colors

[arielmoon]

Color was important to me when I was looking for a bike. When I found the Madone 5.1, I briefly considered waiting for the 2009 5.2 model to come out but then I saw what they looked like and the decision was made. Fit and comfort are more important but color is right up there for me!

Good luck!

[Bluetree]

Purely anecdotal... but when it comes to women's bikes I've found that the higher-end the frame, the more gender-neutral the color. (Well, except for Cannondale's flagship... that one's just odd)

I would personally not buy a bike with stereotypical "female hues" and have ended up buying a higher-priced bike to avoid do so. Maybe that's what the manufacturers had in mind?

[xeney]

Is the Dolce Comp the red one? It's lower end than the Elite, right? Too bad, because it sure is pretty. Saw one in the bike shop yesterday and thought, man, I need a shiny red bike. Then I remembered that I already have one.

[Biciclista]

Color was a big part of what made me go custom. No one was selling Orange bikes. (Now there are several available ) but there was no way I would have purchased a girly blue or pink or the very popular dark grey.

[mary9761]

I've been talking to my buddy Jimmy at the Bike Line about this very subject for a couple years now. I fell in love with a lava red women's pilot 1.2 and there was no way I was going to be able to purchase it at that time, but when the next season's bikes came in nearly ALL the bikes were pastel (not the word I actually used to describe them but it'll do). The last couple of seasons they have continued the trend.
I've also talked to another buddy at the shop and he told me that he didn't understand it either. He said that nearly all the adult women who came in looking for a bike had the same reactions. It appears that some of the bikes are finally coming around for this season, but it stinks that you might need to go to either a high end bike or men's model to avoid the pastels.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Kitten-
There's a very long recent thread on TE about the importance of bike color when shopping for a bike, you might like to read it:
bike color importance