davester

Thanks to all who gave input on my previous thread regarding finishing options. I took a 2 hour lunch break today to take my bike to the painter (Ed Litton, far more than a painter actually), which was a lot of fun because he's got a ton of beautiful bikes hanging in his shop and we spend a lot of time talking about bikes and cycling in general as well as options for my bike. Here is the last picture of the bike (covered with mud at the finish of L'Eroica) before it goes in for its beautification treatment.


I came across one more decision to be made...whether to have it partly chromed. I'm thinking dropouts and right chainstay only simply to stave off the chips that I know are inevitable with a well-used painted bike. I don't think the make or color scheme (I'm keeping it basically the same) lends itself to more chroming (half stays, half forks and fork tops would be the obvious possibilities). Ed seemed to think that chroming was not really a Cooper characteristic, though I've seen quite a few of them with chrome forks. I'm leaning towards some minimal chroming.

What does the forum hive mind think?

Velocivixen

I'm sure whatever you decide would be great. I like the idea of the drive side chain stay being chromed and both rear dropouts. Not so sure about the rest.

What I'm really interested in is that really long rear derailleur. What kind (brand/model) is it?

gugie 

If you want to keep it a Cooper, don't chrome it.

I'll give a go at @Velocivixen's question. Looks like a Record rear derailleur with an aftermarket long cage? Tripleizer on a Record crankset?

Say hi to Ed for me. He did a fantastic job on my Weigle-ized Raleigh Competition a few years ago, about a month after he repainted Marc Singer's Cooper - he'll know Marc, maybe remember me.

davester

That is a standard Campagnolo Nuovo Record derailleur with a reproduction Campagnolo Rally cage, made by Soma. This would make it equivalent to the Campagnolo Rally version 2. It doesn't shift as well as a Suntour pattern derailleur, but it shifts well enough and it looks beautiful. The Soma cage is definitely a bit cruder than a genuine Rally cage, but it is vastly cheaper.

gomango

I wouldn't chrome it if it were mine.

I love the look of the bike in the original pic you posted.

So handsome!

smontanaro 

If you do decide on chrome, might as well go with the "chrome socks" treatment - halfway up the fork and seat stays, full chrome on the chain stays.