Unfortunately, they are made and plated in China. Near as I can tell, they must have plated directly over the aluminum instead of a nickel base, then chrome, which is porous. Slantzilla, did your powder-coater do both the blasting and coating? For $200, that was well worth it. The "bubbles" under the chrome are not deep, about like the texture and size of ground pepper and is mainly in patches on the barrel, the spokes are relatively clear. I may have to give some powdercoaters a call.