I bid on a beautiful Viking racing frame set the other day (lost it, kick! kick! it went for £210 when I would've gone to twice that... I just thought no else was bidding - I'm learning). I don't know if you can see this but I've just dragged a pic from the eBay listing and dropped on this window:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...ayphotohosting

Anyway, it has chrome chain stays which are in a bit of a nasty state. One thing led to another and I bought a Mercian frame shortly after and searching for info on the make I came across the Mercian website and found they still make frames and have a repair and painting service for old frames, not just their own. It says there that chrome can only be redone on certain types of tubing and the Viking's Reynolds 531 isn't included. Something about the wall thickness being too thin for the polishing necessary to apply chrome. So, it seems that for the Viking the chain stays would have to be either painted or replaced if you wanted them chromed.

I've since noticed that a lot of bikes have chromed chain stays, forks and lugs, particularly high-end Italian stuff and I'm wondering if it's just flash or whether there's a practical reason for chrome.

I don't like it much myself and prefer the deep lustre of multi-coated, good quality enamel paint. Also, being interested in older bikes, chrome strikes me as just another potential headache should it need attention. I'd also think it must be heavier than paint - not that I'd notice, probably.

So, is chrome just for show?