Can I strip the paint on the half-chromed fork off of my Motobecane Le Champion and have a full chrome fork? I seem to remember hearing that if they chrome part of it they have to chrome the whole thing. True?

I've never done it.....but what I've read is that the chrome underneath the paint is not "finished" chrome........it is probably etched or crazed for better paint adhesion.....but like I said; I've never tried.......it'd be a neat experiment.....if the paint is shot anyway; what could it hurt to strip it?

If it were chrome but not finished chrome, maybe you could have at it with some buffing supplies for a bit and bring out the shine?

I don't know if it would be the same, but my Peugeot has a half chromed fork. The top half looks to be chrome where the paint is chipped.

If the crown is chrome, then yeah, the whole fork's chrome. Or, if the bottom end of the steerer is chrome, then the whole fork is. But, as others have said, that doesn't mean it's polished. I've got an old Bottecchia fork that I picked up for cheap, with a rattlecan paint job. I stripped off the Krylon, and lo and behold the metal in the painted area had been sandblasted pre-chroming, so all the polishing in the world won't make it shiny. It's an interesting look, tho'.

SP
Bend, OR

No, you can't buff chrome that was applied over an unpolished surface. You can't buff out scatches, either.

Yes, Peugeot forks are all chrome. They are also clearcoated over the chrome.

Hmm, ok, good to know! I guess I'll hold off then as the paint is actually reasonably good. just thought an all-chrome fork would go with the paint job. But I have an old fuji frame that's a lot less nice and has the half-chrome. When I get around to working on it I'll try stripping it report back. Thanks folks.

This Bottecchia has an all chrome plated frame. However, only the head tube lugs, fork blade ends and half stays are polished. You can seen the difference between the lugs and the tubes on the bike.

Sometimes a frame set or fork set will be all polished chrome. Incidentally, the polishing takes place before the plating process begins.

Bott_Red_57_CarWas.jpg

My Bottecchia was entirely chromed under the paint except for the down tube. The chrome under the paint looked pretty good - especially on the top tube - but in other places the chroming was pretty rough looking. When I repainted the frame I left the seat stays naked and it looks pretty good (mostly) but there are a couple spots near the top of the stays where the chrome could be a little more "polished" looking. I'm thinking the chroming under the paint on most stays will probably be kind of crap shoot.

Maybe yes, maybe no. I'm assuming there are no paint chips on the upper blades or crown that reveal what lies beneath? Failing that, pull the fork out of the frame -- if there's chrome on the steer tube, it's fully chromed. But be aware that the surface prep under the paint may not have been as careful as on the exposed areas, so it may not look particularly nice once the paint is off.