NEW PROFILES, ALL THAT GLITTERS IS NOT SHOW CHROME

[DIRTBIKER250F]

Dont know if anyones checked this thread out, but how many have ordered ?? i know my fingers been on the button twice now before being withdrawn

http://www.bmxmuseum.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=93398&action=new

[baldbmxer]

I said as much to someone the other day. Profile cranks and chrome in recent years hasnt been great at all. No where near as good as the old cranks from BITD.

I know the rules for chrome have changed, much like auto paint but when your selling to a collectors market who have a eye for detail sending out a second rate finish isnt go un-noticed

[sweetbeats]

Think there will be some unhappy customers they look pretty poor....same as the skyway TA repops with bad welds tut tut  

[DIRTBIKER250F]

New school sucks 

[sweetbeats]

It is shoddy though...to cash in and bastradize something as iconic as the box cranks and TA's.

[DIRTBIKER250F]

Cant wait for the Hutch Jobbies, i think ill stick with original. Reassuringly expensive 

[sweetbeats]

Haha I think ill get a full hutch 24k gold trickstar just to fook about on  

[kuwahero]

I think Kenny Hunter has some coming so we'll see what his look like.

Saying that he'll probably take a lump hammer to them, to put them on, anyway.

[sweetbeats]

I think Kenny Hunter has some coming so we'll see what his look like.

Saying that he'll probably take a lump hammer to them, to put them on, anyway.

That might improve the chrome finish

[Mattdub]

As JJ says Profile's chrome per se is bad , I saw a set of these in a pic about a week ago but only one side & looked good ( thought they'd used a better/different chromer than usual or prepped better ) .

It seems now not to have been the case looking at those across the pond , they look crap .

[baldbmxer]

I think Kenny Hunter has some coming so we'll see what his look like.

Saying that he'll probably take a lump hammer to them, to put them on, anyway.

Kenny will fit them with a Glasgow Kiss!  

[Mattdub]

As JJ says Profile's chrome per se is bad , I saw a set of these in a pic about a week ago but only one side & looked good ( thought they'd used a better/different chromer than usual or prepped better ) .

It seems now not to have been the case looking at those across the pond , they look crap .

Or , I guess they'll look cool if you squint a bit 

[DIRTBIKER250F]

Or , I guess they'll look cool if you squint a bit 

 

[mark 2]

I had 2 pairs ordered direct from Profile, with a $100 deposit left in June. They changed the goal posts too many times since the original offer - $270, free post, t shirt and ready in late July / early August. Just got the invoice last week for the difference saying they were ready. Invoice was for  $500 + $65 post.   

I had to weigh it up , they were 3 months late, I wanted them for mk.
They'd changed the price, another $60.
Exchange rate had changed drastically in those 3 months.
T shirt was now a redeemable voucher, so that'd be more postage $ again.
The free post was now $65.

Also if I got stung at customs at the correct percentage the cranks would have totalled to about £275 a pair. Way too much money.... I emailed them complaining giving them those reasons and asked for my deposit back and got it. They do look a good crank on some of the better examples pictured on bmxmuseum  but if I'd got a bum chrome job and had to shell out another £50 for a rechrome I'd be having a right good swear, f's and c's, all the colours of the rainbow. Moral of the story is beware, what seemed like a good deal may become something pricey and disapointing. Initially at £135 a pair, yes please, £300, ouch, I've been had.   

[Dingobmxer]

the chrome on these was £20



so that blows the "too expensive" theory out of the water

  DINGO

[QUADROPHENIA]

profile have really done themselves proud here  but dont worry good old ed from coloured tuffs with his rapid response to pm's and emails will be along soon to save the day 

[WARDY]

as i posted in other gen 2 thread, need stripping and re chroming in the UK, thats the best finished there gonna get in the states, certainly aint show chrome

[Rombloke]

i gotta say that i havent read all the posts on this thread, so this may have already been said....

chroming is all about the prep, ive polished raw chro-mo to a near mirror finish before chroming.
the plating only magnifies any undulations or nicks in the base metal...surely if we can get good chroming done cheap, so can profile

profile have fu'cked up a bit here i feel, you can see cut, weld and grinder marks on those cranks on the other thread.....fooking shocking, if it were me i would be sending em back.

Dave

[magna13]

It's a shame really, as people have said on BMXMuseum.com, $300 for a shitty chrome job, i'd definetly want my money back or a new set...

[Jt]

am hoping mine are in the second batch that havent landed yet..

if the are shit, for what i've paid, i think a quick rechrome of the arms might be in order..

[diesel]

chroming is all about the prep, ive polished raw chro-mo to a near mirror finish before chroming.
the plating only magnifies any undulations or nicks in the base metal...surely if we can get good chroming done cheap, so can profile

Its All in the prep work

I have to agree with Dave, If you've ground down the welds / smoothed them and you see blemishes, surely you get the welder out again and pop a bit more weld on then grind it back.

Walla job done - onto the polisher

I see from those photos there appears to be scratch marks - That in my opinion is 'piss poor' workmanship !!

I suggested in the other threat about how disappointed I was earlier this year with a set of profiles and how the chrome peeled off - Its a shame to see they've not done something about it.

Welcome to the 5th Generation profiles - Just like the 1st but without any care and attention
enough said

[Broggie]

where all the glitter went...





Ray.

[kennyhunter6061]

I'm still waiting for my set.  I can't even remember when I ordered them.  Was it April?  I'd hoped to have them for MK08.  Maybe I'll have them in time for MK09    I've had a look at the other forum and they look fine in some of the pics.  I'm buying them to fit on my Ruff Replica to ride so there's not a lot of point in me getting them rechromed, they're just gonna get scuffed and scratched anyway.  The rest of my bike isn't a show pony, so I don't particularly want a 'brand new' looking crankset anyway.   I just wish they'd hurry up, I need them so I can get back on the 'Goose 

[ColoredTuffs.com]

Well, I am surprised that anybody would talk bad about our T/A welding.  the beads do look great, and all of the frames were welded by an awesome welder- MCS's original owner, and the man who's welded thousands of MCS's, Profile's, Hutch's, CW, Revcore''s, etc, etc- Greg Esser.  He's also in both ABA and NBL Hall Of Fames.  Of the frames that he's done for us we did have an issue with a downtube that was jigged wrong, but his job at welding was great.  Besides- all of our frames were powdered, so I'm wondering how you would judge a bead of weld correctly with powder over it....

as far as profile cranks- I do not work for profile, I'm just a dealer for them.  profile did take a LONG time to get these done, and ended up raising the price by $30 US.  A price increase that I did not pass on to my customers that bought a set.

Overall, the chrome does look pretty good.  i've opened a few sets here, and I've been pleased with what I've seen.  These's a few hundred sets out there right now, and the very few complaints is small compared to the number of those who have liked their cranks.

 I did get an email from Profile that they've asked me to post on the message boards-----  Here it is---------


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An open letter to Profile Anniversary Retro Crankset customers and potential customers:

 

Profile Racing’s intention in recreating our first crankarms was 1) to celebrate Profile’s 40th Anniversary and 2) to commemorate our American bicycle history by remaking our first crankarms as a special limited edition package. In the manufacturing of these cranks, we stayed as closely as possible to the methods and techniques used in making the originals. They were fabricated from sheets of steel, bent into a rectangular “U” box that formed the front and sides, and then the back plate was welded by hand on the original jigs. The welds were ground smooth by hand and then polished (again by hand). Clearly, there are a lot of steps in the process where variations can occur. The original cranks had these same variations.

 

After polishing, the next step is plating. The arms are sent to a local plater to have the chrome applied. We were all very excited when the first batch returned to our factory and felt the chrome plater did an excellent job, considering the limitations inherent in the modern chrome plating process.

 

Originally, chrome plating was done with a hexavalent process that produced great looking chrome. However, it was later found to be toxic to the workers who did the plating and it also introduced deadly chemicals into the environment. The EPA and OSHA have made the process nearly extinct in the US. A few very specialty platers still offer hexavalent plating but it's very expensive.




A new chrome-plating procedure called trivalent plating was invented to reduce these dangers. Trivalent is not as tough as hexavalent, however it is less susceptible to discoloration from heat. The biggest problem is that it usually has a darker and slightly brownish tint compared to the lighter, bluish tint of hexavalent. Trivalent Chrome shows imperfections and “specks” more than Hexavalent. If you go over the new chrome with a microscope, you will find flaws.


While it’s certainly possible for the end user to get their cranks stripped and then re-chromed, please be aware that there’s no guarantee that the new finish will be any better, other than a guarantee that it will be quite expensive to do so.

 

Profile Anniversary Retro Cranksets are at least three-times as labor intensive as our modern cranks because of the multiple manual procedures. These are not stamped out, cookie cutter, Taiwanese cranks, and they aren't forged from the same mould.

 

When we look at the Profile Anniversary Retro Cranksets, we see not only how far we’ve come as a company, but also it gives us a platform to the future. They inspire us to continue innovating and producing American made bike parts. We thank you all for your support over the years, and invite you all along for the next 40 years.

 

Profile Racing, Inc.

[ColoredTuffs.com]

profile have really done themselves proud here   but dont worry good old ed from coloured tuffs with his rapid response to pm's and emails will be along soon to save the day

Not sure what that means....  I don't work for Profile.  Just a dealer.
 In any case- cranks have been arriving daily to my shop, and I've been shipping these things out non-stop since last week.  All orders that were ordered through Coloredtuffs.com should be out by the end of the week.
-Ed