I used Circa 1850 paint stripper (you can get it at wal mart and home depot), and steel whool. No clearcoat or anything. I can recommend doing it, it looks awesome, the only problem you should take into consideration is that it voids most frame warranties

 The paint comes off quite easily. just apply some, wait 3-5 minutes and rub it off with steel whool. Remember to use gloves, as the paint stripper is acidic(?), also, remove any excess paint stripper. Mine was water based so i just washed it with water afterwards. I did mine over several days. Just be patient quite recently I polished the raw alu with a metalpolish I bought at a hardware store. Now its nice and shiny. I'll put up some pics soon of this years build. Getting a coil DHX or vivid as well.

 That so nice dude, how did you get it to raw aluminum like that? Did you just use paint stripper or send it off??

 How long did it take to strip it? I'm going to be doing the same with mine when I get it.