I,ve always wanted a "Chrome" frame bike,and the more I look at my old "Carlton" the more I want to do it,it was red (once ) originallly "Gold", so I leave the decision up to you guy,s --Chrome or Paint what say ou ? Frame is in "Carlton in Australia thread" below !

I say chrome!

I say chrome!

How much would it cost to get a frame chromed? What kind of prep work is involved?

No idea,but, regardless of cost ,whichever decision is made by you guys,I will go with it !

If cost had been equal, I would have gone with chrome over paint.

This is it ! [IMG][/IMG]

Chrome is exie. All that polishing costs. I was quoted $AUD500 to do a frame and fork.
But if you don't mind spending the money, I vote for chrome.

500 bux ! -------------------------------THUD !

I had the fork only stripped, polished and plated...$AUD150. I've been polishing the frame myself, mostly by hand using wet and dry. I started to use a buff in an electric drill and if anyone else out there decides to do the same thing I would advise great caution. I know I don't want to be anywhere near a frame that catches in the buff...and it will. Got a scar to prove it.
The biggest cost to the plater are the cost of complying with environmental legislation and the hand labour to polish a complex shape like a bike frame. For a copper/chrome job the frame has to be stripped, wire brushed, polished, plated with nickel, polished and plated with copper and polished and finally chrome plated...and polished again!
Originally I thought "Ripoff!"...I have a bit more sympathy for the platers now.
If you can get a better quote, make sure the price includes the copper coat. Some platers will skip that step. but the copper coat really makes a difference.
I'm still thinking about it though...

That depends how much work you're willing to put into it, and how much you're willing to pay. Chrome will highlight all the flaws and blemishes, so be prepared to spent a long time polishing the whole thing, or be willing to pay somebody else to do it. This can easily run several hundred dollars if you have the chrome shop do it, and that's not including the charges for the plating. Make sure you choose a chrome shop that knows how to do bicycles. I've heard too many horror stories about people taking their pride and joy to Joe's Budget Plating and having their frame ruined -- as in unusable, not just ugly. Once again, be prepared to pay a premium to get a knowledgeable plater to do the job.

Can you guess I'm not too thrilled about chrome?

In all, it would probably be cheaper to look for a C&V bike that is chromed under the paint and remove the paint.

Bling!

I'm not sure what the exchange rate is for $AUD vs $US but $AUD500 doesn't sound horribly bad. $320 US maybe? This topic has come up a few times recently on the forum. I've seen a variety of prices quoted, some very reasonable but the best I've seen by a place that specializes in bicycles is about $600 US for a frame and fork. How much would a nice paint job cost down under (and I mean a decent wet paint job not a cheapy powder coat)?

I dunno but I,ll find out, watch this space !

I was quoted $AUD200 for a single colour basic enamel job by Star Enamellers.The price goes up with extra colors and decals. They have an excellent reputation and they know how to do bikes, by all accounts. Never heard a bad word about them...quite the opposite.
Your exchange rate would be pretty close, but as I found out (too late) that didn't include a copper coat, and there is a difference in the richness of the colour IMO. I'm not blaming the platers.. I had a phone conversation with them before I took the frame to them...just forgot to specify a copper coat. They did tell me that it wouldn't have added that much to the total price, since most of the work takes place before the actual chrome goes on. As they said, putting the chrome on is the easiest part of the job.
Now that I've polished the frame (almost) I'll probably go for a single clear powder coat...$AUD 50 or around thirty bucks US, but I'm doing all the prep.

But after seeing some of the chrome bikes on C&V, I'm still tempted...

Dang, at those prices maybe I could stash a bike in my luggage, fly down under for a vacation, get my bike done and break even. Then again it's fall down under, huh? It'll have to wait until summer down there

It,s ALWAYS summer here !