Dear Bike Companies:

[SadieKate]

Oh gawd. This project is going to take forever, isn't it?

[pooks]

Oh, and love that bike! (By the way there are so many shades of pink. I've seen some pink bikes that I thought looked hot and some that I wouldn't ever want. I tend to love strong colors, jewel tones.)

And I'm amazed nobody has made that Ruby Slipper Bike.

[pooks]

Too bad there's not a "mooning" emoticon, SadieKate.

Just use your imagination.

OO

[spokewench]

Pooks buy a bike that fits you and that you like the ride of. Don't worry about the color - As I posted above, that is what I did and I have a pink and carbon bike. Not my fave but it is what it is. Too bad people are not supposed to have an opinion on this forum!

spoke

[SadieKate]

And I'm amazed nobody has made that Ruby Slipper Bike.

Don't you be moonin' me, missy. Ask and ye shall receive.

Run, don't walk to your nearest Gunnar dealer. These are wonderful bikes made by Waterford. Miss Yellow just got a Roadie. Take a look at the website. They do this nifty thing with colors of the month, year and so on. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and check out May's color: Sunset Red over Fine Gold.

http://www.gunnarbikes.com/

Close enough? I think you'd be very happy with one of the Gunnar models. So pull your shorts back up. It's blinding.

[pooks]

I'm sure I'll buy a bike that fits, perhaps THE bike that fits.

But while the world is my oyster, I can dream, right?

(Ruby Slippers.)

[pooks]

Take a look at the website. They do this nifty thing with colors of the month, year and so on. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and check out May's color: Sunset Red over Fine Gold.

http://www.gunnarbikes.com/

I'm verklempt!

[nicole309]

My bike is Orange and all the guys drool over it. Seriously, the guys all think my bike is cool. Since I am new to all of this, I'm still not really sure why.
I have had two guys ask if I am selling it anytime soon. One guy just wanted to buy my rims. One guy who says he has been riding a bike for 50 years stood by my bike outside the CO-OP just to see who would come out and claim the bike. The bike has been whistled at and flirted with!!
Seriously, I never get this type of attention when I am not with the bike.
Orange is a serious color!!

[divingbiker]

What I really want, though, is a bike all glittery and red like Dorothy's ruby slippers.

I have a ruby slippers bike! This picture doesn't do it justice, but it's a deep glittery red, just as you described. Personally, I don't think bikes should be any color but red, but then I don't rule the world.

[pooks]

Nicole, I love your bike, and the color!

And divingbiker -- is that glittery? It's a gorgeous red.

[RolliePollie]

My uncle rides a bubblegum pink Turner bike...he thinks it's cool!

But he works for Turner and it was a dented frame so I think he got it for free.

He is a very masculine guy too, by the way.

[mimitabby]

I am loving this conversation said the gal who didn't want a Riv because of the color. I'd love to see JObob's bike though

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Am I the only person who finds this conversation kind of disheartening? I hate flourescent yellow, but I wouldn't describe that color in the sort of disparaging terms I'm seeing here. The stereotypically feminine colors are being equated in this thread, by women, with youth, frivolity, a lack of seriousness ... who says? Isn't that the spin that stupid sexists put on the color pink? Why do you have to buy into it? Can't you just not like the color?

I love my pink bike and my pink and gray mountain bike, but this attitude is one of the reasons that I am really dreading the baby clothes we are going to receive now that people know we're expecting a daughter ... pink is such a loaded color, and I think that is just such a shame. There is nothing wrong with pink, but it carries all this baggage: not only is it practically mandatory for little girls, regardless of whatever their actual tastes might turn out to be, if anybody who is not a little girl decides they like pink, they are somehow being girly (in the perjorative sense, if we're talking about a guy), frivolous, or silly.

It's just a color. Don't ride it if you hate it, but you don't have to disparage everyone who does like it while you're at it.

We really dislike the fact that "most" bikes made for women are painted these same "loaded" colors that you yourself describe as being "practically mandatory" for little girls. You're right- sadly, those colors ARE practically mandatory for little girls! Should we all go along with them being mandatory for women as well? Society forces those colors onto every girl baby all the way through high school. Go into any JC Penney, Target, or WalMart girls dept...if your eyes can handle the sea of pale pink, shocking pink, and lavender.
We don't ask that "feminine colored" bikes be eliminated...simply give us a couple of the same color choices that non-women get as well- red instead of just pink or lavender, forest green, a strong blue instead of just baby blue, black or charcoal instead of just white. All we want is a choice.
I am not intending to attack any particular person- I dislike the colors that are being pushed at me just because I'm a woman. (and who gets to say what "feminine colors" ARE, anyway?-another interesting question for discussion)
I've bought cars for myself that were blue, red, black, maroon, and white. I never saw a new pink, baby blue, or lavender car for sale when I was car shopping. I wonder why they do this with bikes and not cars? If there were certain cars that only fit women, would they be only in "feminine" colors? VW beetles come in a great variety of colors, from cream to black to red to lime to baby blue. Women's clothes tend to come in all colors.
All interesting things to ponder...
But yes we are annoyed and frustrated by the very limited color choices decided for us based on woefully dated marketing.

I hear what you are saying, and I don't disagree with everything you said. But if I say that I don't want a pink or baby blue or lavender bike because it's too little girly or reminds me of Barbie or whatever, I don't think that's a terrible thing to say here. Everyone likes different colors for different reasons. I won't get upset if you say you don't want a fluorescent yellow bike because the color makes you hurl and looks "cheap".
I remember when I was in 1st grade...I had a big 64 box of Crayola crayons. I picked out the color that I hated the most...it was mustard. I remember thinkning that mustard color would make anyone just throw UP. I threw it away. Ironically, a few years ago I decided that my very favorite color in the world was.......mustard. Now I like even more colors than that. -And I just LOVE my pink tulips in the garden!

And sometimes- I like movies that are SO bad they cross over into GOOD. And sometimes I admire bikes that are SO ugly they become things of bizarre beauty...and they can be any color to qualify for that!

Pooks...if you get stuck buying a "girly looking" WSD bike, maybe you can make a frilly lacey rain cover for it out of one of those bundled knickers of yours.

[mimitabby]

This is all about self-expression for some of us. Just like some people would not be caught dead wearing, say, a red dress, or even a dress period
some people don't feel right about being on a blue bike, an orange bike, a black bike, etc, etc, etc.

To me, if I'm going to pay more than $1000.00 for a bike, it's got to say BUY ME LOVE ME RIDE ME GAZE LOVINGLY AT ME. And for me, if that was a black bike with silver/grey trim, it would say to me, turn away, how boring.


I think Pooks is coming from this same direction. (and Pooks, that's part of why I went custom!)

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Yeah, it's like if you buy a dress that fits you REALLY WELL and is really comfy, etc....but in a color you just dislike- well heck you are not going to be wearing that dress too often- you just won't feel good in it. A bike is like that for me, but way more so because it's so much more expensive! Colors are very important to me- they affect my mood every day.