At the end of a long and thoughtful note on the value of restoration, Charles Andrews wrote: <snip>
"One other idea I forgot to mention is to chrome the entire frame! Cinellis came like this, and you avoid many issues of both correctness and appeal with a full chrome job. You don't even need a clear coat as the decals were applied right on the chrome with no clear. A full chrome job might even cost less than paint. However, the wrinkle is finding a chromer who will do the job right. Something to consider, anyway." +++++++++++++++++++++++ There seems to have been a fair amount of after-market chroming of Schwinn Paramounts. On those the "give-away" was that the bottom bracket shell showed roughness that the polisher just couldn't get to: the factory chroming was done on parts polished before brazing, so they could polish places you just can't reach later. Or that was the Party Line. Now, to me one of the distinguishing marks of vintage Cinellis is the ability to see (and even count) the file marks on the bbshell. I bet they'd stand up right proud on a post-brazing chrome job.
And that doesn't even begin to deal with all the horror stories about bad platers...
But mostly, as much as I'd like to have a full chrome bike again, I just can't see doing it to most bikes that were originally painted. But that's just me.
harvey sachs
mcLean va