Monkeylad,
Chrome weights almost nothing. The entire process is very thin. I suspect a full chrome frame weights less than a painted one; which in itself is almost nothing. I think some yeahoo here in San Diego determined that the paint job on a tandem weighted a few ozs. Weight is not an issue with chrome.
One thing I noticed about plating that has been applied to a hand polished surface is that the chrome appears "flatter and thinner" just like a good paint job does compared to a thicker one. Perhaps Chuck Schmidt or Matt Gorski could comment on what it looks like since both pairs of experienced and sophisticated eyes have seen my Masi replica. Furthermore, the chrome is not what rounds the corners on a plated surface. The plating mimmicks the surface that it is adhearing to EXACTLY. If the edges are sharp and crisp the plating will only enhance it. It is even possible to eliminate the slight "dipping" that occures around cutouts that happens during traditional polishing. The frame I just sent to Dale has some very crisp and sharp edges on a fully lacework cutout Nervex pro lugset; which is impossible to accomplish by machine methods. The lugs were so sharp I couldn't bring myself to deface the junction by pinstriping around the headlugs. They have a unique look to them on account of the chrome and polishing process and the way I went about masking them.
Just to restate what I've said previously; It's all in who does it. The pitfalls of chrome are all products of lack of attention to detail and taking the time to attend to them. I'm convinced more of that every day.
BTW, factory Italian chrome is inexpensive like Steve said and bears little relation to the type of plating that custom frames get. It's not that Italian chrome is bad either. It's just that the production paint and chrome in Italy is cheap and dirty in comparisson to some of the things done here; but that's comparing apples to oranges, so to speak.
Brian Baylis La Mesa, CA Working on developing that chrome plated donut as we speak. What flavor should I make?