The vote seems evenly split between the Bianchi and the Raleigh at this point. The lack of support for the Serotta seems evenly split between those who favor leaving it the way it is because of its originality and those who favor leaving it the way it is because they like the other bikes better.

The budget for any project I choose is fairly open ended. I could probably swing the major overhaul needed with the Raleigh, but it would involve drawing deep from the well of goodwill with SWMBO. For reference, here's a shot of the Raleigh chrome problem:



My fear is that I might find myself peeling an onion in any attempt to repair that. On a bike with patina, the above blemishes are hardly noticeable, but I think it completely eliminates the possibility of repainting without re-chroming.

Factoring in peace on the home front, I'm leaning toward powder coating the Bianchi, which is actually where I started. The sentiment among my betters here seems to be that the Bianchi deserves paint, but I've been very happy with past powder coating results.