Patina

[beepbeep]

Re:

Personally I'm a fan of patina, as long as it's honest and looks fitting (not too little, not too much).

To me it shows character and tells stories - battle scars if you will. I've owned two ex-team frames, both of which had their fair share of patina. It felt like I had a closer understanding of the their past - one I imagined picking up scratches from flying stones tearing down Mammoth Mountain, the other being baked in the hot Italian sun on long stage races. All adding a certain je ne sais quoi to rides.

But with anything that deals aesthetics though beauty is definitely in the eye of the beholder.
As mentioned earlier in the thread, it's the same in the car world, some love the patina look, others frown upon it. One of my favourite looks at the moment is patina mixed with brand new. For example an unrestored seventies muscle car with faded paint, miss-matched panels, peeling stickers and rust patches, but wearing shiny wheels and tyres. Much more soul than a polished fully restored one IMHO.
I'm putting together a Colnago at the moment that'll hopefully have a nice mix of patina meets new.

In the words of the great Bart Simpson "Bones heal and chicks dig scars"

 

[xerxes]

Re:

I had an old Mini with loads of patina all over it; in some places you could see daylight right through the patina.

 

[kingbling]

Yeah my MK3 Cortina failed its MOT because of Patina

 

[Bowie]

Re:

Can't beat a nice bit of patina

 

[kingbling]

Re: Re:

Can't beat a nice bit of patina

You can beat it with a respray

 

[fettler]

Re:

It's easier to make something look like new than it is to make it look like it's been kissed with 30 years of California sun.

I prefer my bikes to look like they can tell a tale or two. Each to their own.

 

[kingbling]

Apparently you can fake anything "Fauxtina" anyone :facepalm:

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/thre ... old.81686/

 

[k-rod]

The funniest/saddest thing of all, is that 45 yrs ago we used to buy card-board stiff bluejeans (Lees, Levis, or Wranglers were the only options ... followed a few years later by Seafairers - which newest brand were even then already made from a slightly thinner fabric) that fit like industrial cloths (which is what they were), and wore them for months and months and months before they faded and wore and 'gave' to a point that they looked personalized and cool, and fit great (always best right after a wash and spin dry); only then to eventually give way to distress tears in the knees over time, thus requiring (wahoo) a cool patch or two (of course, after further deconstruction in the high-wear areas, the gals would then cut them off reeeally short into hot-pant style cut-offs, all nicely frayed at the bottom!).

Now ... people spend hundreds of dollars for super-thin, made-in-Bangladesh fabric jeans that have been acid/stone/spun washed to death, and then their fabricators cut or tears in faux-distress damage ... all so you can 'feel cool' right out of the box(mall) ...

manufacturing an (false) image of cool ... while charging a small fortune for crap?

 

[hamster]

I think there is a continuum:
showroom fresh >>> lightly used >>> heavily used >>> looks like it's been in the canal for a year.

It's a difficult choice, I have a Witcomb with generally tolerable paint but the transfers have flaked off. A lightly used frame with fading and signs of ageing I would keep as-is. Mine remains a bit of a dilemma. I'll probably repaint it eventually, although I've probably got too many bikes...

What I dislike are over-restored frames that look better than new that don't get ridden to avoid 'spoiling' them.

 

[pigman]

Re:

Likening it to people, which is the best look for a 50 year old?

Laughter lines, balding, the odd capped tooth and a story to tell ... or ...
botox, wig, A1 smile and a sanitised personality

I know which one I choose to sit with and talk to