How important is bike color to you?
 

I posted this in the Clyde section because we are sometimes limited to bikes.
I think sometimes I worry to much about color, but dang its hard to buy an ugly bike. :notamused:

I don't care which color bike I buy as long as it's an OK color but there are colors I will NOT buy... I will not buy an orange or green bike. I simply do not like those colors and every time I'd get on such a bike I'd be shaking my head but I could buy a red, blue, purple, white...many other colors and combinations I could live with. When my wife and I bought our first set of bikes many years ago she wanted a red bike. I made a bit of fun of her, wanting to only look at components and fit but over the years I've learned that there is no color I must have...but a couple I won't have. My most recent purchase was influenced by this issue when a very nice selection came only in orange and green. I just shook my head and put it out of my mind. Now that I have an SWorks Roubaix which is a matte with carbon fiber showing and no paint on it, I will add that to my list of "colors" that I will not buy. I loathe it and would trade it in a second if I could.

Bike color is not important to me. If I had to have an opinion, I'd say I like bright bikes. I have a "pastel" orange bike that I love. I also have a bright yellow bike. The rest of my bikes are various shades of black, which is boring. (Although the black and red one looks nice.)

It should be noted that the bright bikes are my commuting bikes. Sometimes I like to think that helps with visibility.

I'd rock any cool colored bike. Deep purple? Heck yeah. White? Yes. Pink... ok maybe pink is my limit.

I also adore white bikes but don't own one.

I got tired of the Yellow.39,000 miles

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...inTires006.jpg

I was looking at the All City Mr Pink, not sure I could ride that bike.

I ride with a guy who rides a pink bike. Pink is his thing, he owns it! I personally could not go there. ;)

I think aesthetics are important personally. Liking your bike is a lot about liking how it looks as well as how it rides. I find all black "murdered out" bikes (I own one) to be boring and anonymous looking. Equally I don't like white as a frame color. I'd go for pretty much anything else, excepting maybe pink!

It's important to me. If I'm buying new and paying retail I'm going to get something I love but if it's a great deal on a carry over or a used bike I'm going to be more flexible. I just bought a demo sattle on eBay for like $8 with "DEMO" and "Terry" in pink (it's a Terry FLX). It's normally over $100, had great reviews, was the right size and was a design I wanted to try. For $100 off I can live with the pink fonts and I'm really liking the saddle, so I now plan to live with it for a long time. I wouldn't have paid $100+ for one with pink fonts though.

I don't do 'ugly'...

if something is not aesthetically appealing, I don't buy it.

Very. Bikes and components should be non-ferous metal-colored (titanium, clear anodized aluminum, stainless steel) so scratches and scrapes don't show or clear coated carbon fiber where they're grey or black and not very noticeable. The look is also elegant and subdued, like a silver car.

Take a look at this left pedal - the worn top blends in so you can't tell at a distance:
http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=510925

My current titanium frame looks better after 19 years than my previous steel frame half that time.

Retro-reflective powder coating which is grey in daylight is OK for things like rims because it's functional and subtle enough.

I have a pink bike, a green bike, a celeste bike and two black bikes. Don't care about colours much. I ride them, I don't put them on my wall.

Why not? Because it's pink?

Last year I commissioned a custom ti frame. Color on a bike is important to me, and I don't like the look of too much bare ti. I decided to go with a Cerakote ceramic finish instead of paint. The issue with Cerakote is that the colored coatings are a matte finish, which I am not fond of. However, if you custom mix a color with their gloss white you get a pearl finish which looks great. I had the guy who would be doing the application create some test tubes of both pink and green. Pink was my first choice, but it came out looking too much like bubble gum, so I went with the green mix, which we are calling sea foam green. I think it looks great.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=510929

a full, hot pink bike, that's what I wouldnt ride

My thoughts? 1) the bike isn't in my field of view when I am riding, so when it matters most, it really doesn't. 2) Having a color that stands out or isn't common s a real help on big organized rides. Makes it far easier to find at rest stops. 3) You can change your mind. There is this stuff called paint and people who are pros at applying it. (That steel bike after 20 years and a new paint job stands up quite well to that 20 yo ti bike.) 4) Silver grey or silver brown bikes do not show dirt. I used to be commended for how clean I kept my silver grey Fuji Pro when I had just ridden my 45 mile training loop in the wet. And metal flake pint of any color like the classic Imron paint jobs of the '80s also minimize the visibility of dirt. 5) IMHO red bikes rule. I had my first ti custom painted red. Never regretted it. (But fire engine red, not burgandy red or metal flake red or anything else. Just red!

My bikes: Red with ti stays, brushed ti, orange bronze metal flake (2nd paint job), sky blue power coat (2nd paint job), black. (A 40 yo black Raleigh; it wouldn't have been right to re-paint it any other color.)

Ben

"You can have any color as long as it's black." Henry Ford circ. 1909

I'm with Hank. :thumb:

Currently, Converse is selling a rubber coated high-top sneaker that comes in that color yellow, as one choice.

I bought a pair specifically to use cycling, reasoning their water-proof character and sturdy soles compared to other similar kicks will be excellent for riding; though unfortunately, which is strange, the soles are super slick on some wet surfaces...easy to imagine as unsafe, in many situations:* Even used simply as marketed, for an urban "street" life.

These also come in red, green, black or white; and may be had with additional height to the high top, too. The tongues are gusseted, so do resist immersion; and the rubber coating seems likely to greatly prolong the natural life of the shoes, by reinforcing areas which typically fail on normal cotton high top basketball style sneakers-where the foot bends, at the outside, opposite the ball of one's foot for instance.

*My motivation buying this pair, was to replace an earlier pair someone stole while also stealing my bicycle that fortunately did get returned-though the shoes are still missing. That pair is also made by Converse, which I got during 2008 as remaindered on sale; that are no longer produced, whose soles are incredible for being sticky rather than slick...an unusual style and material unlike other Converse or any other high tops I've had. Which seems to be no longer produced.

It's pretty important. I fell in love with the Trek FX 7.2 that I test rode, but that year it came in white and a not-great (to my eyes) purple. So I got the 7.3, which was sparkly black with purple accents, and is a sexy sexy beast.

That's probably my least concern when buying a bike. I admit I do like some colors more than others, but you have always have a bike repainted if it really matters to you.

I find they grow on me. I thought my Gunnar was ugly when I first saw it, but I kind of like its funky weirdness now.

Also, I didn't like my Fairdale at first. I really wanted to the silver one, but once I got the black one and changed the bar tape, all the sudden its a good looking bike to me.

Not to mention, I can't see it when I am riding it. Only when I pass by it in the house do I notice the color really.

One day though, I want a crazy paint job bike. Something really loud. Bright oranges and greens have been grabbing my eye over time. I need one of those to add to my black, white, gray and blue bikes :p

Check out the bikes this guy has painted up over the years. Crazy! But really outstanding:

http://www.bikeforums.net/road-cycli...oject-3-a.html

his latest one is a venge he coated in reflective stickers, which I would appreciate given how much time I spend riding after sunset.

I used to not like white bikes and then that's what I got on fleabay - it's grown on me, but white looks dirty so fast. Mine's white over naked carbon so only part of it looks dirty. :D I don't really care that much as long as I don't think it's fugly.

It's one of my major considerations. I figure once you know your price point you want to and are willing to spend and what kind of bike you want then all the bikes from boutique brands and even dept store brands are all the same at that price so the only real difference is color. Yes even dept store, you can buy a schwinn or diamondback at that price point and it will be pretty much the same as any other $800 mtb.

Two things. 1. What are you on about? 2. You can't buy a Diamondback at a department store.

Because all of my bikes is have buy used. I am looking at the colors.

its pretty important unless it was stupid cheap

Does it fit?
Does it ride well?
Does it look good?

I think this is a great way to look at it.
I am still at the stage of learning bikes and upgrading pretty often so not like its going to be with me a long time. Now when I get a steel bike built exactly how I want, I may put more attention into color.
Heck, I may be ordering a YELLOW bike today, from a guy who has had lots of black bikes.

i like bright bold colors too-- they're fun

I have the entire color spectrum covered for road bikes. I have a black bike, a grey one, and a white one.