COLOR!  Finally, a bike forum topic to which I can speak with some degree of expertise.  Thirty-four years of my adult life was spent working for a major paint company.  Color was my business.

I've never had a custom-built bike with a custom color (and probably never will), and I've never asked a bike shop to order in another color of a bike I wanted.  I've always bought my bikes off-the-rack.  As a color specialist, I'll share a little secret: the best bicycle color is usually whatever color is on the frame of your newest bike.  That was true throughout my cycling history--my fire engine red tricycle, my forest green hardware store stingray, my frost white ten-speed, my subdued gold Motobecane road bike, my jet-black hybrid, my bronzed god Trek mountain bike, my coal black and silvery silver roadie bike, and my Pearl hued The Reckless Mr. Bing Bong.  I loved all of the colors.

I had no color in mind when I walked into a River Falls, WI bike shop in early 2022.  I only saw they were the only place that had a Surly Disc Trucker in-stock during those supply chain problems in the Covid years.  (My first choice, a Surly Ogre was nowhere to be found in the tri-state area.)  At the time, color didn't matter to me at all, but when I saw the bike had the same color as my favorite Hot Wheels car from the 1970's, I had to have it.

I like the idea of a svelte and sexy bike, but I'm already worried enough about my pride and joy being nicked, particularly as I'm generally a solo tourist. So I don't want her to attract attention, and have therefore also avoided encumbering her with rear spoilers, lowered suspension or a racing exhaust.

Also, my bikes tend to take a beating when I'm travelling, and if I get too hung up on the looks aspect then I honestly think I'd spend a lot of my time feeling slightly upset at every new dink and scratch. I don't know why the damage constantly appears, by the way, it's not as if I fall off regularly, or wear cowboy spurs, but bicycle paint does seem to be a lot less resilient than car paint. Is that just me?

So I went for black for my tourer, which I think is suitably anonymous. I do love the look of those streamlined and shimmering carbon things that occasionally buzz past me. But then I read posts on other forums from owners panicking about hairline cracks or paint imperfections on their expensive frames, and I feel glad to have a fulfilling relationship with a slightly less preened steel beast. I love her for more than her looks, and who wants to be in a high maintenance relationship?

Coloured socks are a good way to demonstrate individuality, though... 😁

I've had several colours of bikes over the years, but until recently, the colour had never been determined by me.  I remember blue bikes as a kid, my first ten-speed (which I never really rode because it was a kiddie bike and I was 14) was dark red (I think), the two mixtes that followed it were dark green and then red, my first real touring bike, the too-big Miyata, is metallic blue, my old and newer road bikes are red, my mountain bike is black.  The only one of these choices that was influenced by colour is my newer road bike--it wasn't pink, like most of the other "women's" road bike were in 2013.

My bike purchases after those were custom so I had a choice.  What did I do with the choice?  The Co-Motion is metallic black, the only one of their no-extra-price paint offerings I really liked.  And it's really dinged up from travelling in its S&S case.

My fully-custom titanium bike is just that, bare brushed titanium.  Scratches can be buffed out with a scotchbrite pad, though I've never had to do that, even after 4 round trips in a case.  I paid for custom paint on the carbon fork, though, and there are some nicks there.

Frame color is pretty much a non-issue for me.  I really don't care what color the frame is, but I do think it should have a color.  A colorless frame would just be weird.  I wouldn't ride a pink bike, of course, because real men don't ride pink bikes.  However, pink looks a lot like light rose, and a light rose bike would be just fine with me.  Besides, if you pedal fast enough, it's difficult to tell what color the bike is anyway because it goes by in such a blur.  And if you pedal really, really fast, the air friction will burn off the paint and no one will know what color it once was.  

Whatever color you prefer, I would suggest checking out a custom name decal from Pegatin.com  - I have these decals on both sides of the top tube of my touring bike, and I think it makes an otherwise plain bike look like a real custom job.   They were surprisingly inexpensive when I got mine. In the photo below it appears that there is some smearing beneath my name - there is really nothing there, it's just a hastily-taken photo; 

If I was having a custom frame built, it would likely be fire engine red with yellow lightning stripes. Or maybe some other color combination. Why would I care? But not pink, because, you know...

I think bikes are beautiful things.  So, to me, the color is important.  A good paint job sometimes can really make a bike look remarkable.   Jeff Lee has a lovely fixie that is gorgeously orange - it makes my heart skip a beat every time I come across a picture of it.   

Some colors just work all the time, too.  Bianchi « celeste » is an example of a great iconic color that makes any bike look amazing.  (Jacinto’s bike looks pretty close to that in the picture, actually)

I don’t worry too much about my bikes getting stolen.  I generally never let them out of my sight unless they’re in some kind of secure storage location.  The chance to own a really beautiful thing outweighs any concern about thieves.

I recently bought myself a new single bike for a significant birthday (I’m not admitting which one). I like the manufacturer, but the fact that I could order a custom color clinched the deal for me.   They let you pick any RAL color.  I was in heaven and spent many happy hours looking at paint samples, trying to pick the perfect color for my new toy.

I picked RAL 9012 « Clean Room White », and I think the bike is absolutely beautiful.  It makes me happy every time I look at it.  That’s worth a lot to me.

Of course we need a photo, the better to share your joy!

<blush>

OK, since you insist.  :)

Wow.... truly a thing of beauty.

Jeff Lee has a lovely fixie that is gorgeously orange - it makes my heart skip a beat every time I come across a picture of it.   

Thanks! That gives me an excuse to post a photo of it ;)

There is a practical consideration that has already been alluded to. Light colors, such as white or yellow, make it easier to spot cracks in the frame. Dark colors make that harder. The downside is that if you are, like me, well over 6 feet tall and ride a rather large frame, something like white or yellow makes it even more conspicuous.