Hello, I'm a newbie...found this post regarding the Blue Max Plateau. I bought Mine around 1990 from Montgomery Wards, about a year before they went out of business here. It's a 21 speed, white with pinkish red lettering. It is a hand welded Taiwanese bike made for a bicycle shop in Camarillo, CA. The material used is called Allolite, which I don't think is chromoly, just steel. Over the course of time, I've modified it with rapid shifters, etc. About 4 years ago, I converted it into an electric bike and changed the handle bar plus adding a stem so it I ride more upright. It's still going strong! I have the original bearings, all clean and lubbed.