you read correctly....hurts to look at, could be much worse....but for those who are more knowledgeable in this area of wheel care and such...does this look like it should be professionally taken care of or is there a somewhat simple fix?

I'm a little hesitant of going through the process of sandpaper and such to the wheels....

 

Do you know what type of finish that is? Is it clear coated, bare metal? What kind of metal?

 

yes, sorry I believe its polished aluminum...it's a 20" Mezzano MZ5