Component colours- aesthetics etc

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

Vapin' Joe

Formerly known as Smokin Joe
I much prefer silver components to black. And like @hoopdriver aesthetics matter very much to me. I like bicycles for their own sake as much as I enjoy riding them, and when age eventually force me to give up I would quite happily have one hanging on the wall just to look at, like I would a picture. This, for example -

col.jpg
 

Vantage

Carbon fibre... LMAO!!!
I detest black components. So much so that I took the painstaking task of sanding and polishing my bars and stem.
As far as I'm concerned, a bike should gleam in it's shinyness :smile:
 

Newman8

Senior Member
I much prefer silver components to black. And like @hoopdriver aesthetics matter very much to me. I like bicycles for their own sake as much as I enjoy riding them, and when age eventually force me to give up I would quite happily have one hanging on the wall just to look at, like I would a picture. This, for example -

View attachment 397602
Yes! We all have an image of our perfect bike in our head. I always loved those black quill stems of that era (3T, ITM, Modolo, etc.) matched to white bar tape, and with a silver seatpost - it's just a classic mix - sort of sums up what I feel was the most attractive time for bikes. I also think it's just difficult to put a black seatpost with silver saddle rails... And that spokes should be silver and hubs too - but - had to get black hub last time as silver not available in Campy Record and couldn't afford Royce... And I'm still not comfortable with where it switches over from black hub to silver spoke! Prefer black rims too - again I guess that's an 80's Mavic/Ambrosio nostalgia?
 

ADarkDraconis

Cardinal Member
Location
Ohio, USA
I feel you, I agonized for days on what color fenders to buy (I wanted silver but have a charcoal grey stripe and thought the two grey tones wouldn't mix... but I do have a teeny tiny black striping next to the grey... hmm, so black it was, oh the agony of choice ^_^) and then the panniers needed to compliment everything as well and I wanted a pattern, haha! I think a mix of black and silver would be good, I feel that just one part in a color would stand out where multiple would flow. Maybe black grip tape or saddle would look nice. Aesthetics are an important part of biking, I decided on my current ride over my other contender because while they both were great I thought she was prettier.
 
OP
OP
3narf

3narf

For whom the bell dings
Location
Tetbury
There used to be a bike builder website, where you could specify different colours for frame and components, and see how the finished product would look... I wonder if that's still going?
 
OP
OP
3narf

3narf

For whom the bell dings
Location
Tetbury
I found it, it's here: http://www.fixiestudio.com/
 

MontyVeda

a short-tempered ill-controlled small-minded troll
Go for whatever floats your boat... mixing it up can look better. My components are silver to match the nickel plated frame, black to match the tyres and orange to match the decals. I did have an orange bottle cage but that was a splash too much, so replaced it with a silver one. I think it goes faster. :okay:
 

hoopdriver

Guru
Location
East Sussex
Cripes that is serious. So, got to ask, what would the chosen scheme say to me about the bike, you, the universe?
Complicated! I'm still not sure I've reached the bottom of it! I eventually went with a colour called 'sable' on the paint chart, a sort of mauve which the sprayer said he'd never used on a bicycle frame in over 30 years of spraying. It worked well though. Looked stunning. And distinctive.
 
Last edited:
Top Bottom