Hmm, you seem to be a little 'abrasive' yourself.

I have had numerous pieces for my motorcycles chromed and it is true the shops recommend a non-abrasive chrome polish to shine the piece. However, if you are dealing with old rusty chrome and the aim is to get it back looking reasonable then they recommend fine brass wool followed by hand applied very fine abrasive polish.

You can yell "never use steel wool" but not offering any alternative is not very constructive. Incidentally a 5 micrometer chroming job is a little thin, most places seem to claim double that for a high quality cosmetic plating.

On another note that is indeed a sweet bike.

"On another note that is indeed a sweet bike." QUOTE.

It being what it is, along with his other rides, burns me that he won't take the time

to properly research the situation; once the plating is destroyed, it"s forever "toast".


"not offering any alternative is not very constructive." QUOTE.

'NEVERDULL", wadding polish.


Regards,
J T

Super bike! In answer to your main query, it's totally out of the question for you to keep it - send it to me instead - it must be about my size!!!!

Good luck with your collection, please post pictures - I'm running out of space now and can't bear to think of selling (m)any of my bikes, so have to "get my fix" by looking at pictures of other peoples'! [ Actually, that sounds a bit odd really when I think about it, but I'm sure a lot of people will understand].

Please leave SOME small classy bikes in Europe for us poor Brits!!!

Also, it certainly sounds as though JT knows exactly what he's talking about, but if the parts are totally coated with rust spots I do generally use the finest steel wool with a little oil to lightly rub off the spots, then use a silicone polish to seal it. However, that's for cranks, pedals, etc - not sure about on a frame?

You just don't seem to get it. I said "I guess one can't really see that there is a bit of rust on the lugs that I thought I'd remove with some steel wool." Also, I love the way you always seem to assume that your assumptions are correct. I've only used steel wool on parts and lugs that have rust on them due to having read it here on BF, on some articles of the web, and by going on what some people that actually plate suggested. I know that some, includes you, don't agree on using steel wool on any chrome regardless of the conditions, but after seeing that it's not clear cut on whether it's good or not, I tried it on a pretty beat up Concorde that had rust on the fork and it came out beautiful. Hence I thought I would try it on this bike since it has rust on all the lugs and the fork. Also, since it has rust and knowing that it might be "forever toast" what more harm can be done? If the rust is too severe or I just don't like the way it turns out, I'll have the bike and fork re-chromed.; just like I did on the Colnago Mexico.

It's only the lugs and fork that have rust. Thanks for the compliment. Don't worry about the bikes in your country; with the Dollar to pound conversion, I can't afford any of the bikes your country men are selling.

Sorry I missed your suggestion. You are right, NEVRDULL does a pretty nice job on chrome that is in reasonably good shape. If it is in bad shape then you might need to use something else as a pre-NEVRDULL step, but it sure can't hurt to try the NEVRDULL first.

"after seeing that it's not clear cut on whether it's good or not . . " QUOTE.


When a good friend of mine, (now dead) owner of Galaxie Grill in Toronto, said 'NO ABRASIVES",

I would tend to listen to him. Show quality plating was his lot in life; Pebble Beach show quality!


"since it has rust and knowing that it might be "forever toast" what more harm can be done?" QUOTE.


If you reread my post, you might find that "forever toast", is after an abrasive has removed the

very thin chromium plate which exposes the nickel to oxidiation; the "chrome", is gone, you are

left with the nickel plate only.


Of incidental note: one of my former tenants was a plater; he indulged me to "practice the craft",

and yes, he was impressed!


One other thing, when you had one of your other bikes plated, I would hope that they had 'baked',
it

afterward.


Regards,
J T

Nice bike and please don't take steel wool to the lugs as has been pointed out, it will do harm. Although the frame is a bit ruff I would clean it and keep it the way it is, maybe a new set of decals, but not necessary. Yours is only the second one I have seen photos of with that lugs set.

Thought you might like to see a few of the photos of one of my Raulers. This is the only one I, and all the collectors I know, have seen of this model.

If you ever decide to sell I hope you would consider giving me a shout.

Take care and ride hard.



2007 Rauler and 1983 Rauler
Side by side comparisons of the '83 Rauler lugs to the New Rauler lugs and both bikes in Electric blue.

Rauler and Colnago Arabesque lugs
You will find many similarities in the Rauler lugs and Colnago Arabesque lugs. Raul Gozzi designed both lug sets. He offered the Rauler lugs to Colnago for use on the Arabesque, however Ernesto wanted a lugset that was unique to the Arabesque. Raul Gozzi worked for Colnago before he and his brother Reclus started Rauler in the mid 70's. They became one of Colnago's top contract builders and built the first Arabesque frames.
[IMG][/IMG]

awesome bikes.

JT, I hear a lot of "He told me" and "I know a guy" or "I heard it from a reliable source".

Hearsay.

I have yet to see any actual evidence of super fine steel wool doing any real damage to chrome.

Trying to be credible on the internet is futile.

One of the main purposes of chrome is for visual appeal. If the steel wool makes it shine like new, and he's happy with the results, why does it matter? So he took off the chrome layer. Does it look bad? No. Will it look bad? I don't hear him complaining about any of his other bikes.

The point is, they're not your bikes. They're his. What he's doing would be better than letting them rust away (Or completely defacing the bike. This means you, Drew). Maybe to your masterful eye the chrome might not be show quality, but honestly, does it matter?

I'm not following how those brake levers work. Is there a piece inside that directs the cable down to the original cable fastening point? Oh, and I'm thinkin' that the cable routing is pretty much going to preclude your finding a hood that'll work on that brake.