Triple chrome refers to copper, nickel, chrome. That is the og way of plating. That is what I did in the early 90s. It is a nasty process with many acid baths, rinses etc. I believe newer process eliminates the acid copper process.. the copper is used to fill imperfections and can be polished smooth and then go to nickel plate and finally the chrome plate. Chrome plate is actually a murky brown in liquid form. Back in 93 it was about 3g a barrel to dispose of and we would send a truckload out every couple months, maybe more. We plated for Harley Davidson and it was a big facility. We once got a call that a load of our barrels of waste was in a warehouse, along with thousands of other waste barrels from other companies in other states. The company took all the money and left everyone's barrels in the warehouse and split. We were held responsible and the president of the company had to personally go states away to retrieve them and pay again to have them disposed of. Chrome parts are heavier, and weaker because of polishing, acid baths and the plating itself. Polishing for Chrome is more involved as the plating will show imperfections that just polishing wont. I replated several parts for a Hutch Pro Racer and every part folded and cracked. Bars, sprocket and seat post, all junk. Consider that if replating parts you want to use. All that said, I'm buying every chrome part I can, S&Ms plating is ultra nice, and I'm old, as they say... if it don't go, Chrome it. Highly polished parts cam be accomplished at home with some effort and practice, you can achieve a pro finish.
I'm glad you covered that its weaker, thats something I've been told too. Some companies in the past like T1 have gone with thicker wall tubing for their chrome bars compared to black to compensate for this. .065 vs .083 or something like that.
@@localmike6964 Dead nuts.. S&M xlt bars and hoder light bars are not available in chrome because of the thinner wall tubing. Moeller just did an interview with Brant Moore on heat treating that is a bit of an eye opener also. Now if you have minimum. 065 tubing I wouldn't be afraid to plate it and use it, but I'm not that hard on parts anymore. The restoration guys that are out there that are having already chromed parts replated, those parts will not last. They will fold up like paper.
Back in the 90’s chrome rims were your best bet to have good brakes. I’m sure this was mostly due to to brake pad material at that time. Now we have clear pads that lock up on just about anything so it doesn’t matter as much.
On the money my man. Certain parts are better polished for the chrome look rather than actually being chromed because of that potential to crack. I've always ran a chrome rear rim for braking because of that glass type flush hard surface works far better than any polished rim and is more durable and last longer as a flat surface than say a powder coated rim. The paint will always wear off back to metal that isn't as hard as chrome. One of my older chrome rims had copper or nickle or something under the chrome layer and I was told it had something to do with the electro-plating process when they dip it in the water and the chrome connects to the nickle. So all in all, things like rims, bars and forks that don't see a lot of bending stress or even visible clamping stress are ok for being chrome, mostly rims for that harder braking surface but things like stems, seat posts, bearing spacers, spokes and nipples are all better to be polished to look like chrome because they are prone to higher stress and that bending potential.
chrome plating uses electricity and dipping the metal/etc. in chrome electroplating solution.. and it's expensive because of the chemical/solution and its way heavier due to the layers of copper,nickel,chrome etc.. i work here in japan at a electroplating company...
Chrome has been changed before in bmx. Why some flatland dudes that run brakes still prefer old Araya rims. There's various types of chrome that we still use but hard chrome plating which is good for brakes is worse for the environment and causes lots of health issues.
Had the same situation back in the 80s, spent a bit of money on a bunch of different brake pads, and it made no difference, so I stayed with Chrome rims.
You'd essentially want specialty braking surface paints. Which are usually black. Specialty extra hard anodizing. Which is usually blsck or red. Odyssey used to make some. Duralectra hazard lites and 7kas. Think some g sport rims also came in that finish. Alienation has the vandal I believe Which comes with their paint based chrome replacement but it's black. It essentially comes down to. If you want silver colored rims and run brakes nothing touches hard chrome. If you don't mind black or very selective rim color choices you can go the other routes. Not all chrome will work for brake performance either. Needs to be hard chrome. And we've already had a down grade. 80s chrome was better than modern chrome. Why some flatland riders who use brakes heavily still search out old original chrome Araya rims. Despite much better rim technology existing. Also why I used to search out Alex rims 7000 series feather lites over 7kas or hazard lites. Same weight. I'd argue alex rims are stronger but extremely similar design. 7kas and feather lites are both 7000 series alloy and came on chrome. But Odyssey chrome is among the worst on the market for brake performance. Flakes easy. Damages easy. Isn't as think. Soft chrome to hard chrome would be the same. And I believe the now banned chemicals for hard chrome from the 80e made hard chrome even harder and more evenly surfaced. More bans means good chrome will get harder and harder to get access to. Gonna need clear based braking paints within a decade.
I have been sending max and alf vids of my buddy's powder coated chrome. To chrome the strip it then dip in copper then dip in chrome I believe it's also called nickle but I may be wrong. The plus of powercoat chrome will never rust so you get Shine forever.. chrome is for steel and alluminum is polished.
Bitd a friend has his beautiful brand new, 1987, dyno compe in that gorgeous radberry colour chromed. The bike was like 2 weeks old with full GT parts etc. It was the best bike. Into it was chromed. The chrome pitted badly either 1 trimoly frame or 2 badly prepped for chroming. It had holes all over the frame. Do NOT CHROME A DYNO!!! EVER!!!
The only questions about BMX rims are, why don't they come in breakless shapes and offset spoke holes for rear rims? Most people ride breakless these days
Chroming parts is hazardous to health. That’s why it’s more expensive than any other colour, but when I had my Alex super e rims back in the day I did a grind and scratched the side of the rim water got underneath the chrome and made it blister and bubble, and then it all flaked off now I stick to black rims 👍🚲💨
they pvd a titanium coating and then change the Ti coloration (controlled) by altering (an electrical) current's voltage and distance on the finish applied.
A polished rim will have better braking characteristics compared to chrome.. that is for the very reason you gave, the chrome is smooth. Look at a discipline that really know about brakes, trials riding. The guys that really know what they're doing take an angle grinder to the brake surface to make it rough to bite into the pad of the brake.. so a super smooth brake surface is not as effective as a slightly rougher one of a polished rim
Real Chrome is the best stopping force for brake pads. the Toughest wheels i ever rode were a pair of chrome seamless steel 1975 kawasaki bx wheels with thick teflon spokes until the front hub cracked so i stuck metal tape around it to keep it from leaking grease everywhere.i have since retired them may they r.i.p.
Polished will never look as good as chrome!!! Also you can spray heavy degreser on chrome. Will just eat your wax and aluminum polish. Man i miss the 80s. Cant find quality anymore!!!!
Triple chrome refers to copper, nickel, chrome. That is the og way of plating.
That is what I did in the early 90s.
It is a nasty process with many acid baths, rinses etc. I believe newer process eliminates the acid copper process.. the copper is used to fill imperfections and can be polished smooth and then go to nickel plate and finally the chrome plate. Chrome plate is actually a murky brown in liquid form.
Back in 93 it was about 3g a barrel to dispose of and we would send a truckload out every couple months, maybe more.
We plated for Harley Davidson and it was a big facility.
We once got a call that a load of our barrels of waste was in a warehouse, along with thousands of other waste barrels from other companies in other states. The company took all the money and left everyone's barrels in the warehouse and split. We were held responsible and the president of the company had to personally go states away to retrieve them and pay again to have them disposed of.
Chrome parts are heavier, and weaker because of polishing, acid baths and the plating itself. Polishing for Chrome is more involved as the plating will show imperfections that just polishing wont. I replated several parts for a Hutch Pro Racer and every part folded and cracked. Bars, sprocket and seat post, all junk. Consider that if replating parts you want to use.
All that said, I'm buying every chrome part I can, S&Ms plating is ultra nice, and I'm old, as they say... if it don't go, Chrome it.
Highly polished parts cam be accomplished at home with some effort and practice, you can achieve a pro finish.
Thanks for the info man! Great read.
@@Ozhull thanks, there's is a lot more to electroplating, but I had already wrote way more than I wanted to initially.
I'm glad you covered that its weaker, thats something I've been told too. Some companies in the past like T1 have gone with thicker wall tubing for their chrome bars compared to black to compensate for this. .065 vs .083 or something like that.
@@localmike6964 Dead nuts.. S&M xlt bars and hoder light bars are not available in chrome because of the thinner wall tubing. Moeller just did an interview with Brant Moore on heat treating that is a bit of an eye opener also.
Now if you have minimum. 065 tubing I wouldn't be afraid to plate it and use it, but I'm not that hard on parts anymore.
The restoration guys that are out there that are having already chromed parts replated, those parts will not last. They will fold up like paper.
Phu is always taking care of us. Love the inside shop videos teaching everything about BMX.
Nothing more classic than a nice chrome bike thats well sorted.
It can be from any era, “20 inch bmx looks great with chrome.
Back in the 90’s chrome rims were your best bet to have good brakes. I’m sure this was mostly due to to brake pad material at that time. Now we have clear pads that lock up on just about anything so it doesn’t matter as much.
On the money my man. Certain parts are better polished for the chrome look rather than actually being chromed because of that potential to crack. I've always ran a chrome rear rim for braking because of that glass type flush hard surface works far better than any polished rim and is more durable and last longer as a flat surface than say a powder coated rim. The paint will always wear off back to metal that isn't as hard as chrome. One of my older chrome rims had copper or nickle or something under the chrome layer and I was told it had something to do with the electro-plating process when they dip it in the water and the chrome connects to the nickle. So all in all, things like rims, bars and forks that don't see a lot of bending stress or even visible clamping stress are ok for being chrome, mostly rims for that harder braking surface but things like stems, seat posts, bearing spacers, spokes and nipples are all better to be polished to look like chrome because they are prone to higher stress and that bending potential.
chrome plating uses electricity and dipping the metal/etc. in chrome electroplating solution.. and it's expensive because of the chemical/solution and its way heavier due to the layers of copper,nickel,chrome etc.. i work here in japan at a electroplating company...
Chipchrome is my favorite artist
Chrome has been changed before in bmx. Why some flatland dudes that run brakes still prefer old Araya rims.
There's various types of chrome that we still use but hard chrome plating which is good for brakes is worse for the environment and causes lots of health issues.
I always enjoy your breakdown .
I can confirm!! I ride brakes so I swear by chrome rims….. I have tried other polished rims and they just don’t brake as well
Had the same situation back in the 80s, spent a bit of money on a bunch of different brake pads, and it made no difference, so I stayed with Chrome rims.
It's not about being polished. It's more so other shit.
You'd essentially want specialty braking surface paints. Which are usually black.
Specialty extra hard anodizing. Which is usually blsck or red. Odyssey used to make some. Duralectra hazard lites and 7kas. Think some g sport rims also came in that finish.
Alienation has the vandal I believe Which comes with their paint based chrome replacement but it's black.
It essentially comes down to. If you want silver colored rims and run brakes nothing touches hard chrome.
If you don't mind black or very selective rim color choices you can go the other routes.
Not all chrome will work for brake performance either. Needs to be hard chrome. And we've already had a down grade. 80s chrome was better than modern chrome. Why some flatland riders who use brakes heavily still search out old original chrome Araya rims.
Despite much better rim technology existing.
Also why I used to search out Alex rims 7000 series feather lites over 7kas or hazard lites. Same weight. I'd argue alex rims are stronger but extremely similar design. 7kas and feather lites are both 7000 series alloy and came on chrome.
But Odyssey chrome is among the worst on the market for brake performance. Flakes easy. Damages easy. Isn't as think.
Soft chrome to hard chrome would be the same. And I believe the now banned chemicals for hard chrome from the 80e made hard chrome even harder and more evenly surfaced. More bans means good chrome will get harder and harder to get access to.
Gonna need clear based braking paints within a decade.
I have shadow truss rims that are polished and I have no problems braking with clear pads. Odyssey ghost pads work really well.. to well really
@@bmxriderforlife1234 great info brother
love this dude, could listen all day to his speaks about bmx.
Brother, your sense of humour brings tears of laughter to my round, round eyes 😅
Cheers from the home of helltrack, NW Calgary Alberta 🤙🏻
It is surprising how interesting these shop vids are. Liked!
I have been sending max and alf vids of my buddy's powder coated chrome. To chrome the strip it then dip in copper then dip in chrome I believe it's also called nickle but I may be wrong. The plus of powercoat chrome will never rust so you get Shine forever.. chrome is for steel and alluminum is polished.
Chrome bikes need to make a comeback
Bitd a friend has his beautiful brand new, 1987, dyno compe in that gorgeous radberry colour chromed. The bike was like 2 weeks old with full GT parts etc. It was the best bike. Into it was chromed. The chrome pitted badly either 1 trimoly frame or 2 badly prepped for chroming. It had holes all over the frame. Do NOT CHROME A DYNO!!! EVER!!!
Chrome kills 😢
Mad love yo !! 👑
...and it hurts me to see you this way.
How ?
The only questions about BMX rims are, why don't they come in breakless shapes and offset spoke holes for rear rims? Most people ride breakless these days
Eastern has two chrome stems available. Not highest polish prior, but actually chrome.
Chroming parts is hazardous to health. That’s why it’s more expensive than any other colour, but when I had my Alex super e rims back in the day I did a grind and scratched the side of the rim water got underneath the chrome and made it blister and bubble, and then it all flaked off now I stick to black rims 👍🚲💨
Chromed rims brakes a lot better than anything else. Also chrome works as anodic protection.
Chrome plating can introduce hydrogen embrittlement- this can weaken the part if not correctly addressed.
WELL DONE !
What about oil slick?
they pvd a titanium coating and then change the Ti coloration (controlled) by altering (an electrical) current's voltage and distance on the finish applied.
Shiny rims are the worst doesn't matter if it is chrome or polished. Especially if you run brakes and they get wet... suddenly you don't run breaks 😂
A polished rim will have better braking characteristics compared to chrome.. that is for the very reason you gave, the chrome is smooth.
Look at a discipline that really know about brakes, trials riding. The guys that really know what they're doing take an angle grinder to the brake surface to make it rough to bite into the pad of the brake.. so a super smooth brake surface is not as effective as a slightly rougher one of a polished rim
in my experience chrome rims do not grip as well with brakes compared to bare aluminum
We need chrome for those bicycle shows, that's why
Great video! Alf you should get a chrome tooth😂😂
I still miss chrome frames!!!!!
Real Chrome is the best stopping force for brake pads. the Toughest wheels i ever rode were a pair of chrome seamless steel 1975 kawasaki bx wheels with thick teflon spokes until the front hub cracked so i stuck metal tape around it to keep it from leaking grease everywhere.i have since retired them may they r.i.p.
Phu is crazy lol
Me listening and shopping.
"You will ride eternal, shiny and chrome!"
Phu does touching chrome cause cancer?
This music makes me want to go have a drink...
Interesting
Chrome takes ‘em home
If it ain’t chrome it ain’t BMX.
🌵
😂😂😂
The saying is chrome won't get you home
Polished will never look as good as chrome!!! Also you can spray heavy degreser on chrome. Will just eat your wax and aluminum polish. Man i miss the 80s. Cant find quality anymore!!!!
Am I the only one that don't like the look of chrome bmx bikes.
first
Everyone knows chrome bikes are faster.
Never been a fan of chrome… too shiny, heavy, and weak for my liking.
I've seen some parts especially now days,painted chrome,heard that the Stranger Things Mongoose frame is a painted chrome
Respect ✊
Whether it’s directly dangerous to you, the chroming process is a very dirty and harmfully polluting one.
Chrome is for kids and yes isnt good for anyone or anyplace