Dear Bike Companies:

[xeney]

I don't know, I think the main color most guys absolutely avoid when buying a bike -- and I mean a bike where everything else is perfect, fit, price, everything -- is pink. Or anything else that's stereotyped as "girly." Which sort of gets us back where we were ... nobody wants to be associated with anything deemed "girly," because of course "girly" really means weak and lame and second-rate.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I don't know, I think the main color most guys absolutely avoid when buying a bike -- and I mean a bike where everything else is perfect, fit, price, everything -- is pink. Or anything else that's stereotyped as "girly." Which sort of gets us back where we were ... nobody wants to be associated with anything deemed "girly," because of course "girly" really means weak and lame and second-rate.

I don't think "girly" means "weak and lame and second-rate" at all....rather it means exactly what it says-- "girly"- as in little girls! So when I say i don't want a pink bike with swirly flowers on it because I'm not ten years old, it's not a put down against anyone. I can see that some might interpret that as a put down, I suppose.

The whole point though is really simply that we should have some varied color choices, and that bike designers should not make their WSD bikes in only "girly" colors.

[Veronica]

The owner of my local bike, a MAN, has a Specialized Epic (mountain bike) that is totally pink. Even the handlebars are carbon with pink grips.

I say stop perpetuating color stereotypes.

V.

[PinkBike]

great thread!
my trek came the typical red/white/blue/u s postal/clonestrong that EVERYBODY had. mine's now pink because its the only one of its kind. because everyone recognizes it. because it makes the guys laugh when they see me out on the road. because EVERYBODY has to comment on its color. because it's mine.

i don't like riding a common bike. the color is very important to me, that's why i changed it right off. my mountain bike was a stumpjumper in red and black and i always thought of it as some high school boy's idea of cool colors. so i got it painted. my other trek came in a solid blue that i absolutely love and wouldnt change for anything.

i think the point of the thread is the conception that bike designers think "girls bikes" have to be all girly. and that girly is definitely second class. and i totally agree that this perception is so skewed. so fight it by riding a manly/studly/rough/"serious" colored bike, or by painting hearts and flowers on your bike and riding hard and serious, or by poking fun at the stereotype by overemphasizing it and showing its absurdity.

i am so NOT girly. i'm a mechanic, never wear makeup, can throw a baseball, and love discovery channel howto shows. the pink bike was a lark but now i love everything about it!

ride what you like.

[pooks]

I heard about a local high school football team whose coach wanted them to play soccer in the off season to stay in/get into shape. Big burly guys, most of whom had never set foot on a soccer field and weren't very good.

They called themselves the Rosebuds, wore pink jerseys with red rosebuds on them, and nobody dared laugh at them (though I'm sure everybody laughed with them).

Um. And I'm sure they all rode bikes.

(Sorry for the drift.)

[Ciao]

Meg, I am SO with you on this! It's my number 1 pet peeve.... in fact it's more than a pet peeve... I'm completely frustrated. It's not that I don't like the color pink used in moderation... but COME ON MANUFACTURERS! You are selling to WOMEN not to girls.

Just got back from a GrandFondo this weekend... In the vendor booths, ALL the products for women were pink. Clothes, bikes, you name it, they had pink. (Ok, I take that back, one manufacture, Gore, had adult colors for gear. So I shopped with them.)

Saw the new Scott Contessa CR1 pro which has a beautiful paint job and looks very tasty, but of course it uses pink instead of the silver, red, white or yellow that I see and prefer on their other bikes. It's exactly the same geometry as the men's... so, why the pink? I wouldn't mind so much, but it's the only option.

I am not and have never been "girly". Feminine, intelligent, driven... sexy even... but girly, never. Manufacturers, if you want to convey a product is for women pick a color scheme that doesn't reducing us to select from colors and designs that would appeal to an 8 year old.

Thank you for listening

[imdeanna]

((((Wow...this is a year old thread!!)))))



Awww man....all this time I've been thinking I was SO cool...with my Caribbean Bayou Blue WSD bike.....and how I customized it with a PINK Saddle...and PINK Speedplay pedals.... DOH'!!!




(I've never been able to play with 'cool' kids!!)

[fultzie]

I don't know, I think the main color most guys absolutely avoid when buying a bike -- and I mean a bike where everything else is perfect, fit, price, everything -- is pink.

i have to chime in here... because i know a LOT of guys who love pink for the same reasons i do. it's amusing! and by amusing i mean i think it's fun/silly/slightly obnoxious (in the right shade)/kinda pretty.

indy fab's bubblegum pink color option? named after a *dude* mtber (who happened to clean the field at collegiate nats last year-- on a single speed).

one of my best friends just purchased the pink King headset for his very macho black 29-inch single speed (called a "Q-Ball") that has a bottle opener on the back.

another friend of mine, who also owns/rides a Q-Ball, happens to have *another* custom pink single speed (he's a single speed addict, apparently)

even the not-so-fast guys on my team like pink (and don't get slammed for it). one of the guys rode an old pink shwinn on the road for a while. he occasionally took out the end of the paceline when he crashed, but was otherwise tolerated.

I dunno, I think it would be fun to drop guys while riding a pink hello kitty bike. i

aw heck yah! i love hello kitty-- and the whole cult surrounding her. again, pure amusement.

then again, another mtbing buddy rides a pink wsd trek, and loathes the color (she named the bike "the pink wonder," i think to be ironic).

all that said, i currently ride two black bikes. my messenger bag is pink/brown/black, though, and my next mtb will be pink with green flames