Re: [CR] Clear coat in place of old chrome

(Example: Framebuilders:Dario Pegoretti)

To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 15:14:46 -0700
From: donald gillies <gillies@ece.ubc.ca>
Subject: Re: [CR] Clear coat in place of old chrome


According to Brian Baylis, clear coats are very porous and contain natural pinhole perforations, which induce rust not long after they are painted onto a hub (or a show bike, which was Brian's experience.) It has been tried many times to clearcoat a show bike, but the result is always rusting, a few months later.

Why not spend US$33 and get a brush chroming set and do it right? I estimate that a plating kit would be good for about 5x hubs, or maybe 2x hubs and another large piece like a steel stem and/or seatpost, or maybe 50 pieces of hardware (nuts and bolts etc.) You can also use these kits to de-plate any remaining pieces of the hub before re-plating the whole shebang.

http://www.caswellplating.com/kits/plugnplate.htm

- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA, USA