kingston 

I'm well known in the randonneuring world as one of the best-dressed randonneurs. Admittedly the bar is pretty low.

Dancing Skeleton

OTOH, I couldn't care less what someone else thinks looks good on their own bike, whether it's brand, color, Sram, Campy, Shimano, etc.
All of that is too subjective. If the owner likes it, then he/she likes it, and that's all that counts.

Seattle Forrest

I go for stuff that performs well and looks good. I'm always the best dressed hiker on the trail, and one of the most comfortable. To answer the question here I'd choose Ultegra Di2. My dream bike isn't in a color I love and a functionally inferior drivetrain. And who hates blue?

genejockey 

I had a choice between a red bike with Ultegra and a blue bike with 105. I went for the blue bike with 105. I like blue.




But the reason I went with it wasn't the color. It was $700 cheaper, and by all accounts works nearly as well.

I also like red.

GlennR

Maybe you didn't have it setup correctly. My Rival 10 speed, Rival CX1 11, Red 22 and Red eTap all shift perfectly.

I had Rival rim, Rival hydro and my bike with Red had Trek's Speedstop brakes. All work withing my needs.

Again... i'm glad you're happy with what you have.

noodle soup

Maybe he has higher standards than you.

tomato coupe

How in the world does choosing a preferred color constitute vanity?

GlennR

Could be, i'm not a world class cyclist and I don't climb and descend mountains like the Alps. Hell... i still have rim brakes.

GlennR

If you chose color over groupset.

If you pass on a bike that has everything you want except color for a bike that has the color but not the groupset you want. A bit extreme but I was using it as an example and not the only example.

tomato coupe

You have a unique definition of vanity. Frame color and group sets are both just personal preferences.

Noctilux.95

Thats why purchase the frame in the color of your preference and build it with the groupset, cockpit, saddle, wheels, tires, and bar tape of your your choice. And LOL at paying $12K for a bike with SRAM when 9200 series is around the corner.

noodle soup

Cycling on Long Island, and riding in mostly good weather, there's probably no need for discs.

When I purchased my Domane 6.9 disc, I saved about $4k by getting a shop demo. Otherwise I'd still be using rim brakes.

DaveSSS 

I haven't purchased a prebuilt bike since 1991. I buy the frame in the color I want, then put every component I want on it. I like red or a black/red combination. The problem these days is many brands only sell some frames in one awful color, so I'm not buying it.

If I found a complete bike in the color I wanted with 11 speed of any sort, I might buy it and sell off all of the parts, so I could put the 12 speed parts of my choice on it, along with bars, saddle, wheels and tires of my choice. The problem is even an ultegra Di2 build kit, brand new, isn't worth all that much and the frame only may still be over priced.

sarhog

Man, that blue Canyon is gorgeous!!!!

tomato coupe

We've clearly never been on the same trail at the same time ...

noodle soup

Some of the high end complete bikes are insanely priced. Sometimes you can actually build them up from a frameset, for less than the MSRP of the complete bike.

nomadmax 

When I spend my money I get exactly what I want or I don't buy. Doesn't have anything to do with vanity. It's about not paying money to compromise. Craigslist is full of that.

August West

In your example I would go with #3 Ultegra because it is the color you wanted and available with a medium cage RD so I could run a larger cassette to make it a little easier to drag my fat, old ass up the hills

But in general, it depends. I purchased a 2019 Ultegra bike that came in flat gun metal silver/black. While I didn't dislike the color it also didn't really do anything for me but it was on the floor and available. I liked that bike fine though.

A year later I decided I wanted to upgrade to electronic shifting and ordered a Di2 bike over SRAM simply from user reviews and familiarity. I have run Shimano on many bikes and been happy with it plus most people who have it seem to love Di2. Although I have nothing against SRAM. But without being able to test ride them back-to-back I wasn't going to make the switch. As for color, I originally ordered the std. gloss black/silver which I though looked very nice and would have been happy with. But then I figured if I was spending that much money on a bike I might as well spend a little more and get the Project One color scheme I absolutely loved and have been very happy with that decision. For me, if you're spending a bunch on money on a bike it probably ought to be something you love. Lower end bikes not so much. You usually only have choice between one or two colors and may end up with one that is the least objectionable although there are some I just couldn't own. I don't know if it is vanity but there some colors/combinations I just don't like.

DaveSSS 

As an example, I can get a nice Colnago 2020 CLX disc with ultegra for about $2600, but the build kit might only be worth $800, leaving the frame at $1800, which isn't cheap. I got my C-RS rim brake frames for half of the original $1700 msrp.

CAT7RDR

As times goes on I have come to realize I am at best a Tiagra level recreational cyclist and do Not deserve better in my cycling life.

Black Bibs with any jersey with blue in it will do.

noodle soup

groupset or complete build(minus the frameset)?

Rides4Beer

I go with option #4 and I get the color I want, with the groupset I want. Which is exactly what I'm doing, ordered a bike with the color I want, and having the shop change the groupset when they build it.

If those three options were really the only choices (in which case I would probably walk away), I'd go for the color, because it's easier to change the groupset than it is the color. Most any quality bike will function about the same, regardless of geometry, groupset, or anything else. So really it only comes down to the details like color, frame shape/design (I loved dropped seatstays, some people hate them), and yes, even the aesthetics of the groupset.

I don't understand why people are so afraid to admit that aesthetics matter, it's why we dress the way we do, cut our hair the way we do, because on some level, we care about these things (I've worked with people who truly did not care about these things, because they were geniuses and just didn't devote any thought or time to it, some of the smartest and oddest people I've ever known). It might not be at the top of the list, but on some level, it matters, and it's ok to admit that.

DaveSSS 

complete build kit. The wheels are cheap fulcrum.

Germanrazor

Depends. I am a big SRAM fan though.

bruce19

I keep my GURU Sidero (steel) w/ SRAM Red 10 spd. and Mavic USTS.