Rechroming question
 

As I move in the direction of restoring my Schwinn Super Le Tour I have a question. The fork has chrome on the top of the fork, the crown? and from the dropouts up about 6". Has anyone had re chroming done? Did you use a "bike specific" shop?
I was told just have the whole fork chromed and then paint the portion that needs color. Is this good advice?
Thanks!

It is not worth having a Super Le Tour fork rechromed, unless you have friends that will do it below cost.

Agreed. You are better off finding a chrome fork to replace it. Notsure how much EDIT (chroming a fork, not buying one) a fork alone costs, but frame/fork costs about $600ish.

+1 to the above two posts, but if you must:

1. Since you need the chrome on the crown, then yes, chrome the whole fork EXCEPT for the top of the steerer. Chroming the threads could present issues.
2. You'll need to either prep this yourself or expect to pay for it. That means basically polishing all the surfaces until they're nice and smooth.
3. If you do all the prep and find an inexpensive plater, expect to pay $50 and up. If you do none of the work, expect $150-$300.
4. Painting afterwards. You'll probably need to refinish the entire bike or the "new" front is going to look odd. Expect to pay from $150-$400 for your paint job, depending on extras like decals, clear coats, lug striping, etc.

Post a pic. Let's see how bad it is.

Rechroming can be expensive, depends on the prep. work. A local shop in NJ will rechrome a bicycle fork for around $80 but the prep is minimal. If rust is the issue, the old chrome needs to be stripped, rust removed, then the defects filled and prep'ed. I have a fork being Chromed by Franklin Frames in OH, $250ish which includes repair & paint.


That being said, you can find replacement forks from a donor bike, you can buy a new chrome fork from someone like Soma Fabrications or you can remove the rust and paint your existing or you can OA soak the fork and live with the bad chrome. Lots of options, a few make sense, let see some pictures

if your fork already has chrome, they need to remove the chrome before rechroming! $$$$$$

I will try to take some pics this weekend

How much weight does chroming add?

Jan Heine, Bicycle Quarterly editor, had his new Herse fully chromed (copper/nickel/chrome high-end job) and rued the fact that it added 450-odd grams, a full pound, to the bare frame.

Any one have any experience with this http://www.****stix.com/mirror-chrome.html

Cyclart has a nice write-up on what's involved in chrome plating as well as a discussion about the need to "deplate" existing parts that are chrome plated in order to replate. It's a very toxic and labor intensive process, and done correctly isn't inexpensive.

http://www.cyclart.com/questions.html#chrome1

Yes. It looks pretty good if you do the prep work really well. It needs to be applied on top of a very smooth, very high gloss black base coat.