Unlike Sue, color is very important to me. I want a bike that fits but I also want a bike that is green!![]()
Paint Job
Geometry
Tube Shape
Materials
Wheels
Drive Train
Unlike Sue, color is very important to me. I want a bike that fits but I also want a bike that is green!![]()
You should never stop learning::
I loved my Aegis but it didn't really fit, even though I tried to make it fit, so for 2 years I lusted for a custom frame. Now that I have a custom frame there is no lust for anything else because I just can't believe that a stock frame can do the job for me the same way this bike does.
And with custom you get to chose your colors!![]()
My first bike fits well but has cheap components. It is pretty bland on the paint job. The current object of my obsession (and maybe what got you thinking) has much better components, a really sweet paint job, better everything. Probably the only thing I am not considering is the geometry. I am sorry to say I don't quite understand the geometry part fully.I do know that I like the way WSD fits me and so that is influencing the bikes I am looking at.
Amanda
2011 Specialized Epic Comp 29er | Specialized Phenom | "Marie Laveau"
2007 Cannondale Synapse Carbon Road | Selle Italia Lady Gel Flow | "Miranda"
You don't have to be great to get started, but you do have to get started to be great. -Lee J. Colan
I really want to reply to this thread, but I can't seem to come up with something that won't be pulled by the censors![]()
I mean, fit, performance, and stiffness come to mind and that just sounds so...so...![]()
But seriously, I've been lusting after a Seven ID8 now for a while. I have a nice bike right now. My bike works well, but it doesn't fit well (I'm 6' in height with an arm span of 5'6"). Sure, I've scanned the paint schemes, but it is the fit, combined with customizing its drive that makes me think about cashing in some savings and going for it. In the meantime, I just sit and drool over the Seven catalog
I think I find a bike, or bike part, lustworthy when it blends art, form and function - or maybe a better way of saying it, "an artful blend of form and function".
That's why beautifully sculpted lugs (like Vanilla's), exquisite paint jobs (Colnago, Lynskey), Phil Wood hubs, Nitto handlebars and stems, etc, etc. are all so lustworthy to me - all are examples of craftsmanship and attention to detail that have turned ordinary things into art.
Because of my height limitations (which I can do very little about at this age), I can only "lust" after bikes that will actually fit me, so my choices are very limited
...my road bike (a lightspeed bella) is a very pretty blue, but I tell you, I lust over the 2006 lightspeed bella with its lovely mauve/dusty rose paint
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i can't chose just one poll choice... cuz for me it's a combination....
color is definititely a HUGE thing with me.... but shape of the frame is a biggie, too! cuz i can like a color... but if the shap is icky... well, then... the bike is icky!
right now i'm LOVING the orbea diva (and i don't even like pink road bikes!) IMO i don't think there's a sexier bike out there than that diva! lol! but it's the color and shape of the frame that makes it so danged sexy!
now granted... in buying a bike.... components then become important, too.... but i can look at the diva with just about anything shown on her... and i'd still be a drooling mess!
fit is uber important in actually buying a bike.... but i can still drool without even knowing it she fits me or not!
and some colors are an absolute turn off for me.... (even the diva in other colors aren't as sexy to me as that pink....)
I lust after bikes with traditional materials and looks (none of those funny-shaped carbon frames for me) but innovative and functional designs. A frame with drivetrain stiffness that also soaks up road shocks. A wheelbase tight enough for efficient climbing but long enough to carry a touring load. The frame will be light, but it won't be compromised in it's strength. A wheelset that's supple, lightweight, and strong (because I built it myself) with a rim that has a perfect weld. Hubs and bottom bracket with the smoothest bearings on earth, not sealed bearings either, but ones I can lovingly grease and adjust into my dottering old age.
[I'm going to stop here before I get accused of writing porn.]
Oil is good, grease is better.
2007 Peter Mooney w/S&S couplers/Terry Butterfly
1993 Bridgestone MB-3/Avocet O2 Air 40W
1980 Columbus Frame with 1970 Campy parts
1954 Raleigh 3-speed/Brooks B72
Dianyla- I am a paint job person. Sorry, a great bike isn't so great if the paint job isn't beautiful.
I think lust depends on what you have. I currently have a $600 Fuji with Shimano Sora. My lust is nothing compared to Ruby Pros, Vanilla Bikes, Colnagos, great Campy components, etc... For me drool worth is a $2000 Cannondale with Dura Ace or maybean Orbea Dama. Currently, I don't lust for things I won't be able to afford. I drool within my budget.![]()
Amanda
2011 Specialized Epic Comp 29er | Specialized Phenom | "Marie Laveau"
2007 Cannondale Synapse Carbon Road | Selle Italia Lady Gel Flow | "Miranda"
You don't have to be great to get started, but you do have to get started to be great. -Lee J. Colan
I'm guilty! I admit when I was bike shopping I saw my bike's paint job and paid extra money to get this model as opposed to the one that was less money.
But I do think paint becomes more important when it's a BAD paint job. Some bikes just have hideous colors and I couldn't buy them. Honestly I wish more bike manufacturers would make frames with a choice of at least two colors.
It's not as important for bike love, but for bike lust it's all about appearance (and a tiny bit about the bling). Who cares if we would actually be compatible? Lust brings out the shallowness in me.![]()
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Drink coffee and do stupid things faster with more energy.