Dear Bike Companies:

[crazycanuck]

Ok..I have to agree with Meg.

The next bike I purchase will NOT be PINK or any other wierd colour. I just want a bike that fits and isn't a blech clour. Black will do me just fine thanks.
If i had a lot of $$$ it's possible i'd have Jonsey at Riders Choice here in Perth build me a road bike in simple colours.

I will not ride a green or purple bike. I will not eat green eggs and ham. Sam I am..Oh wait..this isn't a Dr Seuss book..

I don't like flashy colours when it comes to clothes, bikes, cars & hair. Just let me have my black or blue or red items thanks.

C

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

But please, stop perpetuating stupid stereo-types. Honestly...not buying a bike becasue the color doesn't suit you is a pretty 'girly' thing to do...is it not?

No, guys do it all the time. And NOT buying something you don't like if the marketers decide to give you color choices you detest is not 'girly', it's assertive!

[Crankin]

I never even considered color when bike shopping (and i have bought 3 road bikes in 6 years). My road bike is black carbon, my mtb is dark brown, and my commuter (previously my husband's mtb) is bright yellow. All I care about is fit. I definitely would NOT buy anything with swirls, flowers, designs on it. I like things plain; modern furniture, no "gee gaws," or frills. I do wear clothing in bright colors both on and off the bike, but I find black to be comforting!
And by the way, i had a serious Barbie addiction up until age 9 or so, but I also had a full set of "Army gear," i.e. a tent, canteen, fake weapons, boots when I was about 5 or 6. I used to march around the neighborhood with a trail of boys behind me screaming, "Come on, march, we're the army!" Then I would make them jump over snow banks.
Oh God, now i know why my son joined the Marines...

[pooks]

I don't see orange as girly at all.

Right now orange is a hot color. It's on cars, bikes, interiors, etc. But I have never in my life considered orange a "girly" color. Pastels and pink tend to be the girly colors, mainly shades of pink and purple, though.

I want a bike with personality. I want a car with personality. I like things that are a little different.

If I saw a deep Welch's grape jelly purple bike, I'd love it. But if that was the primary color that Trek was using this year and all the bikes were that color, probably not.

I'm difficult that way.

[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.

[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

[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!!)

[mimitabby]

I think there's plenty of room for those of us who like pink and those of us that don't!

Your liking pink doesn't make you any less cool than me (queen of uncool)

[katluvr]

I do NOT like pink. Note girrly pink. I wanted a "real" bike w/ 700c wheels (previous with 650c). So i got what i wanted...carbon, 700c wheels and fast AND great fit. But it is HOT PINK (w/ black). So I have "embraced" my "pinkness" with a pink helment and saddle bag. Big sigh......I still wish it was not pink. But other people think it is very cool! But I agree w/ the beginning of the thread....why all this pink and floral, etc. Is it to get more women riding? Are we "women" still so easily persuaded by flowers, pastles, etc? I really don't get it.....so I think we need more "options"...for the rest of us who don't really like pink!

[aicabsolut]

The saddest part of it is that there are plenty of guys out there who would benefit from "wsd" geometry. I don't fit WSD bikes at all, but my bf feels pretty comfortable on my friend's WSD Madone. Would he ever buy a WSD bike? Hell no. Why? Because they are girly (although that Madone is a hot shade of dark metallic purple). So these guys go with a bike that doesn't fit as well. Even if there's a guy who likes pink (and real pink, not T-Mobile pink), is he going to buy a pink bike with flowers? Hell no. I find it odd that when you look at racing caliber bikes especially, manufacturers still seem to think that a fast racer is going to care about how cute the bike looks and not how BADASS it looks.

I'm glad I don't need to buy WSD bikes. It's not that I want to avoid pink necessarily, but I like that I get a decent SELECTION. If I want to put pink bartape and tires and whatever else on there I can, but I can also keep the look classic with white.

On a similar note, I'm glad that most women's cycling clothing doesn't fit me either. It's either black or some pastel color with the flowers.