Gold plated raleigh
 

Seen this for sale in ireland for €5,000 I think it was. It's a 100 year anniversary raleigh plated in 24 carat gold.

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Anyone ever see one before

Gold plated..........and they did not go with at least a DA group?? I'm sure it will sell quicker/easier if they did....

and of course they spelled it "breaks." why is this so difficult for people?

for the record, gold plating is something like 1/1000 of a micron of gold (or something like that). it adds no value whatsoever. that bike probably has $5 worth of gold on it in total.

it looks like a run-of-the-mill 531 raleigh with mid tier componentary to me. complete insanity to expect that kind of money out of it.

Piece of $#!t

Gold plating is a particularly silly gimmick on bicycle frames. Chrome, at least, holds up pretty well over time.

+1

Gold plating wears extremly quickly. Good news is, this bike is probably a "wall hanging queen," because it would show a ton of flaking with any mild amount of use.

Is there a gold plated UO-8?

I think frames that have been gold plated were plated with nickel or chrome first. For an 100th anniv. bike, one would think Campagnolo Super Record would be the choice. Raleigh was one of the biggest buyers of Campagnolo equipment for a long time. Head scratching about the Shimano 105.

I think gold plated lugs, crown, half forks and stays would have been more tasteful. But rarely are marketing guys tasteful.

By your way of thinking, chrome plating adds no value to a bike, either.

The "value" chrome plating adds to a frame is not because chrome costs $x-amount per ounce.
It adds valuable corrosion protection and visual enhancement. Which of the two is primary depends on the buyer.

Gold plating only offers visual enhancement and the allusion that a layer of valuable metal of considerable cost has been added.

If it indeed has be triple plated beneath, copper/nickel/chrome, then it has a certain value over a frame that has been merely chrome plated.

If it has not been chrome plated, I think it is less valuable than a chrome plated frame.

Thanks for explaining that to me. The word you want is illusion.

Kind of goes with gold plated bathroom faucets.

I would comment on this but I have to go and use my gold plated toilet

This is a wierd one for a gold plated aniversary edition you think Raliegh would go with one of there top of the line English built models and not a gazzelle. Also the grey 105 stuff just looks stupid on a bike like this I would think it should have limed edition DA or Campy Super record.

David gave a good explanation.

As I mentioned before, gold plating wears out quickly anyways. so whatever aesthetic value it does bring to the table won't last long. if indeed it is gold plating over chrome or nickel, im not sure how that would effect the wear. perhaps it might make it last marginally longer than it otherwise would have.

It will sell for more money than it would if it was painted, so value has been added.

Funny, I think a couple years ago we all would have been drooling over the special gold plated Raliegh. Just remember that it came from another era, and marketing trends are always changing.

And "peddles"

Yes, the correct word in that context is illusion, but "allusion" is a more effete word that could make me sound like I knew what I'm talking about.

I'm sorry that quoting you made it sound like I was speaking down to you. I was using your quote to springboard into my elongated explanation.

There was a NOS one with full Suntour Superbe on ebay a year or two ago. I thought it looked pretty cool - not to ride, but just to have around for a while - especially with brown bar tape. And they were made (in Japan) with the lighter weight Reynolds 531 (531 SL). I think it went for around $1200. I also think the black anniversary Paramounts with the gold forks look pretty nice (though not even close to the standard earlier black ones with the chrome Nervex lugs).

IIRC, gold was uber cool back then.......remember those guys that wore all those gold chains on their hairy chest while trolling for dates at the local disco?...
And then there's Mr. T too!!:eek::rolleyes:

Yeah, and we seem to all clamor for the gold components. Gold Simplex SLJ, and Mafac Brakes are always hot items.

There's a guy in town here who's got one of these built up as a fixie town bike. His is pretty beat, but they wear well, in my opinion. Sure the gold flakes off, but there's chrome underneath, which is still pretty cool. I don't know how much he paid for it, but given that his previous bike was a Varsity, I'm pretty sure it wasn't 5 grand.

Chrome or gold plating is nothing more than Icing on The Cake, they being only for show; chrome, to keep the nickel from oxidizing to a yellowish colour,

keeping it silvery (the chrome adds to this) and gold for it's own eye candy. There would be no reason to Copper/Nickel/Chrome plate in this instance,

only Copper/Nickel/Gold.

BTW, as mentioned above, Gold Plate has little or no monetary value other than the Eye Candy Bling Factor and does not wear-well as opposed to Gold Filled,

that being a laminate of gold to a base metal usually of brass, this being not conducive to bike frame manufacture.


Regards,
J T