What bike companies consistently do chrome under the paint jobs?
 

In the spotted thread we see the Pinarello with worn red paint and exposed chrome. I also know of a lot of Japanese/NJS bikes that have chrome underneath the paint.

I just think it looks incredible when the paint wears down naturally and you see the bright chrome under. Plus chrome itself is quite durable.

I was going to spend a bit more on my next track bike and plan on keeping it for a very long time...so if I can find a bike that has a chrome base layer, it's an added bonus.

Any major Italian or Japanese brands that consistently do this? Or do most companies offer this at the customer's request?


Just love this look after they've been worn in/loved....



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Pretty sure my 1975 Raleigh Pro Track is fully chromed beneath the paint. The few tiny spots where paint has chipped off show chrome underneath.

My 1976 Schwinn Paramount P14 is fully chrome plated under the paint. Pretty common practice back then.

Its how you get a painted bike with Chromed Lugs and fork tips

right chain-stay fork blades Etc.

Now if you were Ordering a Hand Made custom Frame You can specify Stainless steel lugs and fork tips and so Forth.

The kilo tt pro is fully chromed lol.

Dad's old Torpado road bike was painted over chrome, I think. My brother has the bike now :(

I'm not sure of the model. It was brown, probably from the late 60's or early 70's.

fietsbob gave the generally correct answer to the question...most frames with chromed stays or rear triangles and lugs, especially vintage ones, are fully chromed under the paint; and forks with chrome socks are too. It is simpler to dip an entire frame or fork into the liquid baths to apply the electrical current than to dip just a rear triangle or forkends into the solution. And if one also wanted chrome lugs, they'd have to redo the process a 2nd time for the headtube/lugs section. The whole frame is dunked in the tank so you get chrome everywhere on it.

In most cases though - the chromed areas that are painted are not buffed/polished so that the paint will adhere better.

Of course there are more than a few exceptions to this generalization. For example - I cannot comment with certainty about all Cinelli Supercorsas...but my own SC Pista, which has chrome stays and lugs (not to mention very tender paint that has gotten nicked to hell) is not chromed under its color.

Since when? My friend has a well-loved pro that certainly is not

Mine in 2011ish certainly was.

My favorite thing about it was the sweet chrome showing through the paint chips.

I would like to disclaim that not all 3renshos are chromed underneath. Mine is though. :)

3renshos are full of surprises as sometimes they salvage abandoned custom builds for pre-made, sell models with export-only qualities domestically and serialize them as such, mix and match generation lugs as they are available.

A good indicator you have a 3rensho with chrome under paint is chrome chainstays.

Ah okay, his is an older one without chromed stays

Pretty common practice in Japan. Many Panasonic made Schwinns (i.e. lugged '80s models) were, as were many Centurions, especially the touring models.

Cinelli Supercorsas are fully chromed

I can confirm this^

Factory Five F5 Pista Element.

Unless I'm reading it wrong, it sounds like IamSam above posted his SC wasn't chromed underneath.



Thanks for all of the replies. Sounds like it's a real hit or miss. I was kind of hoping to hear that certain brands/models were all chromed under the paint. I've been especially interested in 80's Colnago's (and other Italian bikes) and some of the Japanese brands...sounds like it can be totally random.

Like others have said, one of the main reasons is there is just something sexy about seeing chrome shine through a well worn paint job. My goal is to keep the bike for a long time and figured that would be a nice addition.

He baby's his. I've actually came across a few that have had harder lives and have their chrome soul showing through. There was a great beaten up example on ebay with one that was ridden as a daily in NYC.

Shrug. My ~2003 road SC is fully chromed. I would not be at all surprised if it varied year-by-year, or even shift-by-shift LOL.

No, my bike gets ridden almost daily & like I mentioned earlier in this thread is getting dinged up. I've examined and even dug a little into some of the deeper nicks/scratches and it is not chromed underneath the paint.

As you decribed happening with San Rensho bikes - Cinelli Supercorsas have had variations over the years, not the least being the tubing, and maybe most are/were fully chromed but there are usually exceptions to a generalization like you made about them. FWIW - according to some guys I exchanged messages with at Cinelli in Italy - while they can't precisely pin mine down cos it doesn't have a serial# (which may be due to originally being sold in Italy) their best educated guess was that it is from the mid 90's.

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Well I'll be, those pics were all I needed.

Funny thing is all of the SC's I've come across were fully chromed from the golden cinelli years to colombo years. I even have 2 sets of NOS SC lug sets, one from before and after the addition of the seat cluster logo dots, from them being raw and unfinished, I was led to believe that it received its signature chrome finish along with the rest of the frameset.

I think it's more a question of the level of the bike rather than the company itself. Many upper-tier road bikes were fully chromed underneath the paint. Personally I've owned a '78 Centurion Pro Tour, '86 Schwinn Peloton, and '77 Schwinn Volare that were chromed underneath. With work we could probably come up with hundreds of models across brands and years.

Mostly true in the case of my '83 Schwinn Voyageur SP, made by Panasonic. Rear dropouts and chainstays are chromed, along with the complete front fork. Unfortunately, the rest of the frame isn't, but I appreciate it when paint chips come off the fork - can't say the same for my other frames.

For a new fixed gear frame, Colossi will add chrome plating to the Mondial Track for a small fee. Worth it, in my opinion.

Doesn't seem like chrome would hold paint that well.

Also true. Very delicate compared to a more typical situation.

My Bianchi roadbike is chromed underneath.. though chromed, most likely not polished or paint wouldn't stick to it.. usually only polished where they plan on having it exposed