On ebay now, does such an animal exhist? I have a black chrome Gt from 83 but was a cruiser ever made? This in fact would be very rare! Is it real? http://cgi.ebay.com/GT-26-CRUISER-OLD-SCHO...1QQcmdZViewItem

What do you guys think?

To me it looks like paint, not black chrome.

Oliver

looks like paint to me too. I didn't know GT covered chrome with paint in the first place. Are you talking about the chrome decals over paint?

great looking bike. i like it just how it is.

It is not black chrome. I have a black 26" GT that looks just like it (well... better condition). And it is painted not black chromed. GT made the 26" cruiser in chrome, black and blue powder coat (or I guess it could be paint). But they never made one in black chrome.

I wish it wasn't so close to Christmas or I would have that thing on the way to my house. Hopefully the new owner will give it a good home.

not black chrome..i have a 20 inch black chrome..that is sweet though...wish it could go to my house...

He's gonna cut it up and make it a mini.....

If it is a BC GT it has the wrong decals on there. I'd need allot better picture before I bid on that. Its old and dirty and what makes me think it might be a BC finish, notice there isn't a scratch on it. The decal on head tube is smudged onto the black finish. Its possible it is. My friend had one and they don't chip from what I've seen... Interesting, but where the G'damn clear decals?

my decals are black not clear.the finish does not really chip but it does rub so to say my top tube pad has rubbed it almost chrome

and what about red?




please tell me your kidding !!!

So, anybody here win it??? Those 26's are so f'in cool...

Post what you have.

These are the clear down tube decals. In my experience, in the past these are the decals BC frames came with and I'm sure yuou already know this...

it looks like it has an eccentric bottom bracket

Both Black Chrome frames I have use decals with black background over white base decal.

My BC Pro that I have had since '83 has black backed decals including the headtube. I also have a '83 original BC finish expert that has the same decals.

That 26" cruiser is black paint IMO. It has the correct chrome backed decals for a painted frame and you can see chips in the paint. Blackchrome doesn't chip, the black color will sort of rub off under pads and wear areas but it doesn't chip.

Here's my '83 Pro

i will post mine when i get home tonite.original decals paint and build..true survivor.black backed decals not clear..wish i would have taken better care of it,not in bad shape just well used and the spokes on the wheels have oxidised over the years.it even still has the bike shop decal on the seattube. this is usally the choice rider when im not riding my cruiser.

So the decals are actually black and not clear backround? Had no idea. My friend had one as a kid and haven't seen one since...

What do you make of this? clear back gorund for what color? I suppose these might have been made by someone too. The real BC decals had the white outline too correct? I'm a GT nut and still learning so forgive the questions.

the decals posted directly above ^^^ were used on painted framesets (not complete bikes) for a few years after GT moved to H.B. - approx 1984-86ish.

chrome frames used the same graphic, but printed on a foil backing.

GT 26's never came in black chrome. By the time black chrome came out, they eren't making the 26's. The finishes available for the 26's were chrome, and red, blue or black epoxy.

The black chrome frames came with black backed frame and fork decals, and black on white Santa Ana rounds, for the head tube, seat tube, and seat post (seat posts were also available in black chrome, as were the handlebars)

Black chrome was only available for late 82 and through 83. Black chrome GT's are very rare.

I am glad so many people have taken interest in this. I had an original 83 black chrome frame and fork I ordered from Rudy's Schwinn Cyclery in 84. I had it for 2 years and then sold it. I have pics that I looked at that showed the black stickers with red and white outline. I now have found another black chrome frame and have built it up. Does anyone have a black chrome fork? I have the frame only. Keep me posted boys.
Thanks
John

I learned something here. cool! I'll agree that they were only available in 82-83.

There were two seperate black chrome processes used on the GT's. They were both TRUE black chrome plating. A very deep, dark, lustrous black. Like a brand new highly polished shotgun barrel. The finsih also required much mantenance to keep it looking good. I'm not sure if GT sent special care instructions or not , but gun finish oil/polish seems to work the best.

The first ones were black chrome over a highly polished nickle or chrome plate (not sure which). These did chip and also had the rub through issues. But worse, these suffered from embrittlement caused by the plating process. These frame, forks bars and seat posts cracked easily and were re-called. I talked with a distributor here in the midwest that was alotted 15 frame, fork, bar, and seat post sets (all parts black chrome) for being one of the top dealers in the country. He re-acquired all he sold and sent them back. I have a frame un-cracked, but in need of resto.

The second ones were black chrome over raw polished tubing. These did not chip, but still had the rub through issue. since there was no plating under the black chrome, a thick scaly rust would develop quickly in the rubbed through areas. The finish required alot of maintenance to keep them looking rust free and lustrous. After plating these went through a "normalizing" process to relieve the embrittlement problems. I have a complete 1 owner survivor bike in absolutely stunningly mint cond.

The rub through problem was not too significant in either case, it took a pretty good amount (brake cable, pads) of contact to rub through.

The decals on all the black chrome parts I have are all: white base decal material with the black, red and yellow ink over the white. With the exception of the NORA CUP decal, which is the basic chrome one.

I'm not sure but I think the black chrome frames may be serial # batched, I would like to start a registry to see if this is true.

P.S. I am pretty sure the rumored run of black chrome GHP's sufferd from the same problems as the first GT's.

^^ learn something new everyday here. Thanks for the info.

no kidding. And I thought I knew everything too..

i brought it. and yes its coming to live with more GT's. nope its not gonna be cut up. when i get it done i will get some photos up, but, your not gonna be happy cos its coming to the uk to live. I do love a GT.

Welcome GTNORACUP. You got a nice piece there. Let's see some pics of its' flat mates.

back from the painters



and a 84 24" just done