oldspokes

Something I see a lot lately here on modern bikes is chrome peeling off too.
I was trying to clean up a set of beach cruiser wheels from the 90's that had some surface rust and pitting, I gave them a shot of chrome cleaner mixed at only 5%. I rinsed it off with a garden hose and the chrome came off in sheets.
The pitting went through the chrome and into the steel below. There was no 'base layer' beneath the chrome.
Years ago it was the norm to plate first with a layer of copper, then the final chrome was done in many layers.
Years ago I had a set of car bumpers that needed to be re-chromed, I opted for one of the many mail order bumper exchange services.
Those bumpers lasted only a couple years before the chrome was pitted and dull.
Years prior I had a local chrome plating shop, (long since closed up by the EPA here), re-chrome both some bumpers and other spare parts for me.
They were expensive, but the work was amazing. I sold that car but the current owner never had to replace any of that chrome. It never pitted, it never wore, and it never peeled.
None of those old school chrome shops remain today, the modern environmental laws put all of them out of business 30 years ago.

With chrome being so bad these days, I think I'd rather just have painted wheels, at least then I can simply strip down the wheel, sand and repaint as needed, but painted wheels and caliper brakes aren't a good option, especially around salt air or any humid area.

I do noticed though that even the older chrome doesn't fare as well these days, I've build several sets of wheels using both clean used and new old stock rims and the chrome seems to wear through on the braking surface far faster now than it did back then for some reason. I grew up riding an old BSA three speed, it had a ton of miles and got used mostly on dirt trails and on wet days, all year long, and the rims never showed any sidewall wear or chrome damage.
45 years later I've had many super clean original rims and that old chrome seems fragile today, even with far less and more careful use.

I salvaged a minty pair of Raleigh wheels from a 1969 ladies bike a few years ago to use on my 1968 Raleigh Sports, a bike I only occasionally use, after maybe 100 miles or so of use, those minty clean original wheels already have the chrome worn through on the sides.
A few have said that the vintage John Bull pads which have likely become harder over the years may be one reason, plus the fact that I'm no longer a 120lb 10 year old kid, and I rarely see a dirt road these days.

I find the same issues with handlebar chrome, I got lucky a few years ago and stumbled on an old bike shop with a bunch of old Raleigh parts still in stock, I bought up several pair of original bars, calipers, rims, and hubs, all for original marked prices or less. The newest hub was dated 1965.
I used those bars on a few of my bikes but even with me storing them indoors, in the attic in the off season, they still rusted, despite being well polished and waxed regularly.
(Some of the bars were marked Raleigh with the Sir Raleigh stamping, a few were marked Sturmey Archer on one end).

I also seem to find more rusty frames these days, even on bikes that appeared to be well kept and stored indoors. I had a 1972 Sports a few years ago that looked to be a really well kept bike, but it turned out to be very rusty inside the tubes. I bought it for the parts either way but the frame was bad enough that I just tossed it on the scrap pile.