Why do the many wheel mfr's use polished stainless spokes instead of Chrome?..The whole wheel and hub is chrome, but the spokes are polished stainless...Anyone??

 

I believe Spokes are 'stressed' members and for that matter, the most important members, any failure will carry serious consequences, Chroming causes what people call 'Hydrogen embrittlement" which makes the wheels more brittle than they originally are.
Odds are you can get away with it, but I would not take the chance.
I had to change the spokes 3 years ago on the bike, they were 9 years old and really looked tired and dull, the new ones have been looking great so far.

 

Holy Cow...You're a scientist!..lol Thanks.. All of my old bikes had chrome spokes, and I never had a problem..I was wondering though..

 

To add to what klf33 posted

Stainless steel is quite sensitive to hydrogen embrittlement after chrome plating. The effects of hydrogen embrittlement can be mitigated by baking the chrome plated steel immediately after the plating process. A common procedure is to bake it at 190* C. (374* F.) for no less than 3 hours. This "bakes off" the molecular hydrogen produced by the plating process before it has the opportunity to diffuse into the crystalline structure of the steel.

Chrome plated ALUMINUM rims are common because aluminum is not as sensitive to hydrogen embrittlement as stainless steel is.

To address Bloozmann's question; there is no reason spokes can't be chrome plated. Spokes can be chrome plated over stainless steel, aluminum or even carbon fiber for that matter. The latter two materials are not sensitive to hydrogen embrittlement. You can have your spokes chrome plated just like any other part.

 

Doc..Then why don't the wheel makers chrome plate their spokes? If not S/S, then use steel to ones..Seems silly to have everything plated except the spokes, doesn't it??

 

I wish I could give you a plausible reason.