Well, I've had chromed and powder coated tubes. The chrome lasted pretty well...glare wasn't a problem. Eventually though, rust bubbled up underneath. With the hot/cold situation and condensation that frequently formed on them, I'm not surprised. To be fair, the chrome job was pretty old so it was a good deal. I painted the insides of the tubes flat white using epoxy paint. Looked great.
Mine are currently powder coated and it does well. It's very resistant to chemicals and rust and holds up pretty well to abrasion. The only problem with it is it builds up very thick and that's a problem if you use the pinch clamp style deal. I do and it was.
I built a quickie expanding mandrel out of a big round chunk of plastic. The tube fits on it and is held centered while the lathe spins one end and a center in the other keeps it true. I was hoping to peel the coating off just where the clamp area is. Didn't work. I ended up using a dremel with a cut-off wheel while the lathe spun it to establish a nice clean line where the edge of the coating needed to be. Then I used some coarse sandpaper to quickly remove the bottom couple of inches of coating below the line.
I think if I had told the powder coater I wanted them masked, they probably could have done it. Not sure if the edge would look as good, but ask them if you go that route.
It's hard to beat chrome for a fancy look. Powder coating gives you all sorts of options for color. Let us know what you decide and post pictures!
Spud
