[CR] Why Chrome?

(Example: Events:Eroica)

From: <Stronglight49@aol.com>
Date: Sat, 19 May 2007 07:09:54 EDT
Subject: [CR] Why Chrome?
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org


I have seen many top quality bikes with little or no chrome. But, I have also seen just as many with chromed half stays and lower fork blades. I've been wondering: was it only prevailing "fashion" during different periods which dictated this? Or, was it considerations of practicality which eventually determined that these most laterally exposed parts of a bike would benefit from chrome plating - which is certainly more durable than enamel.

On a decently kept bike I have not seen much evidence of excessive wear on the paint of those extremities, any more so than on the rest of a bike. I can well understand that plating dropouts and fork tips, or at least any raised facings (as in the case of Campagnolo dropouts) is an advantage because quick release levers or lock nuts will inevitably chip paint. But, I think that longer stretches of chrome extending far beyond the hubs tends to distract from the lines of a bike's geometry, and this I what I truly enjoy observing and admiring.

Please, don't misunderstand; I definitely love the look of chrome - just as much as I like ornately carved lugs. But, I prefer to see it where it draws my eyes toward "details" (such as head lugs and fork crowns) rather than away from the overall form of a bicycle frame, as when visually truncating the stays and fork by abruptly interrupting the enamel. Just my subjective opinion, of course.

Has anyone else observed what I have perceived as a shift in chrome plating trends? First toward plating stays and forks during the 1960s and perhaps reaching a peak during the 1970s, and then again away from plating entirely by the 1980s? And, was there a generally accepted philosophy at work here, or was chrome just a passing trend... like the exaggerated tail fins and extensively chromed and highly ornamental front grills on American cars during the 1950s?

I would love to hear anyone else's thoughts or observations on the subject. And perhaps any restoration painters among us would have the greatest number of examples from their own hands-on experience to draw upon in this regard.

Cheers! Bob Hanson, Albuquerque, NM, USA

************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.