OK, so I have been sitting on this 58cm Atala SLX frame and fork for a while now. I got a bit more involved in my Panasonics and it fell to the back burner for a while. When I got it, it was certainly in need of TLC and rust removal as there was no saving the partially original paint.

It is currently stripped and waiting for the next step but I am on the fence as to what to actually do with it. That is where all of you come in. Since you're all obviously level headed and never get carried away with projects (ha! ) I figured I'd invite your input and votes.

As it was...


As it is...


And finally, as it should be?


As you can see in the final photo, it involves chroming the entire bike and then having it powder coated over the chrome in order to duplicate the nice dark red finish. I personally love the look. I was initially just going to paint or powdercoat it in a color like the original.

I had several conversations with Burt at Badger Finishing in Wisconsin during the last day or two and from the sound of it, they can chrome and powder coat the frame in a manner that would get me uber close to the look of the red catalog bike for $450. If that is the case then I am kinda in

BUT... I happen to be currently working on my Panasonic PR-6000 build AND might soon be picking up a Panasonic AR-6000 (Aero) as well. The real rub is that I normally ride 56cm machines so the Atala is technically a wee bit large for me (although I could ride it)

What would YOU do?