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I had a flakey chrome front Superlace that was in poor condition so much so that when I removed the centre decal the chrome peeled off with it. The OG chrome is super thin, and from what my chromer said it looked to be over nickel. The bearing cups where also cracked in the Superlace so I used an orphan front race lace I had as a donor for replacement cups.

Started out like this:


After rechroming, you can see start away the chrome is thicker than the OG chrome:


Axle reinstalled:


Anyway, all looked promising until I laced the wheel. The chromer warned me that it may be hard to lace the wheel without the chrome flaking since the aluminium is softer than chrome plating.

End result... Massive FAIL!!! The chrome split big time so I bought a NOS set of hubs instead, the rechromed one will be powdered white to match another rear I have.

Unless you can get a thin layer over the hub and a chromer to guarantee the work I'd not do it again. Either have the chrome removed and polish it up, or have it powdered instead.

tfi_friday wrote:

I had a flakey chrome front Superlace that was in poor condition so much so that when I removed the centre decal the chrome peeled off with it. The OG chrome is super thin, and from what my chromer said it looked to be over nickel. The bearing cups where also cracked in the Superlace so I used an orphan front race lace I had as a donor for replacement cups.

Started out like this:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IzIaE9ZbpC8/T … /photo.JPG

After rechroming, you can see start away the chrome is thicker than the OG chrome:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SDM56Ru5sLU/T … 799646.JPG

Axle reinstalled:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ven81MQfL4Q/T … G_9635.jpg

Anyway, all looked promising until I laced the wheel. The chromer warned me that it may be hard to lace the wheel without the chrome flaking since the aluminium is softer than chrome plating.

End result... Massive FAIL!!! The chrome split big time so I bought a NOS set of hubs instead, the rechromed one will be powdered white to match another rear I have.

Unless you can get a thin layer over the hub and a chromer to guarantee the work I'd not do it again. Either have the chrome removed and polish it up, or have it powdered instead.

This was my concern. I had no idea your hubs had gone south... thought they looked perfect, a little thick but perfect.

Thanks for the heads up and the horror story.

psychoduddycycles wrote:

Alloy (Aluminum) needs to be zincated first. Then Copper-nickle-chrome. If you send it to someone that doesn't know that then you're asking for trouble.

Of course the first step in all this is stripping and polishing and you're going to lose at LEAST a little definition. At that point, I usually lose interest and just wax em' and let it ride.

I believe the chromer I talked to DID mention they would need to be "zincated" first. I just couldn't remember exactly what he said so this was what I referred to as a "chemical process".

You make another obvious yet extremely valuable point! My chromer did say he would have to strip and polish them before they're zincated and dipped in the chromium.

So, no matter what, THEY HAVE TO BE STRIPPED AND POLISHED!

h20-50 wrote:

LooseNut wrote:

tfi_friday wrote:

I had a flakey chrome front Superlace that was in poor condition so much so that when I removed the centre decal the chrome peeled off with it. The OG chrome is super thin, and from what my chromer said it looked to be over nickel. The bearing cups where also cracked in the Superlace so I used an orphan front race lace I had as a donor for replacement cups.

Started out like this:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IzIaE9ZbpC8/T … /photo.JPG

After rechroming, you can see start away the chrome is thicker than the OG chrome:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SDM56Ru5sLU/T … 799646.JPG

Axle reinstalled:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ven81MQfL4Q/T … G_9635.jpg

Anyway, all looked promising until I laced the wheel. The chromer warned me that it may be hard to lace the wheel without the chrome flaking since the aluminium is softer than chrome plating.

End result... Massive FAIL!!! The chrome split big time so I bought a NOS set of hubs instead, the rechromed one will be powdered white to match another rear I have.

Unless you can get a thin layer over the hub and a chromer to guarantee the work I'd not do it again. Either have the chrome removed and polish it up, or have it powdered instead.

This was my concern. I had no idea your hubs had gone south... thought they looked perfect, a little thick but perfect.

Thanks for the heads up and the horror story.

psychoduddycycles wrote:

Alloy (Aluminum) needs to be zincated first. Then Copper-nickle-chrome. If you send it to someone that doesn't know that then you're asking for trouble.

Of course the first step in all this is stripping and polishing and you're going to lose at LEAST a little definition. At that point, I usually lose interest and just wax em' and let it ride.

I believe the chromer I talked to DID mention they would need to be "zincated" first. I just couldn't remember exactly what he said so this was what I referred to as a "chemical process".

You make another obvious yet extremely valuable point! My chromer did say he would have to strip and polish them before they're zincated and dipped in the chromium.

So, no matter what, THEY HAVE TO BE STRIPPED AND POLISHED!

Dont worry about stripping them and polishing, they will look great!  The degree of shine is only dependant on how smooth you can get the surface before you polish them.  Not sure what they would look like stripped, might need to sand with 1000-->1500--->2000 and then lighly with 0000 steel wool.  This will bring the surface pretty close smooth, and with a good clean buffing wheel and compound this things will shine like a mirror!  They wont "look" like chrome but no one will ever know unless they get up close and personal.  Like others have said, you will have to re-polish every so often as the aluminum is exposed to the air and not protected by chrome, but IMO its worth it, and you save a couple of bucks as well.  There is no way if its polished right that you will regret it, they will look awesome! 

On the plus side since you are removing the chrome layer, the details in the hub will "pop" a little bit more

My hubs in question are the white ones above with the rusty spokes. The paint has oxidized and is chalky. I could probably wipe half of it off with a wet rag

Oh, BTW, I'm going to photograph my black set this weekend or early next week. I'll shoot you pics as soon as I get a chance to take them.... been very busy with work.

Last edited by LooseNut (2012-05-04 9:23am)

I had these hubs and rims (which are aluminum) rechromed and they turned out awesome!  The local plating company I used mentioned that when plating aluminum, it is more of a 2 step process as opposed to the generic "triple chroming" phrase sometimes used.  Not sure which step is left out, but one of them is not required when chroming aluminum.   I was worried when lacing these wheels that I would scratch the the finish if touched by the threaded end of the spoke, especially as the spokes were getting crowded.  I did hit it once by accident and was sure I scratched it, but actually no mark was left at all.  Polishing is great, but get um chromed, well worth it.  The only aluminum part to be concerned with when chroming would be a chainring (if a rider) as the chain would eventually rub away at the plating causing flaking.  I did mine, but as a show bike only, not a rider, shameful as it is. 

Like someone mentioned here before, use a well experienced company, I used a local outfit who's been in the business for 60+ years or more.  Lacing 48's is harder than 36's, I've never even laced a set before and the chrome was tough as nails, even after tugging and pulling over and over again when lacing, the hubs and rims were as perfect as when I picked them up when done.  Good luck!

Last edited by Planograman (2012-05-04 9:49am)