Anyone know of a good place in Melbourne (prefer Essendon/Pascoe Vale area) that do chrome plating. I’ve got a few bits that need doing. Last quote given to me was around $200 for bars/stem/cranks.
cheers
A good place in Melbourne is Prahan Platers, but it’s on the other side of town unfortunately. Worth the trip though, from everything I hear and see (haven’t yet used them myself, but I’m planning on taking my forks there soon).
There is a place near fun city in Sunshine that does it. Can’t recall the name, but I can find out later tonight about any other places and specific addresses.
sweet thanks.
What about price wise, does $200 sound about right? I’ve never had to have anything chromed before so I have NFI on budget.
Last year Prahan Platers were charging $80 to do some forks – so bars, stem cranks at $200 might be on the higher side but not unreasonable.
BTW – if the parts are aluminium, have you thought about simply polishing them? Will save you some cash and get a fine result (search polishing in the forum, there is loads of good info). I expect the cranks and stem are aluminium – but are the bars steel? If steel then chrome.
I’m not sure at all on prices, but I’ll get you some numbers to call and enquire. I rather the polished aluminium look if poss.
heard a bunch of good stuff about Prahran Platers aka Pro Platers. and now they come recommended by fyxomatosis
but yeah, other side of town
Off Sydney Rd in Brunswick so not that far away.
Around 70 or 80 for a fork from memory. Mate just had some stem + bars + something else done for around $160 I think.
Carroll Electroplating Pty Ltd … Off Sydney Rd in Brunswick so not that far away.
Yup - have heard good things about these guys. Some car/scooter restorers I know use them and say they can be expensive but they produce a quality product.
Thats where I got my initial quote from but they told me around $200 for stem, bars, cranks and chain ring.
don’t chrome, it kills braincells
hey defix,
just wondering how it all turned out for you. where you went, how much ect…
i’m looking to get some forks done, but there’s nothing really close to me (williamstown) that i can find, so prahan doesn’t seem too bad
i remember hearing about a place near the bay who did forks for $30 bucks or $40 or something
Oi there’s a place out near Latrobe in Bundoora that does a frame and fork for $190… just frame is 150 and just fork is obvs 40. A friend of mine just went and dropped off a frame. They seemed to have experience with bikes… I had a look at a BMX frame hot out of the tubs. Looked good. Not sure what the address is but I don’t think there’s heaps of chroming places in LaTrobe. It was near the Madman building.
sterling plating on waterdale?
my friend who goes to la trobe mentioned somewhere near the uni too, probably the same place. i’ll have a ring around
thanks for the tips 
anyone have experience with a chromer in melb who can do pretty detailed work? need to get cinelli milano bar/stem chromed, but hoping to retain original decals.
Got some forks done at Carrol.
Not happy with the job for $80 I spent.
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I just got my forks back. It took about two weeks at Sterling Plating, though I’m lazy so they’ve been siting there a week or two. $40. The chrome’s about 0.5mm thick, so you might loose some detail in that, but for $40, thats alot of chrome
what was the problem with them? im looking at getting a couple of frames and forks done and carrol is the closest to me! although they’re moving to bloody airport west in october.
one dude i spoke to at regal plating told me that chroming a bike frame is hard as they cant get into the corners, also polishing is a bit fiddly. find that a bit strange tbh. was only going to charge $150 for frame and fork tho.
It’s more abut making sure they don’t polish the area with the logos. Platers sometimes can’t understand why someone would leave a bit of pitting etc that can easily get polished out but it’s better to leave that and keep the logos imo.
I got some Cinelli 14 bars in pretty bad condition nickel-plated at Regal recently and they turned out ok, but a few other things I got done at the same time turned out kinda shit, so… Also, if you’re worried about losing detail, consider just having them nickel-plated. They do it as an undercoat for chrome anyway, it’s thinner and has a very slight champagne colour to it. I reckon it’s a great look though obviously not original to those bars/stem.
I’m trying out Harkrome in Braybrook right now, based on a recommendation. Dude seemed a bit gruff and price wasn’t too cheap - 2 chainrings, 3 seat pins, and 22 pieces nickel-plated (brake lever bits, caliper arms, seatpost sandwiches, bolts etc) for $250. But I’m okay with it not being the cheapest so long as it ends up looking good. Will post next week to report on quality.