Chrome bicycle fork restoration - what really works (and its NOT tin foil...)

[@dinodaniel2237]

Hey Dan , once again. another great video. Looking forward to your next video. All the best!

[@vintagevelos9517]

Final part of the Zeus build coming soon - looks pretty cool, Dan

[@bullswoodskirmish1646]

Interesting stuff. Thanks for the lesson. I do like shiney forks :-) Warmer in your warehouse than on the bike 😅

[@noeldoran8884]

Great job Dan I done a set 6 years ago your correct about the lacquer I made the mistake first time...

[@vintagevelos9517]

Yep, polished steel with no protection is not good over time... Dan

[@berenicebaker7191]

How much does it cost to re-chrome, and where do you get it done? The forks looked fine after all that work, but how do you find the time? It was interesting, surprisingly(!), but at this cold and lazy time of year I think the sight of someone cheerfully working is a treat. Thank you Dan.

[@vintagevelos9517]

Price wise fork re-chroming is around £150 mark so not cheap, Dan

[@Taliesin-cymru]

Great video, they came up a treat, take out the wire wheel and it’s the same process that can be used to bring aluminium up to a beautiful lustre as I’m sure you would know but I’ve never tried this method with chrome so cheers for the demonstration. I do tend to be a proponent of just getting any bad chrome I have bead blasted and sending it off to my local electroplating guys and I’ll probably stick with that process I reckon, not too much more expense than purchasing the 2k clear and no labour on my part. It’s about $100 process where I live, which I have been told is cheap compared to what some of my friends pay in other places, more like $250 so I think I might be getting mates rates as I’ve used the same guys for 30 years now.

[@vintagevelos9517]

Yep, $100 dollars would be a very good price - last set I had done was £125 plus VAT plus shipping - came in at just under £200, Dan

[@edmundhodgson2572]

Good work, they look great. I was hoping you were going to mention a ball park figure for re-chroming.

[@vintagevelos9517]

I should have done - cost is somewhere around £150 - £200 (thats for stripping the old plate, polishing and triple plate chroming) all in, unless you track down a local plater and get lucky, Dan

[@mark950-d7d]

clear coating chrome is what the Italians called smoked chrome. They would use a clear coat that was tinted and would give the bike a translucent look. Sure over time it could peal a little

[@vintagevelos9517]

Smoked chrome - now there`s a term I havn`t heard before - guessing similiar to chromovolato? Dan

[@ericsteinhoff4838]

Cool video on a topic that you don´t come across verry ofthen. I would recommend not to wear these gloves when you work on spinning tools or machines. If they get caught they basically pull you right in. If you necessarily need to wear gloves use the thin rubber ones as they are more likely to rip before your hand or arm gets totally destroyed. There are some really scary videos of people basically getting choped into pieces by lathes, drill presses, milling machines etc.. Stay safe.

[@vintagevelos9517]

Your correct - I usually polish with bare hands for that reason, just jumped straight from the paper to the polisher without thinking, Dan

[@blackbearbowie8162]

Hi Dan,this will come in handy as iv just picked a chrome frame someone left out in the garden for years, im ganna use the forks for my Flandria build so very happy i can fix them 👍👍

[@vintagevelos9517]

Bikes left in gardens for years :( happens a lot, Dan

[@jamesdelgado2009]

Great video! All your videos are very helpful and informative, and entertaining as well for us collectors of vintage bikes, so thanks! I have a few bikes with chrome forks and luckily, they are not degraded but should I come across one that is, I now have an idea of how to take care of it, or at least one option before sending it out to my local chromeplater.

[@vintagevelos9517]

Always worth having an option, Dan

[@dominikteyke5356]

Excellent video, thanks for sharing. Just what I needed to restore my Gipiemme chrome fork.

[@vintagevelos9517]

Good luck - worse case is you just get them re-chromed, Dan

[@_stoatchaser]

Forking good stuff. Sorry couldn't resist. About to do this to the forks of my Peugeot Ventoux. Thanks for the tip about the clear coat. Fingers crossed for a decent outcome

[@vintagevelos9517]

Blimey, how did I not use that pun in the vid... Dan

[@VaughanPrice-z5g]

Hi Dan, you got a more than an acceptable finish on those forks especially when a bike simply isn’t worth what re-chroming costs but still needs to look as nice as possible (my 1951 Rudge Aero Clubman fork and rear triangle ends for instance!) what grades of paper were you using in this video please? Thanks for a great tutorial. Regards Vaughan

[@vintagevelos9517]

Pretty sure the paper was 220 - I started with 1000 ish and gave up pretty quickly with that as it wouldn`t touch the chrome, Dan

[@trevekneebone369]

I paid a couple of hundred quid to get my Colnago Master forks rechromed 18 months ago. Had them done via a well known UK frame builder / refurbisher. Sadly, within 12 months the new chrome was showing multiple signs of flaking and rust. I have returned them to be either rechromed or painted to match the frame. Still waiting to get them back. All rechroming services are not equal. Very disappointing.

[@venusfooltrap7371]

I've got a Master that needs refinishing. Which well known refurbisher should I steer clear of, or if you don't want to name names, which city should I not send it to? 😉

[@trevekneebone369]

@@venusfooltrap7371 To be honest, I'm really happy with the job that was done on the frame itself. Only had a problem with the chrome forks, which were handled by a 3rd party. I'd rather give them the chance to make it right before naming and shaming 😉

[@venusfooltrap7371]

I think I'd do the same in your situation. Very fair.

[@vintagevelos9517]

To be honest chrome re-plate failing is quite common - I`ve seen in flake off within a month before, good luck with the forks, Dan