Please help me make my men's bike look more girly ;)

[withm]

Remember, red ones go faster!

Oh, you took the words right out of my mouth.

[jyyanks]

Ok- this post is making me want to spend money!! I really need a painted bike bell - they are too cute to pass up!

[marni]

I would go with red bar tape, a red seat, red bottle cage and handlebar plugs , red bell , rack, and then fashion coordinate my jerseys, sock and shorts accordingly.

I ride a blue trek pilot 5.2 which is a mans bike and the closest I have ever come to doing anything even vaguely stylish, coordinated or girly matching is to insist on blue bar tape and add a silly blue bell. But that is just me, I also wear my hair in a very short buzz and only wear black shorts so I can spit on my hands and wipe my hands off on my legs. I do however love jerseys with orange or orange and other color combinations and a majority of my socks are orange and red so who's to say.

Whichever way you go you willl have fund shopping and accessorizing.

Marni

[Owlie]

What would be cool (and I haven't done it yet to my bike) would be to design some vinyl designs for the fender and down the fork. Either some swirls, or floral (but not kiddie) or any other design and adhere them to it. Something that had a center and flowed out from there to the edges of the fenders. For the fork, you'd need something that flowed from the top down.

I have an industrial cutter but I haven't gotten brave enough to try it out on a bike. I'd like butterflies on mine with flourishes but sizing and finding the right butterfly has been hard as everything is kiddie or overdone. It might just be better to keep it simple in turquoise blue racing stripes.

I have plans to do my Sirrus frame in the color of my tires (turquoise blue) and silver/gray in either a matte or a pearlized vinyl if it exists. I just need to find the right colors and matching up vinyl online is hard. I just don't know if it would look tacky and homemade if I did.

Not to threadjack, but one LBS in this area actually does custom vinyl graphics and powdercoating. Seriously. Is there somewhere in Nebraska that does that?

[channlluv]

I like that red and white Hawaiian print tool bag. I love your new bike!

I also like the ladybug bell.

Roxy

[Annie9]

OMG!!!

You guys (gals) are SO GREAT! Thanks so much for not making me feel like a complete ninny-fool.

I can't believe this but I just got home and my kids are still up - so I can't type much yet but for now let me just say how much I LOVE LOVE LOVE these ideas! I am sooooo getting that bike seat that's both red and pink. That is actually what I wanted to do to incorporate pink: to have it mixed with red - kinda like traditional valentines colors you know?

Oh and if I didn't say it already - I can return everything/anything cause I have 30 days. I'm trying to talk myself into holding on to the bike (not taking it back due to not getting the color I really wanted which was any version of light blue/sea foam/turquoise I could get - booooo - I've wanted one of those colors for YEARS) but I could certainly take black the black fenders and order the white ones I found online - Planet brand I think it was. I love the idea of powder coating (will have to google locally). Maybe buy an aluminum rear rack and just spray paint it white. I think I really do want to get the red basket I showed you in the first post (link to it). I thought that with a white rear rack would be a great combination...I'm so happy to have all this feedback!

Seeing the black bike w/ orange flowers a.k.a. the "Flower Power" bike (love it) made me realize what this bike's name could be if I added even just a few of those heart stickers. Ready? Drumroll.... "Queen of Hearts." You like?

The hand-painted bike bells are just killing me, they're so cute. I have no idea which one to pick! I love them all. the cherries. the strawberries. The flowers that have some red in the centers. The ladybug's cute but yeah a bit too kiddish for my tastes but still adorable (as if the berries aren't kiddish - haha). And more of the bells I"m forgetting right now (I read those posts a few hours ago on my way out!).

I had actually already found and bookmarked that red and pink saddle bag - it's cheap enough that I might get it even if I don't end up liking it. I was concerned it might be too small. I'll go look at the animal print one again too.

You're right - this is getting kind of fun! But only cause you're helping me!!

More later and thanks so much...

[Annie9]

p.s. and thanks so much for liking the bike. I think if done right - not overdoing it but just a few little things here and there - it could send out the message that it's a WSD bike and some may not even consider that it ever wasn't.

[Theresse]

Thank you - and also for that link to the fenders! I worry pink parts on their own (cables and cages) might not be subtle enough...that it'll look like a boy's bike that I'm trying to make look like a girl's bike - hahaha (oh YEAH - that IS what I'm doing)! I was thinking - though admittedly haven't finished thinking it through - if I concentrate more on minimizing the black and maybe adding little touches of pink when coupled with red (e.g. pink and red decor on one item and then maybe on another item with pink and red in it), that the pink won't stand out so awkwardly. Am I over-thinking this just a little?

pink water bottle cages & break cables. That would be a good start. Nice girly bell with a heart on it.

I was passing by a fishing store the other day, and was looking at some of their overly sparkly fabulous lures in the window. IDK how much they cost, but if they're cheap enough I might go back and buy them for bar-end streamers for my mixte.

OH I forgot, Soma makes pink fenders. Yeeeeesssssss
http://www.somafab.com/accessories/fenders

[lph]

Am I over-thinking this just a little?

If so - you've come to the right place. Have fun

[Theresse]

Thanks Iph! I didn't expect it to be so fun here...but it is.

Oh no. Spoke too soon? I just read "this forum requires that you wait 30 seconds between posts." How will I ever write back to everyone at that rate? As it is, there are long waits after I hit the 'submit reply' button. MAN I wish this site were a little more user-friendly.

[Theresse]

Love these so much! You can't really see it from the pic but the top of the bike (the bar or whatever it's called) has too much red on it (from the side it doesn't look so bad) and I was thinking one of those white vines might look great on top of it. I wish they had other colors! I don't think I want more black - though a touch of feminine black might also do the trick actually. I also love the heart cog reflectors.

Reflective stickers?

[ClockworkOrange]

This is beginning to be fun!

Vine reflectors. (Love these!).

Heart Reflectors.

Blue fish.

Paisley.

Peace Cogs.

Heart Cogs.

Argyle Bag.

Houndstooth Bag

Zebra

KILLER pink cheetah!

Red Hawaii

Okay. Maybe a little carried away.

These are a great idea.

My bike is a man's bike, I inherited it from my son 12 years ago but I would not want it looking girly, I prefer the unisex look.

Look forward to seeing pics of what you do buy for your bike, BTW, I like your ideas in your first post.

[rubysoho]

I've needed one for awhile now! The only reason I don't have a cool bell is that at least 5 of them 'speak' to me.

What's a girl to do?

I'm sorry... what's the problem? 5 bells? Seems like one for each day of the week. Actually, I think the REAL problem is you need to find two more bells to cover Saturday and Sunday.

[Susan]

My mountainbie is a white and black mens model. I added a white womens-saddle, purple flatbars, limegreen grips, a purple seatclamp and pink valvecaps. I'm thinking about adding colored pedals.
It looks really girly now

[Jo-n-NY]

Great ideas here. I would also accessorize bringing out more red and white. That said your bike of red white & black is very sharp looking. As you can see in my profile those are the colors of my bike and mine is a women't geometry. I have white with some red and black bottle cages on mine, my under seat bag although it is black the ties are red. My husband thought of putting red tape but to be honest I like the bike just as it is. My most recent compliment was that I had a "hot" bike