redo if it gets damaged

 

skim - The question is, what kind of quality are you looking for and how much are you willing to spend. The quick and cheap way is to spray them like was suggested earlier. That will look fine at first but won't be very durable so you'll have to touch them up from time to time. If your spokes are rusty now, you won't be able to get all the rust off with them installed so corrosion under the paint will be another problem you'll have to deal with.

The best way to address it would be to powder coat them. However, that would require the rim(s) be disassembled, then re-laced and trued after powder coating the spokes. Obviously that will cost more but the corrosion problem would be resolved and the finish would be much more durable.

It all boils down to what you want and how much $$$ you have for the project.

 

I painted mine and I can tell you it looks as good or better than powder.I haven't had to touch them up yet.As far as corrosion under the paint there is a heavey rust primer that works really well.I used a high performance industrial enamel(Gloss black)thats made by Rustoleum.Good stuff and cure very hard.The spokes still look as good a new after months of riding everyday.Cost me about $11.00 and a whole day.I only had to remove the wheel ,tape,prime,paint and let it cure over night and replace the wheel.I may have to touch them up eventually but so far so good and you can't go wrong for $11.00

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That looks really good IMHO.