753 and Chrome

kula

Retrobike Rider
Kona Fan
What is the panels thoughts on chromed 753. I've seen on another forum and with expert advice from a Raleigh SBDU man that chroming a 753 is a no no.
I notice a Mercian frame currently on ebay that has a fair amount of chrome. The 753 sticker on the forks looks like a vintage one, but the one on the frame is more modern which leads me to be a bit scepitical as seller says original paintwork so no obvious case of respray hence new stickers.
see it here
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Mercian-Superligh ... 4159883ea5
 
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I was always told its a no-no too, as chroming makes the base metal (frame) brittle. Plus whats the point of having an ultralight frame only to coat it with more metal and increase weight.
however peugeot 753s for one are chromed, so maybe there is no real problem, who knows?
 
pigman":2r7lh8t9 said:
however peugeot 753s for one are chromed, so maybe there is no real problem, who knows?

I'm led to believe that the Perthus does have a reputation for being a bit hit & miss as far as its lifespan goes, for this reason. Apparently the plating process leads to tiny hydrogen bubbles permeating the steel and making it brittle. Having said that, my old Rourke 753 had chrome aplenty and never gave me any hassle. Not that I'm a big fan of chrome on rear triangles - makes it difficult for QR skewers to "bite" if you use horizontal dropouts. My Cougar SLX parted company with its back wheel on a morning commute once for that very reason! :(

EDIT: Rourke with chromed chainstay (the front & rear dropouts and front mech boss were plated too) shown here in action on the A162 between Tadcaster & Sherburn about 10 years ago: http://www.flickr.com/photos/60525/3447 ... 6872562034.

Wish I hadn't sold that Stronglight chainset though.... :(

David
 
Also, Chrome is porous, so in time it rusts the metal underneath. That's fine on a lowly frame with thick-walled tubing. But 753...hmmm :?

Tony Oliver is dead set against it in his book on frame building, and he was a metallurgist.
 
753 chrome

Was always a no - no in the 70's 80's, and I remember seeing a 753 Raleigh in Harry Quinns with a chrome on it and asking Billy Witcomb about it, seems it had had a crash and had come in for a new top and down tube, when they tried to fit the new 753 tubes the lugs were not the same size as the 753 tubing sent from Reynolds and the tubing would not fit.
Now I am not saying that the frame was not 753 but it seems strange that Reynolds said never to chrome 753 yet it had been and the tubing would not fit.
Usually only the drop outs were chromed.
Have seen a few frames on ebay for sale supposed to be 753 with chrome on them and do wonder about their authenticity.
 
If those forks are original, I would guess the frame was resprayed and had a new 753 sticker. I'm not sure of the date of that tubing sticker design; I think no earlier than the late 1980s. Also they should have used a "renovated" sticker, perhaps Mercian (if they did the respray) had plenty of originals.

I have Rourke frame with chromed RH chainstay and front and rear dropouts. It has a 753 "renovated" sticker. I think it's 753 as it's lighter than a 531 frame. A 753 should be about 200-250g lighter than a similar 531 frame.

My opinion is Reynold's policy on chroming 753 is to cover themselves, just in case someone didn't do the chroming properly, as 753 is very thin-walled, any problems caused by chrome plating could weaken the frame. I've heard that proper protective chroming should be nickel plated first and then a final chrome layer on top of that.
 
Its an over used misconception that plating weakens bike frames ,its the polishing that does the damage as it takes quite a lot of material off to get a good finish.I would be more worried about if it has been crashed or soldered up properly when built than if it has chrome or not. 653 was basically a tube set with a 753 back end and loads of those were chromed.
 
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