Color, color, color

[Catrin]

The parts for my lovely deep purple Gunnar are being ordered Monday, I am 6 weeks away from bring her home

I am trying to decide how I want to accessorize her - contrast or complimentary colors. She is a very deep plum-purple metallic/pearl color. I went with a black badge rather than silver because I thought it would look better that way.

She will have riser bars with Ergon grips - so no need for bar-tape. Basically I am trying to decide what color seat bag or seat-post tail-rider sort of bag to put on her, as well as water cage color. I think that black would just fade into the background and not be noticable - which is fine - but as the bike is dark as well that might not be the best choice. Bright yellow is the opposite color on the color wheel so perhaps...

Other ideas? We know how important color is - and she IS a unique bike

[DarcyInOregon]

Catrin, go to the Trek site for building a Project One Madone bike; select a Madone bike and click on Start Building. It takes a few minutes to load once you click in, so be patient. Once the site is loaded, click on Factory Team Issue on the bottom. On the top right, select the Primary Color of Purple Lotus, which has to be the equivalent of your color; you will need to scroll through the color chart to find the purple color. From there, experiment with the color palette to see how other colors will look with the purple, and thus you will know what colors will look good with your bike.

http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/projectone/


This is my new bike, a Project One Madone, and most likely the last bike I will buy. I get it by the first week in May. In one of my riding groups, several of the male cyclists tell me the new bike will increase my average speed by 2-3 miles. I am hoping, and keeping my fingers crossed. I go from a triple to a compact, so some scariness there.

[Catrin]

Congratulations on your new bike! I can imagine that you are a little nervous about moving to a compact, but am sure it will be fine. I am moving from trigger to twister shifters myself, but keeping my triple.

All of their purples are too light, they aren't dark enough. I will play with their custom palate and see if I come up with an approximation - thanks for letting me know about this rather cool tool!

[DarcyInOregon]

All of their purples are too light, they aren't dark enough. I will play with their custom palate and see if I come up with an approximation - thanks for letting me know about this rather cool tool!

The Purple Lotus is real dark on my screen, shows as a deep dark purple, so maybe it is the light setting on your monitor?

I am real excited about my new bike. I chose the Flames, base color of Metal Yellow, the flames are Catalyst Orange, the logo is Pearl White, yellow handlebar tape, yellow Selle An-Anatomica saddle, orange stripe on the tires, yellow inset on the wheels, yellow bottle cages from Purely and gold valve caps with orange flame spinners also from Purely. Yellow and orange are not my comfort colors, but I ride on so many gray days in Oregon that I decided that the new bike needs to be visible to the motorists on the rural roads where I ride, that I don't fade into the asphalt of the roads or the landscape of the surrounding farms and forests, so I chose highly visible colors. The drivetrain is Dura Ace 7900 Compact.

I saved for this bike, had the money saved for over two years, finally decided my fitness level had advanced to the point where I needed a bike that would challenge me more, a bike where I would have to train hard in order to ride the bike capably. In that sense my reasoning worked because I really worked out hard at the gym over the winter and gained a lot of power and strength, so last month gave the LBS the specs on the new bike and made the purchase.

[Artista]

I may be the only bicycle owner in the world who feels this way, but I think of water bottle cages as utilitarian items on my bike that I don't want to emphasize, (sort of like light switches in my home). I tend to go for bottle cages that match, or fade into, my bike so that the focus stays on the bike's architectural lines.

When it comes to saddle bags, if I like the way my saddle coordinates with my bike, I'll put an unobtrusive, black bag on it. If I'm not so thrilled with the way the saddle looks, I'll use a saddle bag with a fun color or print to distract from the ugly saddle.

Just one person's approach to "decorating" a bicycle

[Catrin]

...Just one person's approach to "decorating" a bicycle

I prefer to consider it "dressing" the bike On my LHT I opted for stainless/silver color cages - they serve the purpose and blend into the background. I may well make the same choice for the Gunnar. When it comes to visibility, it will likely be best to spend my efforts on clothing and lights.

I have decided on the seatbag - Arkel has a new one that will serve my needs just fine. I do not think the price unreasonable, and if I add it to the "build" parts for my bike then I will get a discount on it from my LBS I am considering the yellow version - either that or the black.