ZPI or NST crank pully?

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Originally Posted by ChinoCharles

Okay, some of you still aren't convinced. Here is a couple more reasons.

First of all, weights...
ZPI pulley - 14.4 oz
NST pulley - 12.5 oz

Second of all, has anyone noticed that ZPI's pulleys don't come anodized? Hard anodizing does more than just make your pulley look pretty. It actually makes the pulley stronger. Aluminum is a rather soft metal by design, but hard anodized aluminum is stronger and will resist the sands of time better than untreated aluminum. ZPI will charge you 20 bucks extra to anodize your pulley. NST includes anodizing at no extra charge. They don't cut corners.

Charles,

Just a couple points here. I don't believe the NST pullies are HARD anodized. Correct me if I am wrong, I just hadn't seen that anywhere on the specs.

Anodizing is a chemical change on the surface of the alumnium. It does not actually make the metal stronger, just puts a tough wear resistant layer on the material. In hard anodizing, that layer is very similiar chemically to sapphire and it is more wear resistant than a regular anodized surface, or raw alumnium.

As I said above, the $5 extra for the anodized (hard or not) NST part is worth it in my book. It also seems the NST piece is a couple ounces lighter, which no one will ever notice one way or the other, but it is what it is.