Andy_K 

Which shop? What size was it? Give me a few minutes before you answer. I think I need to speak with my sponsor.

Willier is selling new steel frames in chromovelato now. I wonder if they've improved the process.

kcblair

Holy Crap !!! I said , when I first laid eyes on that Paramount . KB

wrk101

Yes, my reference is to bicycles. They pull old cars out of junk yards where the chrome is still pretty decent. The chrome bumpers I have seen that failed rusted from in the inside out (the non-chrome side).

The Golden Boy 

While my 5 Series wagon was on it's last legs- I was searching everywhere for one of these- and one day one just showed up at the local Acura dealer. 2014 with the Tech package- it's a really spiffy car.

bikingshearer 

West End Bikes, corner of SW 11th and SW Stark. I don't remember the size, but it was certainly too small for me. (I take a 62cm to 65cm ctc.) I'm not 100% certain, but I think it was a vintage one, not a modern repro. I'm also not sure it was for sale - they have a handful of very nice vintage bikes hanging up, and my sense was was that they were there not for sale. I could be wrong on all counts.

But I am certain that they have the beautiful Wilier, a gorgeous vintage Cinelli track bike, and an equally gorgeous Cinelli Speciale Corsa road machine. I don't remember what else they had.

They are primarily a modern shop - the vintage stuff is a sideline, but the guy I talked to was pretty knowledgeable.

Andy_K 

Thanks. I'll be sure to stop by and see it.

BurittoGrande

Day 1 of my rebuild. My late 60 Clive Stuart has been completely disassembled so I could have a close look at potential problems. The plan as the chrome appeared VERY pitted in spots and minor putting everywhere was to have it powder coated. But... I had to at least see how far a bit of polishing compound and some elbow grease would take me. I am quite surprised at how much of what I thought was pitting and the beginnings surface rust is actually just years of grease and grime. I may keep this finish after all. I am floored by how nicely the chrome on this has come back to life.

desconhecido 

Looking good. What polishing compound are you using? Looks like it might be a Turtle Wax container, but I'm not sure.

BurittoGrande

Exactly. It was the cheapest stuff at my local auto parts store.

Doug Fattic 

I doubt I read every word of every post in this subject thread but the question asked 3 years ago was why an entire frame was chromed when also part of it is painted. It would seem to be easier and cheaper not to chrome the parts that will be painted. The reason is that it is easier to dip the whole frame in the vat than try to do just parts. The problem is that if only part of the frame is dipped then there can be an ugly transition because of a thickness difference where the chrome stops. It is not easy to hide or somehow deal with this edge. Some charmers would take the extra effort if only partly chroming a frame to pull the frame up a bit for each layer. In other worlds they would put the frame deeper in the vat for the copper plate. then pull it up a bit for the nickel plate and finally raise it a bit more for the final chrome plate. Now you can see why it is easier just to put the whole frame in.

repechage

There was a push to reduce the toxic releases too. This is old tech now but in the 1990’s the top shops were floating ping-pong balls on top of the vats to reduce the evaporation and toxic releases- a low tech, advance in pollution controls. Problem was full submersion was easiest, there are masking tapes that are used to hold back plating- as Doug mentioned they do leave an abrupt edge- moving that tape line can help... more effort is more time, higher cost.

CarGuy

I just finish restoring my 1989 Pinarello Montello. It has a fully chromed rear triangle and fork. Upon first inspection the chrome appeared mildly corroded throughout so I tried to see how much I could clean it up with fine steel wool. At first I was very light on the steel wool in inconspicuous areas like under the chain stay and rear lugs to see if the chrome would get scratched up from the steel wool. It turns out the Pinarello chrome plating is extremely robust and resistant to scratching. I ended up cleaning all the chrome plated tubes and lugs with steel wool and in the process I applied a lot of pressure on stubborn stains and surface rust. It polished up so well that I thought I might save on refinishing costs by keeping the original chrome plating and repainting only. When I took it to Marinoni for new paint Giuseppe himself confirmed that he could not improve on the chrome plating. Sure the chain stay is significantly pitted but to the casual observer it catches the eye and simply looks like good patina, IMHO. Giuseppe's paint job and decal application and clear coating is near perfect. I'll post before and after pics this evening.

Before 1

Before 2

Before 3

After 1

After 2

After 3

martl

IL bullo Della ****ta?

Mad Honk 

This Zombie thread is driving me nutz! I can't believe that no one here knows how chrome is put on currently, and how easy it is to clean. I deal with golf club shafts daily and they are all chrome plated. The process is a nickel plate coating and then the chrome plate. Chrome is transparent and needs the nickel underneath to get the "bling". To get the chrome clean, and back to bling, you use a product called: Quick Glo Chrome Cleaner. Lanolin product and water based but cleans chrome in a few strokes with a polishing cloth (or rag as some call them). It knocks down any pitting that shows on the surface of the chrome,which is a result of pinhole rust in the original steel.
With the old school chrome the copper layer was put down to give a clean surface for the Nickel which smoothed out any imperfections of the steel formation process, IE: bending the bumpers on the cars. Then a nickel plating for the bling, and then the chrome plating. This process is pretty much banned in the US today because of all of the toxic waste the process produces. Part of the reason we see very little chrome restoration in the US is because of the EPA regulations on the waste. It has become rather costly to do.
When I work on golf shafts I have to remove by grinding the chrome off of the shaft where I want to bond it to another piece of steel. Chrome's shiny-ness is also what makes it impossible to bond anything to it. This is the same reason the paint doesn't adhere well to any chromed bike part. HTH, MH

BikeNut23

Anyone know about a necessity to bake out the hydrogen embrittlement after chrome plating?
I don't want my fork or my bottom tube to crack on my 73 Paramount after I get it re-chromed.
I once saw a post somewhere from a guy who claimed that Schwinn used a bake out process on all chrome plated frames.

tkamd73 

Cause it makes a bike look really cool, and it’s way more durable then paint. Doubt you’ll see many more though, chrome plating has become ridiculously expensive.
Tim

ascherer 

My chrome bike gets more comments than all others combined. Blingfest.

abshipp 

Absolutely




P.S. what bottle cage clamps are those? I'd like something a little more elegant than the hose clamps I have now...

ascherer 

Beauty! The cage clamps are Velo Orange. At $3 a pair they probably cost more to ship.

abshipp 

Ah thanks! I actually have a set of those at home

chubby1625

Where is Giuseppe located?

obrentharris 

Terrebonne, Quebec
Brent