Thursday, June 12, 2008

Chrome Team

As recently as 10 or 12 years ago, you could get pretty much anything you wanted in chrome. Bars, cranks, forks, seatposts, frames—as long as you were willing to pay an extra $10—and even pegs. For a long time, chrome was actually cool.

Then came the backlash. Chrome weakened parts and the process was horrible for the environment. For the most part, it disappeared (except when it came to rims and limited runs of bars and frames—I still regret not getting a brakeless chrome Black Bike when I had the chance).

Certain individuals kept chrome alive, though, having their rides plated at their own expense. Greg "Noodles" Tait has had a string of chrome T1s. Ben Ward of Odyssey went with chrome Wombolts and Directors. And now Hanson Little of Mutiny and Empire has apparently gone all in. Can't wait to see the whole bike.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Canadian BMX legend Bob Holiday (of Chase Mag cover fame!) at one point in the last 4 years had a completely chromed out S&M. Everything was either chrome or polished Aluminum. The only color came from brake pads and tires.

Anonymous said...

please comment on this:
(tan walls)
http://www.odysseybmx.com/dailyword/

Anonymous said...

http://www.autoblog.com/photos/chrome-ferrari-599-gtb-fiorano/858893//full/

Bauer said...

Another reason for the Chrome demise was that parts, say bars for example, were polished before building. The straight tube was polished, then bent ,then welded, leaving very little touch up before the chrome. Nowadays, with heat treatment and such technology, they have a "burned" finish that is extremely hard to polish, especially when they are built/welded together. Now you get a lack luster(pun intended) finish or an astronomical price for a good finish. Most people don't want to spend 40-50 extra bucks for chrome.

Bauer said...

Don't make me cry "anonymous".

Anonymous said...

gotta love the keyboard courage so many people hide behind these days, huh?

Anonymous said...

i knew there would be a few people who would appreciate the build, i thought of you when i was making it. you'll be seeing more soon russ.