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frame colors: stealth (matte black), black diamond, gloss (ink) black

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Old 10-21-20, 08:10 AM
  #1  
gios
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frame colors: stealth (matte black), black diamond, gloss (ink) black

Need help choosing a black for my Bike Friday order:

stealth (matte black)
black diamond
gloss (ink) black

I bet other manufacturers have different (and similar to the above 3) black frames - please reply with any direct experience you have with these.

Bonus for any links to good color frame pics of these.
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Old 10-21-20, 08:39 AM
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indyfabz
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Color descriptions are not standardized. One manufacturer's "black diamond" (whatever that is) could look markedly different from another manufacturer's "black diamond" (whatever that is).

Are there no examples of BF colors on BF's website?
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Old 10-21-20, 08:55 AM
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Originally Posted by indyfabz
Color descriptions are not standardized. One manufacturer's "black diamond" (whatever that is) could look markedly different from another manufacturer's "black diamond" (whatever that is).

Are there no examples of BF colors on BF's website?
Im on hold with IT, so I have time to google this. Kinda wanted to for the hope that itd be worthless, and it was. I find humor in odd ways.

Here is a colorwheel from their site- #12 is black diamond. So...maybe a bit gray or something? Cant tell at all. Worthless, really.
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Old 10-21-20, 08:59 AM
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indyfabz
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Originally Posted by mstateglfr
Im on hold with IT, so I have time to google this. Kinda wanted to for the hope that itd be worthless, and it was. I find humor in odd ways.

Here is a colorwheel from their site- #12 is black diamond. So...maybe a bit gray or something? Cant tell at all. Worthless, really.
Just got done looking at that:

https://www.bikefriday.com/bicycles/color_viewer

Looks pretty helpful to me. Certainly more helpful than showing the OP a photo of my midnight black Surly.LHT, which black could look much different from the BF blacks.

Sometimes BF really leaves me scratching my head.
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Old 10-21-20, 11:37 AM
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Phil_gretz
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"Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black." - Henry Ford (1909), remarking about the Model T.
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Old 10-21-20, 11:42 AM
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Originally Posted by gios
Need help choosing a black for my Bike Friday order:

stealth (matte black)
black diamond
gloss (ink) black

I bet other manufacturers have different (and similar to the above 3) black frames - please reply with any direct experience you have with these.

Bonus for any links to good color frame pics of these.
After owning a bike with a (non-black) matte finish, I'd tend to avoid matte finishes. In my experience, they're much more work to clean and they excel at showing grease smudges.
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Old 10-21-20, 03:14 PM
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Milton Keynes
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Originally Posted by mstateglfr
Here is a colorwheel from their site- #12 is black diamond. So...maybe a bit gray or something? Cant tell at all. Worthless, really.
What do you do, spin the wheel and whatever color it lands on is the color of bike you get?
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Old 10-21-20, 04:02 PM
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Black Bikes Matter........stealth (matte black), black diamond, gloss (ink) black?....depends on the bike imo.
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Old 10-21-20, 04:24 PM
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yada yada yada useful information yada yada yada
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Old 10-22-20, 02:14 AM
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Both of my carbon bikes have been matte and gloss black. There's something about it which rather appeals to me. The PlanetX was more of a silk finish than matte but I think I prefer the more matte finish on this Mekk. How it will resist dirt remains to be seen. It was pure coincidence this time around as I bought the frame second-hand.

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Old 10-22-20, 02:31 AM
  #11  
Tony Marley
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I recommend the matte black. Good luck with your Bike Friday.
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Old 10-22-20, 07:39 AM
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Originally Posted by Milton Keynes
What do you do, spin the wheel and whatever color it lands on is the color of bike you get?
The link I posted in #7 above is “useful information.” It allows you to pick frame and cable colors to get an idea of what your bike will look like. Maybe the OP missed it.

Reminds me of the similar feature on Timbuk2’s site. You can design a messenger bag and see what it will look like, front, back and inside.
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Old 10-28-20, 02:03 AM
  #13  
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I had a vintage Fuji that I had professionally repainted in GLOSSY Dupont Imron. It was beautiful, especially fir the front fork and seat and chain stay half chromed. The paint looked great and never chipped for 35 years. My new bike is also black, but is a Bianchi satin black color. It looks nice, with a sheen, but is not as durable at the Imron and touchup is a custom blend mix using hobbyist plastic model paints for a close match.

I am not a fan of real flat black on frames as it often scuffs and can become glossy where it rubs.

I recently met a gentleman out riding who said his older steel bike was parkerized. It was a matte very dark gray. That is the phosphate finishing process used on many post WWI U.S. military arms. It is rust resistant as long as you wipe it with oil, as the matte surface grains hold the oil.

I am not sure whether he was spinning a yarn as I cannot imagine how the entire frameset was coated as it involves submerging the metal into a phosphoric acid solution with ingredients of zinc or manganese and/or other metals or chemicals. I suspect that would do a number on any threads or inside the frame tubes. But is was an interesting frame
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Old 10-29-20, 06:53 PM
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I'd go with the ink (glossy) black. When I had my Bike Friday made, I considered the appearance of an adult on those small wheels comical. So I decided to go with that look and narrowed my choices to one of the three primary colors: red, blue or yellow. I chose Safire blue with yellow stickers/cable coverings and love it.
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