Nickel plating VS. Polishing

Everytime I speak to a nickel plater, I am told that polishing is terrible because it has to be kept clean all the time. Every time I speak to a Polisher, I am told that Nickel plating is the worste because it gets chipped really easily by everyday riding because of stray stones the jump up off the road.

I am a little dubious about both excuses. Can anyone set me straight? I got a really good quote of $420 to fully nickel plate both wheels, or I can pay $300 to fully polish both wheels. So the price difference is pretty negligable.

Personally id go the polish.
Simpling because cleaning rims is alot less annoying tha getting a chip.

and if your like alot of us, cleaning your bike becomes a much loved ritual and not a chore at all.

Everytime I speak to a nickel plater, I am told that polishing is terrible because it has to be kept clean all the time. Every time I speak to a Polisher, I am told that Nickel plating is the worste because it gets chipped really easily by everyday riding because of stray stones the jump up off the road.
.

mate
amongst other things, I used to spend part of my illgained youth working for a plating
and polishing mob in SE Melb (it kept me off the streets, outta the pubs ... )
and
it is my opinion-
anything polished, especially alloy has to be kept clean or it will grunge up
Nickel plating can be damaged by road debris
(coz all it is, is Nickel a softish metal on a copper base , also soft! )
but even Chrome plate the usual top layer in plating can also be scratched
(don't use steel wool on Chrome plate! )

so on a bike?
whaddaIreckon?
Chrome plate is the best (if you wanna do plating)
or then its 50/50...
if you don't wanna spend a lot of time polishing..nickel plate will be ok
but
if you are happy to keep the bike shiny, I would polish

hth

cheers

Last edited by Smitty on Fri Feb 25, 2005 4:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I'd like a set of polished rims..

I think if i get a spare set i'd polish them and use them as my daily ride..
With a front and rear stand a light polish each time I wash should keep them looking ok. *shrugs*

Polished does stand out alot more than polishing, IMO.. Sometimes alittle bit to much IMO.. If the bike is in ave to good condition with not much else done, chromed will prob look abit poxy as the wheels will look brand spanking new, and stand out, so if the bike doesn't fit in with the new look i recon it can be bit wanky.. Polished is abit understated as well..

Polished gets my vote, nothing worse than scratches on something you can't polish them out off.


Dan

I've heard of a mob in Melbourne (mind's gone blank, sorry) that can put a kind of transparent protective coat over the metal so you only need to polish it once.

Last edited by NovaCoder on Fri Feb 25, 2005 3:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.

my vote goes to polished.....

had it before and it's not any worse then having to wipe up the chain-lube spray! and like all have said, beats getting a chip in a coated rim!!!

Plated looks the Ducks Nuts imho & the price quoted ia about 1/3rd what i've heard it cost guys here in Brissie. Both "tiggr" n Janelles' new scoot have polished outter rims a Thats all i we could afford n they look good. The key to keeping them clean is not to let water dry on them as the brake dust corrodes n pits them.
Cheers Brett

what about chroming them? theres two types of chrome, soft chrome (decorative stuff like your dinner sets, blah blah blah) and hard chrome (like on forks).

Sure the chrome can chip, etc.. but it'll take a lot more effort to get a dint on chrome than nickel (and yes im pretty sure that the costs of dipping & chroming would be far more than $400, maybe $600 i'd stab at wildly.

yeah im curious too. wat would chroming cost?

Something I'd consider is how much weight plating adds to the wheels; even at a few hundred microns' thickness, a coating made up primarily of chromium, which is a dense heavy material, could add something like 300-400g to the weight of each wheel... equal to what the engineers take a couple of model iterations' worth of thinking to figure out how to shave off.

Polishing, on the other hand, saves 100g or so of paint.

However, since all wheels everywhere should be black, because that imparts an impression of the bike being weighed down, drawn to the road, at each end and thus makes it seem capable of insane lean and corner speeds, this discussion is academic.

However, since all wheels everywhere should be black, because that imparts an impression of the bike being weighed down, drawn to the road, at each end and thus makes it seem capable of insane lean and corner speeds, this discussion is academic.

I agree, I love having black wheels

Something I'd consider is how much weight plating adds to the wheels; even at a few hundred microns' thickness, a coating made up primarily of chromium, which is a dense heavy material, could add something like 300-400g to the weight of each wheel... equal to what the engineers take a couple of model iterations' worth of thinking to figure out how to shave off.

But then again how much lighter are worn tyres than brand newies? Or how about the weight that the rotors lose after they have a few k's on them? And then there are the disk pads thickness, the amount of chain lube you use or even how bigger shit you had in the morning.

Seriously though, an decent can will more than of set the extra weight, if any, of plating. A decent shock oil and a simple set up will more than off set the the change in both unsprung and spinning mass.

A mate of mine has his daytona plated. His frame ,wheels ,levers everthing. The only thing that has been redone is the fork legs they have chips or it looks like its peeling.
Dont know if its stones, road grime but everything else is tiptop.
So if you only want the wheels done they will not chip. He had the wheels polished only on this earier bike and was sick of always polising them when they got dirty and so went the full hog on his daytona spent more than $5000 and plating. The whole bike was stripped and plated , motor forks, swing arm etc removed, his happy.
Electra mould I think done it in melbourne


mario
ps- they also anodised lots of parts in red

.. or even how bigger shit you had in the morning.

roflmao
Matt has such a way with words......