capnjonny 

These days Chrome plating is a thing of the past.

The negative environmental impact of the process has caused it to be virtually outlawed.

Gone are the days of lavish chrome on 2 ton plus land yachts with gas guzzling engines and pollution spewing led laden exhausts.

Cycling’s future is looking drab as well, with bicycles wearing mat black paint and everything metal replaced by carbon fiber.

If you are a bit nostalgic for the good old days though, I have a treat for you


Inspired by Tom Wolfe’s 1965 book “The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine–Flake Streamline Baby” I have put together an homage to those days gone by with this all chrome Diamond Back Ascent

Found at the Bike Exchange in somewhat dilapidated condition, with mismatched wheels, a trashed saddle, and a low end drive train, it was a sad sight.

A thorough cleaning and polishing of the frame and all the bright work did wonders. A new matching wheel set, cables, stem and bars and it kept getting better and better.

A foray into the storage closet uncovered red and tan tires buried under a pile and amazingly, a pair of matching grips were located.


Although it would have been possible to upgrade to v brakes and index shifting it was decided to keep it close to the stock configuration, relying on the original Diacomp calipers fitted with Kool Stop pads, smooth shifting Sun Race friction thumbies, and an 8 speed Shimano hyper glide free hub.










As with all my restorations this beauty will be sold by Bikex.org to raise money for our non profit.

squirtdad

super clean build capnjonny . those inexpensive sun race thumb shifters are so functional and when combined with a more modern design cassette/freewheel shift super well

Catnap 

beautiful work! if that's the original chrome then you did a fantastic job of cleaning it up, because it looks brand new. I like the matching tires - it's a bold move that doesn't always pay off but it works in this build.

re: chroming, it's a bit hyperbolic to say it's been "virtually banned". there's a bunch of chrome shops in my area and many more within a 30-mile radius (NY/NJ/CT tri-state area). I've had frames and parts custom chromed both locally and also via mail over the past few years.

merziac

Oh no he di'nt.

repechage

out West the countdown clock is ticking.
figure 2026.
that written, it will be possible, probably outside California and it will no longer be “cheap”.
actually good chrome was never cheap, the cost will be galloping in the next few years.
will make shipping overseas and return cost reasonable.
will be for the elite and fat of wallet.

Velo Mule

Wow @capnjonny you have quite the parts closet. Those red tires look better than if they were stored in a bike shop for all these years. This looks great. Eye candy for us C&V'ers.


I hope that it fetches what it's worth when you sell it for the BikeExchange.

Kilroy1988 

Not sure what everyone's talking about here. Hexavalent chromium was banned in landmark legislation in California last year, but it won't be phased out for small plating business until 2027, and for larger operations until 2039. There are numerous alternatives to hexavalent chromium, and in particular trivalent chromium, which also produces excellent results and is already widely used in the industry and will not be banned in the foreseeable future. Many chrome shops in California already use or offer trivalent chrome finishes.

And, by the way, there are currently well over 100 chrome shops operating in California alone, nearly all of which have the capacity to continue offering trivalent chrome if they desire to remain in business after 2026.

-Gregory

Robvolz 

I suspect most the chrome shops in CA and Texas ship to Mexico to have the work done anyway.

repechage

I have been to a few recently in SoCal, I see tanks and buffer work here. The workers may not speak English, that is true.

zandoval 

I suspect allot of manufacturers are getting away with poor finishes on their components by using subdued, black, power coating and subdued anodizing.

Truly polished aluminum and chrome will return soon. We are demanding it!

The cost of many bicycles are well over 1000 USD. At high prices polish and shine are worthy proof of a bicycles value...

Ya gotta admit... This is one good looking Cassette!


Chrome Plated Campagnolo

chain_whipped

New finishing vs. re-plating. From what I've been explained, the issue with replating a bike first requires a complete removal of all the substrate layers. Then begins the process sanding out flaws and blems. Is this the same with 'replating' shops using trivalent? If so, would imagine some wicked chem process in the stripping alone.

Kilroy1988 

You can just sandblast off old chrome. There's nothing complicated or messy about removing it before refinishing.

Kilroy1988 

My uncle sandblasted the original chrome off this 1972 Raleigh Professional in his shop and then sent it to a local chromer in Fresno a couple of years ago. Total cost to get the entire frame and fork chromed (after my uncle stripped it in about ten minutes) was $200.

-Gregory

SirMike1983 

You can still get good quality chrome in a custom setting. The scale of high-quality chrome on bicycles has died back certainly, but if you really want it, you can still get it (for a price, of course).

Interestingly enough, premium Schwinn touring bikes of the 1950s (which one would think is the high point of chrome, given it's a 1950s era and American-made) were more known for their use of stainless steel and two-stage automotive type paints than for large amounts of chrome. They used more chrome than bikes today, but it's not like the bikes were totally plated either.

1957 Schwinn Traveler, with stainless steel fenders (obligatory fin included) and two-stage green paint:



1959 Schwinn Traveler, stainless fenders again and two-stage green paint:



Interestingly, even in the 1940s and 50s, higher end Schwinn touring bikes had stainless steel rims, not chrome ones:



The stainless steel 1940s-50s Schwinn fenders, when properly worked and polished, are really impressive up close and in-person.

Chombi1 

Some time around the second half of the 80's chrome started to really dissappear from bikes. Supposedly because of the hazardous waste that the chroming process produces. There are a lot of nice bikes though from that hardly or did not have any chrome at all, like most of the American "artisanal" bikes, Masis, De Rosas...etc., which In many cases I prefer, because these chromeless bikes do not depend on the blinggy stuff to look beautiful. They are just built beautifully.

mschwett 

time marches on, lessons are learned, progress is made. there are much more environmentally friendly alternatives to chroming these days, like PVD. you can already easily get your car's wheels PVD "chromed," if there is demand there will be plentiful ways to chrome whatever random bits one wants to...

repechage

physical vapor deposition - not everyone knows the acronyms. Pretty thin though- unclear of environmental durability.

repechage

I went paint as to upkeep chrome was just a nuisance task, salt air adjacent to the Pacific Coast Highway.

John E

My situation as well. I live a couple of blocks east of the Coast Highway. I love the neighborhood, and you can't beat the climate, but everything rusts, and chrome plating is a huge liability.

bikingshearer 

capnjonny: I would never in a million years have recognized the potential in that bike or thought of doing what have done (especially since that's not the kind of bike that floats my boat) If I had, never in a million years would I have the skills to do it.

Having said that, what a fantastic refurb you did! To my eye, it looks perfect. Just perfect.

Now all you have to do is get it to Montana in September for Cino.

romperrr 

That is a gorgeous bike. Love the lugs. I bet there isn't another one like it.

noglider 

I'm glad to learn about PVD "chrome."

AdventureManCO 

Ha! I saw that thing and the first thought I has was 'Hey that thing would stand out really well at Cino!'

kunsunoke 

Full disclosure - I have a background in electroplating. I've run maintenance on "triple-chromium" plating lines (misnomer) used for production of Harley-Davidson motorcycle parts. This includes hexavalent and trivalent chromium plating baths and all the other associated preps and plating baths that go with them.

Sure, trivalent chromium is an option. It's not a great one if you're trying to duplicate an original vintage finish, though, because it looks different from hex chrome. The finish is blue in hue. Vintage hex-chrome finishes are brighter and more reflective when all other prep work is the same.

And tri-chrome solutions are more difficult to work with. The plating bath has to run through an ion-exchange bed periodically. It's sensitive about contamination, and therefore subject to staining and water-marks. By contrast, hex chrome solutions give good results even if the prep work isn't perfect.

As for the environmental concerns that California has, the plating shop still needs to use concentrated acid and alkaline solutions, nickel plating baths, acid and cyanide copper plating solutions, and multiple rinse tanks - all of which need to be maintained, none of which can be discharged into the sanitary sewer or the environment. It's unlikely Prop 65 expansion is making anything better for the citizenry, since they were never at risk to begin with.

The Atala Record Pro 101 in my collection was plated by untrained chimpanzees someplace in Italy, so the finish is scabbing off. The frame and fork are going to be sandblasted and painted or powder-coated. New chrome would cost way more than the frame-set is worth. Good chrome finishes are well worth saving, though.

repechage

impressive as even fine grit sandblasting leaves a rough surface to work with. Ten minutes to remove the paint points to me methylene chloride… effective and long gone now in California.
the plater appears to have done a good job, be interesting if they would do another one again for near the same price. Plating about the fastback seat cluster… treacherous.
was the entire frame plated at once? Or, processed front and rear separately?
the fork… reminded of the near catastrophe for @bikingshearer.