Do you care about the paint scheme?

[Kiwi Stoker]

Bike colours and graphics are one of the biggest headaches for bike manufacturers. I remember watching the graphics team slave for 4-5 months over designs. Often they would have to submit 3 different designs for the more "out there" bikes like the urban BMXs, the team bikes etc.

They would sit there pouring over the photos they took at Eurobike and Interbike, going through the "colours of the year" magazines from Pantone etc as well as have the whole company walk by and give their two cents.

Then the dealers were asked to go over the product managers picks and more changes were done.

Graphics were often put on the bikes up in China and pics sent back and then more changes done.

The graphics guys would be printing out and wrapping blank frames just to get the graphics just right. The new tubes shapes do make their lives hard.

In all it took 4-5 months for 3 designers fulltime to do graphics for over 150 models of bikes. The there was a 4 month rest before they started the whole process all over again!

[zoom-zoom]

It really matters. I really dislike girly colors and head towards the super saturated ones. I love really vivid greens, reds, and blues. I went with a black bike since orange was available and have accessorized it with orange. Next color will be grass green. I don't mind the black, red, and white combinations but they are really popular and I want something different.

This is my feeling, too. Girly is OK as long as it's not pink or pastel. My bike has a semi-girly color, but it's an intense, bright jewel tone. Since my next bike may be unisex (my proportions lean towards the long-torso/short inseam) I'm inclined to go with black/white/gray. There are too many black/white/red bikes right now and I like something that stands out a little.

[maillotpois]

Do I care about the paint scheme?

Yes.

[Bike Chick]

That's such a cool bike, maillotpois!

[Chile Pepper]

I didn't think I cared, until I bought my current bike. I always thought it looked kind of dull (it's almost all black), so when I had to change the handlebar tape recently, I went with yellow and also added a yellow seat bag. It's amazing how much those two little changes played up the subtle yellow stripe on the frame. Even more surprising is how much more I like my bike now that it looks just a little snazzy. I wouldn't want anything too bright or girly or attention grabbing, but apparently I do prefer a little bit of style.

[MomOnBike]

It's not really too surprising that people care about the paint/accessory color on their bikes. After all, the bike is a public statement of who you are. Your public face, if you will. It really is best to get the public statement lined up with reality. You are uncomfortable otherwise.

[Lesley_x]

It's not really too surprising that people care about the paint/accessory color on their bikes. After all, the bike is a public statement of who you are. Your pubic face, if you will. It really is best to get the public statement lined up with reality. You are uncomfortable otherwise.

I hate to be immature but I did giggle at the typo in your post...

[roadie gal]

I really don't care about the color, except that I would find it hard to even consider a pink bike. I would assume by the girly colors that it just wasn't made very well and that the color was a gimmick to get women to buy the bike.

[Owlie]

Yeah, I know the fit and component specs are important, but if I didn't have a color choice, I'd find it really hard to get past, say, a Pepto-Bismol pink frame. I hate pink. I'm not a girly girl. I want to like to look at my bike. I look at it like picking clothing. If, however, I could only find what I wanted on a bike with a pink frame, I'd get the sucker powdercoated as soon as I could!

[sfa]

Yes, I care about the paint scheme, but it isn't critical. And fortunately I like pretty much every color out there, so I could probably reconcile myself to any bike.

I'd tend to avoid black because there's just nothing interesting about a black bike to me. And while I like blue bikes, I have two of them and wouldn't want a third. Boring. I have nothing against white or beige either, but probably would choose another color over them if I had the choice.

Pink? Eh. Doesn't do much for me, but I don't hate it. Could be fun for a cruiser with a cute basket.

I dream of a fast bike in red or orange or lime green.

[ny biker]

I hate to be immature but I did giggle at the typo in your post...

This is why you can never rely on spellcheck...as my friend learned back in grad school while writing a paper for a course on "pubic relations"...

[zoom-zoom]

I dream of a fast bike in red or orange or lime green.

Me too...*sigh* That damned n+1 bike thing is a real curse. How is it that my bike is only ~8 months old and I am already lusting after something a bit more performance-oriented and flashy?

[TrekTheKaty]

I also lean towards a bike that is visible. Never heard anyone mention it may be easier for traffic to see you if you are on bright yellow, but I think it is. Certain colors blend into the background more than others.

Of course, if someone is texting, doesn't matter much.

I'd buy a neon yellow bike

[malkin]

I hate to be immature but I did giggle at the typo in your post...

Years ago, a roller skating acquaintance was selling tickets to a fundraiser at the local rink--you know, fancy skating demo, followed by by open skating for everyone. The poor guy was completely humiliated when I howled in laughter at the tickets for the "Pubic Skate."

They must have special skates for that, right?

[kfergos]

I care, but I don't let it influence whether I buy the bike or not. It can be tough to find a bike that fits well and has the components the way you want; adding color pickiness into the mix could make it impossible. I wouldn't not purchase a bike just because I thought it was ugly. In fact, I rode a red bike for a long time that I just wasn't wild about.

Of course, when I bought my latest bike, I specifically asked for it totally unpainted, so I guess looks *do* matter... So I guess if you thought it was totally hideous and the ugliest thing you'd ever seen, that's one thing. Mild dislike for the color wouldn't stop me from buying a bike that rode like a dream.