The effect of different paint designs on frame appearance

[pigman]

Now how did we end up with black matt and grey and all the variations between these two colors to be considered desirable nowadays?

If you ask me, this is more of a top down decision by bike marketing "specialists" of mainly big brands and (I am certain of that) not of what most people would consider a nice color on a bike as such.

I think the way a bike is seen has changed. Back in the day it was about colours, paint jobs, chromed bits. In other words, style and beauty played their part in bike design.
Today a bike is seen as a piece of scientific kit, designed to maximise performance. The more monochrome it is, the more it looks like some spaceship in one of those dystopian sci-fi films and hence the more modern it looks with the emphasis on cutting edge science

 

[Nob]

 

[dorset boy]

View attachment 912064

Look's like a skinned animal !

 

[bikeworkshop]

Bike frame colours follow fashion - the confident, high-end brands drive this forward, the low- end stuff gets in there about 4 years later.
Consider flouro for instance.
Marin c 1988, but halfords by 1992
Then we get the dull dull dull all-carbon finish

Now how did we end up with black matt and grey and all the variations between these two colors to be considered desirable nowadays?

If you ask me, this is more of a top down decision by bike marketing "specialists" of mainly big brands and (I am certain of that) not of what most people would consider a nice color on a bike as such.

View attachment 911823

You'll find now that spesh and other high end brands have pretty pastel-y colours and stuff, no dull black.
Dull black is now mid to low range

There was a time c10 years ago when almost every race bike was black, red and white.
We thought we were going to die of boredom!

 

[non-fixie]

A couple of months ago in Gaiole I had a look at what the Italians are doing these days, colour-wise.

Mrs non-fixie liked the simple and clean looks of this Galetti:



I preferred the chromed lugs (?) and the spectacular fade on this Bataglin:



Daccordi had a paint job that looked familiar:



Back home I checked with my own nearly forty years old Daccordi, and there is a clear family resemblance:

 

[Nob]

An ongoing project that’ll probably get finished in Cebu now

 

[DrDaveTampa]

With artistic ambitions that vastly outpace my talent, I wonder sometimes what the next thing is gonna be.

Imron served its purpose back in the day but powder coat strikes me as the superior technology, at a tiny fraction of the cost. That's probably the answer as we sit here today, and will admit there are some pretty cool things you can do with it. Thing is, given the state of the market for vintage mtb's, even that modest cost can be too much, and there are very few folks out there that can do effects competently. Even a simple fade is beyond the reach of most.

Alternatives?

- I had high hopes for graffiti art a la Squid Bikes but so far I'm just not seeing it catch on. Might need to give it more time; my niece, who is cool, assessed one of my creations, "that's so Asheville." I couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic.
- Wraps, maybe?
- Dip? keep meaning to try that

I've been thinking for a while I might need to grow a beard and learn how to airbrush, and the frames posted here tend to reinforce that idea.

I have a beat up old Klein frame that needs something done to it; am open to suggestions.

 

[jim haseltine]

There's always the good old rattle can (or two).
From this:

To this:

?