gugie 

Ben's post about chrome on a Raleigh International got me thinking.

What vintage frames had great chrome?

Centurion Semi-Pro's and ProTours come to mind. I think they're fully chromed underneath. I have two frames right now, but I'd hate to remove the paint to find out, since the paint was also excellent quality. I have a Lotus Classique that has very good chrome underneath. I stripped a Fuji "The Finest" and was very disappointed with what was underneath. Raleigh Internationals are mediocre, at best.

Now the Italians had some sexy chrome. Some of them even appear to be really good chrome jobs.







Discuss.

3alarmer 

...
...I have one, and my opinion is that Schwinn Paramount chroming is by far the best I've ever seen on a bicycle. But it was not intended to be overpainted. I've never seen really nice chrome under paint. Some of the chromovelato frames come close.

RobbieTunes

I've had some of the same frames as you, gugie.
The Japanese frames had noticeably better chrome plating and paint quality.
So, IMO, as far as "great chrome," only the Lotus, and "excellent chrome," the Japanese Centurions.
The Italians had nice chrome where it was meant to be exposed, as intended.

1979 and 1981 Centurion Semi Pro: the polished chrome is quite good.
The entire frame is chromed, but the chrome is not polished where it's not to be seen.

1983-1984 Centurion Turbo: the polished chrome is quite good, and the entire frame is chromed.
The entire frame is chromed, and while the stays and fork are not meant to be entirely exposed, I found the chrome there to be smooth.
I repainted a Turbo and left the rear 2/3 of the stays unpainted, and the bottom 1/3 of the fork unpainted. It was smooth and shiny.

I saw one that was stripped and ridden that way, as a single speed. It looked very good.
The owner wanted a Bianchi Pista and "made do" with a Turbo.

1983-4 Lotus Classique: the polished chrome is amazingly clean. I don't know about the rest.
The rear 2/3 of the stays and the bottom 1/3 of the fork legs are beautiful. I left well enough alone.
The Lotus probably had the highest quality of chrome and finish painting of any bike I've ever had.

1985 Cinelli Equipe Centurion: the polished chrome is very good, even for an Italian bike, the entire frame is chromed.
I've had two, one left OEM as far as paint. One I had re-done, and left the fork and stays unpainted. The chrome was smooth enough.
The plating was not as smooth or durable as that on the Japanese bikes.

1985 Centurion Prestige: I don't know about the '86, but the '85 was chromed under the paint.
I never stripped it, but based on the other Centurions, I'll assume it was pretty good, even under the paint.
Like the other Centurions, the painted areas were likely very smooth in some areas, rougher near the lugs.

1987 D'Arienzo SLX/1987 Basso SLX: not sure the model number, the chrome is average, the entire frame is chrome.
The rear 2/3 of the stays and bottom 1/3 of the fork legs were meant to be exposed, and are polished.
Based on the quality of the chrome that is exposed, I highly doubt I'd expose any more. Thin.

1989 Cinelli Super Corsa: The exposed chrome is quite good, the entire frame is chromed.
I stripped the entire frame, and it's obvious it was intended to be painted everywhere else.

Mondonico Diamond: The exposed chrome is good, the entire frame was chromed.
Since it was Italian, and the paint was in good shape, I left well enough alone.

1985 Raleigh Racing USA series: Had good chrome where exposed, and I didn't expose any more on the 3 I've done.

smontanaro 

In all fairness to the companies which made fully chromed frames which they intended to paint, you'd only want to fully polish the chrome which was supposed to remain exposed, right? That would leave some "tooth" for the paint to adhere to. I suspect cromovelato would be an exception. That paint is notoriously fragile, likely because the chrome surface revealed through the clear paint is polished.

rootboy 

I believe that's right, Skip. Other than what is probably a mis-type; "fully polish the chrome." Fully polish the frame steel where the chrome is going to show, later. Being only a few mils thick, there's no "polishing" chrome after it is applied. The high surface is achieved before the part is plated.

3speedslow

1984 Raleigh USA Super Course

I believe from all the nicks in the paint I think it is all chromed. Made in Japan.

Don't have any plans to find out. I got my chromed fix

sloar 

My Italvega has really nice chrome. At first I thought it had chrome decals on the seattube, then realized its chrome. I amagine the whole frame is chrome.

The Golden Boy 

Does anyone know of a place that can chrome (or nickel) plate a frame these days?

79pmooney

My friend's dad had a '65 Allegro, lacquer over polished chrome fading into the chrome on the fork blades and stays. When it was new, the most gorgeous bike I have ever seen. Suffered n+1 around 5 years later and spent the rest of its life in the salty Martha's Vineyard air, loosing all its paint and eventually seeing real amounts of rust. It was still a pretty good looking bike after most of the paint was gone until the rust got too far. (I suspect the polished chrome meant that the lacquer was at best temporary.)

Ben

Scooper

This.

AZORCH

The chrome on my Freschi is very well done, thin enough that the lugs are well defined but adequate coverage so that it still looks great after nearly thirty years on the road.



----

The chrome on my Katakura Silk is seemingly thicker and looks very nice also, but without the same evidence of super high end craftsmanship Freschi put into the frame. I also agree with what's already been stated about Paramount chroming being awfully darned nice - at least the ones I've encountered.



I've had quite a few other frames that were painted over chrome - '84 Centurion Turbo, Bottecchia something-or-other, a Falcon come immediately to mind. My personal experience has been that under the paint the chrome is often unpolished, especially near the lugs or joins. The Bottecchia was particularly egregious in that regard, if one wanted to leave the chrome showing. On the other hand, judging by the places where the paint had scraped off one of the two Turbos I've owned, it looked pretty good.

RobbieTunes

Exactly what you state, Skip, there was no reason to file/sand the metal that was chromed but meant to be painted, and good reasons not to.

The chrome plating was a corrosion protection in those cases, it appears. Painting on smooth/polished chrome is difficult, even on those that are meant to be painted. Both my powder coater and my painter had difficulty getting adhesion on chrome-plated frames.

I'd love to have an all-chrome Paramount, and when I think of the work that had to be done to file and smooth the metal surface, it's so labor-intensive I'm surprised it was done.

Not sure gugie is trying to see who did it the best, I think he's wondering if there are any mfg frames that are chrome plated and worth keeping the paint off, perhaps?

RobbieTunes

There are several places where you can get it done, the issue is do you want to pay for the very intensive preparation.
There are places that chrome the bumpers, wheels, etc for 18-wheelers, and they'd do a bike frame.
No idea the pricing.

Toomanytoys

Graves Plating, Florance Alabama. Graves Plating

Back in my Harley Davidson days, lots of guys would send m/c parts to them. They always came back looking real good.

sloar 

When I was younger we had a factory in town that chromed everything for other companies. It was one of the nastiest places to work, but if you knew someone who worked there you could get a frame chromed and buffed for $20

clubman 

Agree about the Centurion chrome. I've never had nicer.

nlerner

Raleigh Sports!

gugie 

If I ever find one in my size, I will be after it.

gugie 

Nah, just an open question. I'm seeing some great chrome postings!

OldsCOOL

Dont forget Fuji "The Finest" which was full chrome and painted over.

ppg677

I've been warned to be very careful about sending your bike to a random outfit used to chroming bumpers and motorcycle parts. Thin-walled steel tubing can lose its structural integrity if not done right.

72Paramount

1972 was a good year.

gugie 

That's just, well, hella.