Hi!
Im a graphic designer an i am working on some graphics for some new womens bikes. (mountain bikes)
my question is what colour bike would you like!
do the majority of women go for feminine colours like pale blue?
Thanks a lot for your help,
Kira
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Hi!
Im a graphic designer an i am working on some graphics for some new womens bikes. (mountain bikes)
my question is what colour bike would you like!
do the majority of women go for feminine colours like pale blue?
Thanks a lot for your help,
Kira
I avoid "girly" colors like the plague. Baby blue, pastel pink -- UCK!
But, that's my personal preference; there are plenty of women who like them. To each his own...
I think that a touch of a pastel color is nice. Then there are some women who want a bike that looks like it's been airbrushed w/pepto bismol as well as some that don't want any type of "girlie" color anywhere near her ride.
So the obvious answer to your question is definitely maybe.
I think a pink bike that has some high end features might be cool. Something on the higher end of the spectrum for avid cyclists. Maybe it could be tied into some kind of breast cancer awareness campaign. I've always liked pink. (I like Hello Kitty too, much to the embarrassment of my teen-aged kids:D)
I like neutral colors- white, black, etc.- that lend themselves well to accessorizing with any color. There are so many cool bartapes, water bottle cages, etc. out there! My "colored" bikes don't necessarily match that stuff, but my black one and white one do :D
thanks a lot for your answers, they are pretty similar to the ones I got after canvasing my female friends - some loathe girlie pastels, some love them and some want just a hint of them!
I personally am not keen on traditional women's colours.. but when im commuting i do see a lot of girls riding pastel bikes - i was wondering if it was because they liked them or because that was what was available at the bike shops..
its usually men designing the bikes so i wondered if women were getting what they really wanted!
beccaB - thanks for the idea of linking to something like breast cancer awareness - i will suggest that.
Thanks! Kira
Another who HATES the girlie colors (especially pink), but I ride with a lady who has about 20 million shades of pink on her bike. It's all a matter of preference.Quote:
Originally Posted by cyclingtosydney
As far as girls riding pastel bikes... It seems some manufacturers are worse than others. When I was looking at road bikes, one company in particular did not have a single paint job I liked! They were all too girlie
Green, blue or red. Maybe black with bright color accents. :D
Deb
Bright orange, red, or lime green.
I don't mind pastels, but they have to match the type of bike--I'd ride a pink cruiser, but not a pink mountain bike.
And I don't think any bike should ever be mint green. Looks like toothpaste.
I'm also so over blue and white. Every single bike I've ever owned has been blue or white. Nothing wrong with them--I'm just sick of them.
Sarah
Quote:
Originally Posted by cyclingtosydney
There are over 4,900 women members on this site. (well, maybe a bit less, if you remove the guys)
I imagine you will get just about that many different opinions about color preference from it.
Here's mine: I depends. (How do you like that as a starting point for design? :rolleyes:) Bike clothing-wise, I have many things that are black. I also have a few blue things and pink things. And a few screaming yellow thrown in for good measure.
My bikes are silver or black - better to accessorize and add that dash of style and color with the clothing.
My $0.02 (what's that in pounds?), just cuz you asked for it. :p
You can set up an official poll on here if you would like - it would be easier to really see data and more people tend to hit the poll buttons than will type a reply.
As for me - pastels don't turn me on. My current bikes (none of which I had much choice about) are a deep ruby red - which I like a lot, naked Ti - fine, if a bit plain jane - its my rain bike though so it gets dressed up with fancy mud flaps (I just found hula girl winky vinyl - the kind that the girl dances if you move it back and forth...) and a school bus yellow TT bike which has several derogatory nicknames.
I once had a bike that was metallic baby blue with hot pink accents - I really hated the colors. It was the replacement for one that had been stolen. The year I originally purchased it, the colors were red with black accents, so the new one was a bit of a disappointment.
I think you are going to find that personal preference is all over the board!
I love pink. I recently designed a pink and black bike on the Trek Project 1 website. AWESOME! :)
sounds like the best thing is to have a range then... to suit all tastes!
Ive added a poll now with some colour options..
7rider - thanks for your $0.02! the exchange rate isnt so good for us in the uk at the mo so that is quite valuable to me :-)
I like bright colors, two tone bikes are especially cool. I ride a bright orange bike with red trim. I've also seen orange with brown trim and bright red and black bikes that I like.
I had far too many blue bikes as a kid to want to have another.
Right now I ride a bike which is mostly baby blue, with some royal blue as well. I would have preferred it to be all royal blue. I love bright orange, red, green.. I could even go for a hot pink bike, but definitely not baby pink.
I really don't like pastels.
I prefer normal (not pastel) colors with maybe a highlight of pastel to feminize them. I don't like pink bikes at all. I'm also not a fan of really dark colors (too hot in the sun). I would do white, grey, or blues and then highlight them with brighter colors.
Is purple not a unisex colour? I had a purple bike for 9 yrs. Come to think of it, I hardly see purple bikes. Maybe it's gonna be the next colour craze.
I want a pink bike...for only 1-2 days. Novelty would wear off for me.
No, light blue doesn't do it for me at all for a bike.
I've seen a few guys on a pink road bike here and there about town. It must be the wierd cool factor for them...like seeing a pack of guys cycling in team kit with a bit of pink in their jerseys & shorts.
I do like wearing certain shades of pink near my face in non-cycling clothing. So am not against pink itself. But for a bike, it's like a tool of strength for me, hence need a colour for myself that conveys that.
I ride a silver bike ...with a red heart bike bell. So I do concede to a tiny bit of frivolity. :D
I'd like to see more pink accessories - things you can remove when you get sick of them like different colors of pink bar tape with embossed designs, etc. I'd never buy a pink bike.
NO!
Now, I do understand that some women do want those colors. The ideal situation is to be able to have two or three colors in your lineup (like Yeti does). Then you can have a "girly"/pastel, neutral (white/black/silver), and maybe a bright (red, yellow, orange, etc).
I really like Scott's new blue/green/white color scheme (though honestly, I want to SEE the carbon on my expensive carbon bike..). Girly enough, but it doesn't scream "HEY I'M A CHICK'S BIKE" and artfully done graphics that compliment the bike; I think this is what company's that are going to limit to one paint color should be shooting for. But at the same time I love my "men's" red/white/raw road bike and would really like something in lime green, orange, yellow, etc.
I answered the poll with the orange/green option, but I have a variety. None are pastel, but that's just me. If someone offered me a pink Orbea or Lightspeed or Seven or IF, well, I wouldn't turn it down. I have a persimmon red bike, a white bike, and an unpainted steel bike. They are all great, and I wouldn't trade them. I would like to have a yellow mountain bike someday.
I really like how my white bike looks, especially when it's clean.
I like strong, bold, energetic colors. And I also tend to avoid so-called "feminine" colors. By some combination of accident and design, all of my current bikes are somewhere in the yellow-orange spectrum.
I think it's not uncommon to end up with a bike with colors you're not in love with -- sometimes you just don't have a choice, so you plunk down your money and enjoy the bike for what it does, and not what it looks like. For example, my mountain bike is a particularly ugly metallic yellow, but it was the only one left in my size. Still, it's been a great bike, it's been with me for a long time, and I like to think that its ugliness contributes to a certain amount of theft-proofness. That bike has survived San Francisco, Cambridge, New York, and Seattle.
That said, if I were to get a bike with any amount of pink on it, I'd prefer something closer to screaming electric pink, almost magenta, rather than a baby pastel pink. As accents, not as the main color.
I typically buy mens bikes...so I don't have to have pastel/white/pink/baby blue bikes. *gag*
I like all types of color combos but my favorite one is one that no one else will have.
When I ordered my current road bike, I was really bummed that it only came in the light blue/white swirl combo when I liked the newer version of silver and white swirl much better. I decided that the better frame material was worth a slightly less gorgeous frame color. Turns out, I love the colors now. I've never seen another bike like it in real life and I get compliments on it all the time. I guess the colors grew on me. ;)
My next bike will be custom and I have NO idea how I'll ever pick a color. I tend to lean towards more neutrals so that I can make changes in other things over time (like ivory, black, silver, etc) but my husband makes a very good point...is a pink or other really 'girly' bike less of a target for theft? I think it might be, so I'm actually considering the idea of embracing my feminine side once again.
If you search older threads, you'll find some good longer ones on this very subject:
http://forums.teamestrogen.com/searc...archid=2595799
The most beautiful bike I've seen is the Cannondale Synapse Carbon Feminine 3.
http://www3.cannondale.com/bikes/10/...el-0RWC3C.html
Goooooooorgeous. Sexy. I love this bike. If only I could afford it.
I ride a lovely royal blue/cyan blue trim Specialized Ruby Comp, though, which is also quite nice. (Nobody tell her I'm crushing on the Fem 3.)
Roxy
I loathe the girly colors.
Both of my bikes are pretty basic: the ti bike is plain ti and the carbon bike is the brown-black of the carbon weave. But I would like a plain bike with a splash of some NON-frilly color.
I've been thinking about this, too. If my next bike were perfect (custom?) for me in every other regard, I might go with pink for this very reason.Quote:
Originally Posted by GLC1968
I have loved red bikes since buying my first new bike as an adult, a deep, metallic gorgeous red. I still think that's my most beautiful bike ever. But I have a bright red road bike that doesn't look half as good.
I've always liked black and grey stuff, but the colours do tend to disappear. White bikes are very sexy. I now have a white mtb :D
Funny thing, I love brown and green and earth tones, in clothing and in general, but I dislike them on bikes. They just look wrong to me.
I don't like pink, but I have seen some very cool pink bikes with attitude.
My mountain bike is a gorgeous (to me) black with pink symbols by Gary Fisher. My road bike is a white, two shades blue (darkish) and black. I LOVE deep purples but pastel purple I hate.
Well, my current bike is mostly red with some black & white added in. My previous bike was a silvery purple color...but it looked more silver than purple, IMO.
A pastel pink or baby blue bike would not appeal to me, personally. If I were able to select a color for my next bike, I would probably go with black as the base color, with a brighter accent color...maybe something like a bright orange, yellow, or lime green.
Try a Ferrari red with metallic - that would look hot! Or try a take on roadster colours - like you see in the tweed rides - black or green body, with tan leather seat, tan leather handle tape.
Personally my ride is a Giant Avail (green and silver - I like it - nothing cutesy-pie). My Kona Dew hybrid is pretty bland, dark navy with orange-bronze script, which was pretty plain, a little too plain, so I dressed it with bronze handlebar extensions, looks cool now.
Don't like bubble-gum colours - just went through that searching for a heart monitor watch in Polar. Almost everything for women was pastel or bubble gum. Finally found one in black.
Last month when I was shopping for my bike, the guy at the LBS pulled out the black model of the Dolce Sport for me to try. After I rode it, and had decided this was the bike, I told him I wanted the white/berry version.
He looked at me and said, "Well, you said this was your first real road bike, I assumed you wanted it in a serious color." I had a moment of WTF, and then pointed out he had just what I wanted in the proper size out in the rack. Once he realized I was serious about the apparently fluffy color scheme, there was all kinds of backpedalling about how pretty the bike was. Really like having a white bike and the feminine touches of deep purple suit me.
That said I'm not a huge fan of pastels, love magenta/fucsia/bright pink, esp. with black. Absolutely covet the Komen edition of the Ruby Compact Elite. Someday..............
Being the only female in a house with three men I need to get an occasional dose of femininity. (Husband & two teen sons) My default color for personal items is pink.
I am typing this on a pink covered MacBook. My phone is pink, I carry a pink pen in my purse, and the list keeps going.
I rarely wear pink and I do not decorate with pink. My home is on the masculine side. There is so little in my life that is ubber feminine that my own sister is surprised when I opt for pink and I have to remind her about the guys out numbering me and my need to stake a feminine claim when I can.
So, of course I wanted pink on my bike! My #1 choice was white w/ pink accents but that was not available this season. I settled for a girlie-blue with white accents. (2010 Cannondale Synapse) I have pink Speed Play pedals, a pink helmet, pink jacket and a pink saddle bag. I always check to see if an item comes in pink before I buy.
My suggestion for someone designing women's bikes is to always offer an option for the "girlie-girl" and one for the "black-goes-with-anything-girl."
No. No. No. No. No. Oh, and another no from my nine year old daughter, who refused to ride her purple Specialized Hot Rock because it was "too girly"...lol.
My baby (2009 Avail 3) is teal, white and aluminum, with black saddle and bar tape (doesn't show dirt).
Black with a pastel, if done right, can look pretty good. Would I buy a pink bike? No. I've also come to realize that while I like certain colors, they aren't necessarily ones I'd put on a bike. For bikes, I like bold colors and high contrast. This means that despite the fact that I like the Bianchi signature color, I probably wouldn't buy one. Blues, reds, black, and a darker green are high my favorites. The bikes I'm drooling over are some combination of black, white and red--looks good and and it's an easy combination to match.
Neither would I.Quote:
Originally Posted by tulip
But I wouldn't ride it, either. I'd sell it as quickly as possible and get myself something fierce.
Have to disgree with you, Brandy. You didn't have enough "no"s!Quote:
Originally Posted by Brandy
I love my White Trek. White bar tape and white saddle complete the picture. A little swirl of silver on the frame, but very subtle. I can wear every color of the rainbow in jerseys on this bike and never clash!
I agree with MommyBird - do one that's a bit flash, and another one that is the equivalent of the 'little black dress'.
My bikes are blue. I happen to like the color, so most of my Stuff is blue. That being said, I don't think I'd do well with a pastel blue. Ick. I prefer my bikes to be of the "Yeah, I'm blue. Ya wanna make somethin' of it?" variety.
I fear that a pink color scheme would be a deal-breaker with me - but I'll admire other people's pink bikes. They just aren't for me.
I'll try to be polite if it's pastel.
I like feminine accents esp in pink. I've ridden with some guys who make a snap judgement based on any feminine accessories, but they're quiet real fast after the ride ;) It's all in how you rock it.