I really like the Mavic Support Bicycle shade of yellow...

As far as a list of color preferences, for me what makes more of a difference is the *arrangement* of the colors, and the placement/quantity/tackiness of decals...

>>I don't like riding the same as everyone else. <<

Exactly! Which is why my tt bike is custom painted.

Tom's original question:

Anything but blue.

Kestrel has a hot looking orange/black bike at the expo. There was a gal at Lava Java with a totally hot cream colored Cervelo. Had to be a custom job. There's a pretty cool looking pink/grey (I think--I just notice the pink) QR at the expo.

---

clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

Being a girl... I'd love hot pink & white.
My current bike is carbon with the fibre weave. Although it does look badass and stealthy, I'd much rather prefer something fun. Being too big for most women's specific frames (and therefore colours) kind of narrowed my options.

How tall are you?

---

---

mmm-mmm-Momo Charms
Handmade beverage charms, jewelry, and miscellanea
http://momocharms.wordpress.com

I'm a real fan of the metallics, seems to look richer IMO. Prefer two-tone to monotone schemes (with the exception of nude carbon)

1. Black
2. Nude carbon with gloss coat - the Felt B12 had an awesome finish
3. Metallic Blues
(and a mix with a metallic silver or graphite works with just about anything)

Another no vote on yellow bikes

I really like the scheme on the new P3, which is probably what drew me to the P2C with the similar scheme. I prefer my bike to be elegantly neutral, and let whatever kit I wear provide the color.

Oh, and a painted fork seems to look a lot more high end than the basic black ones.

---

Life IS an endurance sport. Finish Well
www.fwe1.net

first off, reasonably simple design. i don't want flames, fighter planes, or a desert motif - the damn thing is meant to move, not hang on a wall (i know, mine spends more time hanging on the wall, but that's not the point).

i like three colors - two 'main', and one 'accent'

preference for red/white, w/ black accent (other variants work too)

blue, in the place of red


i don't mind decals, but it can't look like a billboard. i like when they're added inside/outside the chainstays, but i think you only need one brand decal on the main triangle (downtube), with the model decal on the TT. headbadge is a must. fork can have a logo, if you make sure it matches the bike - if it doesn't, or is just black, why not have an 3T on there instead?


others:

to simply paraphrase desert dude, black is cool (i would opt for white bar tape/saddle/cages)

celeste and white, as long as its a bianchi

---

mckenzie

First off - I am absolutely sick of all the red/white/black bikes out there. Cant any of the bike companies do something original. Every friggin bike looks like a csc team bike..

For some reason every new bike I get I try to get a color I havent had before. So the next color for me is British racing green.

My ranking of bike colors is:

1: white
2: no finish (clear carbon, matt ti, aluminium bear)
3: any solid color with chrome (so I guess thats gotta be a steel lugged frame)
4: matt black



the nicest frame I have ever seen is one of Jeanie Longo's tt bikes, simple pearlescent white, fantastic.

-Yellow (with orange and black circa 2006 Opus Scherzo)
-White
-Green with white accents (like guru's sydney green)
- blue with white accents

I don't mind logos, as long as they are well laid out.

I'm a Metallica fan too. Sorry... ;-)

In terms of bikes, I still really like the 2008 QR Lucero and the more classic solid tones of some of the Italian manufacturers.

Black carbon weave is good, not keen on stripes, solid colours better in general. I'll leave all the weird colours to what I am wearing on the day...

Red - it goes faster if it is red!
Black - clear coated cf weave looks brilliant,
White - makes you clean your bike
Metallic - naked aluminium, ti, etc

The Look 596 really looks fast... well laid out logos.

---

Architeuthis

As for stickers, I think for every sticker that says the name of the manf or bike they should deduct $100 from the price. If I want to be a rolling billboard, I'm want to roll with my own billboard not have a ton of other fugly stickers on there for your billboard. You want a rolling billboard then go rent a truck and put a billboard on it.


Black and stickerless = Complete badass. Manufactors that sticker up their bikes all over the place then sell them to me = Jack asses. (yeah I'm talking to everyone on this board who makes bikes). Gerard, Superdave, and anyone else who is in the business, seriously do I need logos on my bike with your name on it? Really?

If you have to logo up your bike with a ton of stickers so people know what it is or to appease your ego, you don't have a product that stands out on it's own and/or you should see a therapist. Ex: I have a Felt F4 w/ 14 stickers on it related to the manufactor or model. Is that bike really worthy of that many stickers. Hell no it's not. That bike is not much different then any other road bike that is CF. Sorry mate it's just not. Or at least make stickers, if you are going to appease your own quirky desires to see you company's name all over the place, that i can take off.

---

Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

I just cleared the "white" one again with my wife. She still knows I like the white one : )

---

.
.
Paul

1. celeste
2. gun metal gray (charcoal?)
3. raspberry (hot purple/pink)
4. white
5. black
6. lime'y green (but not hideous green, more like kiwi or something similar to that)
7. blue (like a robin egg blue, not boy blue)

pretty simple if you ask me

black

Wow. you have a highly defined sense of color and shade. That is very interesting. How much do you think color influences your own buying decision?

---

Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

In no particular order

1. Dark cherry tint clearcoat over carbon (there was a Kestrel like this years ago that looked gorgeous)
2. Matte black with outline decals
3. Black with some red and white accents
4. The "Klein" style colors that change as the sun and angle hit them
5. Anything with some custom flames!

Nothing in almost all white, the 08 Cannondale Slice looks great, the 09 I dont care for the paint, unless Miranda Carfrae is riding it............

Kevin

Black or white. Keep it simple. Red accents are good as well.

One of the best in recent years IMO:


Basic - but good:


Pure beauty (if you can get past the "poser" affect):


Great example of how color should be done:

---

******************************************************
Well I believe in God, and the only thing that scares me is Keyser Soze

BLACK

This probably will not come as a big surprise to anyone that has seen my builds but black is the only way to go. The reason I like black is that you can match everything with it on the build and get a really nice stealth look.

Now in saying that, my newest build is a SLC which I will not paint YET so I will stick with the Red/Black and white accents. I will most likely get it painted or stripped and painted black.

I think companies overdue the decal and sticker thing way too much. This is why I will take off every single decal/sticker that is not covered with clearcoat. I think the CSC on my new bike is not covered so it will be going soon.

I would be willing to go with a really nice Cobalt Blue with maybe some black lettering one day but for now Black is Best.

I've got the '06 Scott Plasma, which is black(mostly), grey, and white. Pretty classic, although the Plasma 2 has some cool colors and causes me envy. It seems to be black/white as a base and then an accent color (red on Luke McKenzie's, lime green on his female cohorts). Cool.

Today I was in a bike store and saw a new Trek mountain bike in burnt orange and grey, which was very cool.

Orange.
Yellow.
Violet.
Emerald.

---

http://www.fitspeek.com the Fraser Valley's fitness, wellness, and endurance sports podcast

in terms of bikes or other things?

regardless, color impacts nearly all of my decisions. in terms of bike, i would say it very much impacts my decision. for example, i was really wating that Felt tri bike a few years ago. the *only* reason i didn't buy the bike was because of the liquid orange paint. i just couldn't see myself riding a bike like that, and definitely not long term.

beyond color, the whory logos are another sensitive point. i feel most of the logos are entirely too big and embarrassing, as if there is no class. the designs are whored out.

so, even though i have looked into countless bikes over the last few years, i still have a celeste roadie bianchi from 2004 that i will probably ride until it crumbles to pieces (again, it is not because i'm stuck on it, but because i cannot justify spending several large on a bike that i feel is embarrassing, or the paint is wrong, or looks pimped). my bianchi, even though a few years old now, continues to have alot of style and respect. it's not tacky or begging for attention (the bling is more understated, as opposed to in your face).

also i have a very nice cannondale lefty MTB that is white, with silver lettering that is not really visible. again, it is more of a minimalist scheme and design, that is what i prefer.

over the years i have seen alot of nice road bikes, but tri bikes have also been a little over the top for me, be it in terms of color or logo design. although i really did like the planet X black, i think that design was very masculine, but had alot of style without being blown out.

i feel the manufacturers are desperate for attention, they know that pros sell high end race bikes. so they want that logo visible, and they want it big to establish a certain value for the brand. but, not everyone is a logo slut. i think those designs will soon look very cheesy and dated.

1.) I like the carbon fiber weave with a gloss covering
2.) Black

Bikes in my fleet: 2006 Cervelo P3 Carbon and a 2008 Cervelo SLC SL


I spent an extra 1200 bucks on the SLC SL over the regular red soloist because I preferred the black finish on the SLC SL.

I really like Stadler's Kuota last year and also the P3C with the custom blue and white paint job for RA cycle is very nice. But overall you guys should have a look at Storck and Parlee they are very classy.

---

Formely stef32

I tend to prefer understated:
(1) Titanium with small white decals.
(2) Pure red with some black lettering.
(3) The lower-end Cervelo from a way back that was black with yellow lettering.
(4) Celeste, but only on a Bianchi, obviously. Plus it needs to be full colour, not 1/2 Celeste and 1/2 something else.

Bikes I dislike:
(1) Anything red/white/blue or red/white
(2) Grey that looks metallic but isn't
(3) The QROO logo
(4) Anything with flames, eagles or Led Zepplin song titles

I like the color of Tribodyboarder's dual. It's that anodized grey with the 'e' on the downtube.
After that, that red P3c blending to black fiber on that custom paint thread.

---

_________________
Dick

Take everything I say with a grain of salt. I know nothing.

1. Anything but plain black with huge logos.
2. Red/white
3. White with subdued logos
4. Blue
5. Clearcoat over carbon where you can see the weave of the carbon.

I like the look of the indie or smaller guys; Vanilla, Crumpton, Independent Fabrications, Seven, Lemond. They let you see the bike, not the logos. Specialized and Felt do great jobs for mass manufactured bikes that have to worry more about logo placement.

I think the current schemes of Time and Look bikes are not very cool looking. They just have their name all over the place. There is no flow to the bike and you can't see the bike behind the logos.

FWIW, I ride a Lemond right now and am getting ready to pull the trigger on a Wilier.