Quote Originally Posted by Aggie_Ama View Post
I already weighed in a year ago on my opinion of bikes. I recently purchased a new Giro Atmos helmet- in pink. However, even with my love of the helmet I was completely annoyed with the Giro "Women's" Packaging. It looked like pepto bismal had been poured on the box with clouds and swirlies. Ummmm, a $150+ helmet is not your second grader's helmet. It made my girly helmet seem like a child's toy. I still like my pink helmet!

I notice the girly only color issue is mostly found in the entry to mid-range area. Higher end bikes seem (and I may be wrong) to be a little less floral, pastel or offer multiple frames. I know Cannondale does, the new Trek Madone that is pink is very subtle and the others are even less pastel. The Orbea diva comes in a white (last time I checked). I think the problem is selection, if you need a WSD frame you pay more for the same components and less choices. Slap a WSD badge, slightly modify the frame and charge more. That is what I find ANNOYING!
That was my point. Of course, my bf wouldn't buy a Madone period because he hates Trek, but I wasn't trying to go there--he'd probably like the white one as far as paint scheme, but I digress...

So the bike manufaturers are starting to use the same or similar paint schemes for race caliber women's bikes as on the equivalent men's bike. I don't even know if I'd include the Ruby, though, as the Roubaix is essentially the same bike, just one size off. So a guy who would like a Ruby would go with a Roubaix to get the right width in handlebars for roughly the same geometry.

There's still a problem of selection. Say you want a Trek. Say you want something better than a 4.x series Madone. The 5.1 is your price range. Well, it's pink (or has girly pink accents). The 6.5 is not girly (as pictured above), but can you afford it? The men's Madones are all pretty neutral colors. Red, white, blue, yellow, black.

Cannondale and Specialized and Cervelo and Ridley and other manufacturers often give you paint scheme options per level of men's frame. Specialized does that for the top level Ruby frames. The Ruby Comp? Carbon with pink stencil. Again, what if you don't have $3k+ to spend on a bike? You have one paint option, and it's got pink.

If you LIKE pink, that's fine. There's nothing wrong with liking pink. What I think this thread is supposed to get at is what if you don't like pink? What do you buy at certain price points?