Saw this bike in the wild and interested in how to get a chrome finish like this. Do you have to get it professionally done? Is that what this looks like? How much do those jobs cost? Does this look like an old chromoly frame that was redone? Thanks
by SaltyAreola
5 Comments
True chrome finish is actually a thin layer of chromium applied during electroplating. For this you would have to take it to a business that would strip the paint and chrome the frame in their big electroplating vats.
You can get a similar finish by stripping the paint and polishing the steel/aluminum underneath but it’s going to be real hard to get/keep the results you are after.
Buy one which was already chromed. Up until recently environmental regulations in China and Taiwan made the cost to chrome a new frame reasonable for OEMs, but that has begun to change. In the US and EU, the cost is pretty prohibitive, over $400 for a quality job.
Highly unlikely this is an old bike. The dropouts are quite modern and there is no evidence of brake studs or housing stops on the top tube and seat stays. Sure, it’s possible someone went to very great lengths to remove all traces but it’s unlikely that that type of person would apply warning stickers.
The bikes’s a Mercier Kilo. You can get a new chrome one from BikeDirect for $640.00, shipped.
[https://www.bikesdirect.com/products/mercier/disc-brake-road-bikes/kilott-gx-t16-gravel-flatbar-bikes.htm](https://www.bikesdirect.com/products/mercier/disc-brake-road-bikes/kilott-gx-t16-gravel-flatbar-bikes.htm)
This is a kilo gx or some such sold from bikesdirect. It has a chrome plated option so it comes from the factory like this.
On paper looks like a great bike for the money. It’s reynolds 520 frame with hydraulic disks and shimano 2×8 for like 600 bucks.
This person has swapped the fork for whatever reason with what looks like either a surly straggler fork or a disk trucker fork.