Jarrett2

I've been kicking around the custom bike deal lately and part of that seems to be picking a color that you like.

Historically, I'm not too picking on bike colors. My favorite ones are the unpainted titanium/brushed aluminum looking ones. If I do a build, I'll likely do steel frame and I understand that has to be painted.

I have a couple of white bikes and while I like the way they look, I always have the urge to clean them. There's always a smudge here or there that leads me to get out a paper towel and bike cleaner and wipe it down. I never really felt that urge with my gun metal or brushed aluminum bikes.

A lot of the blue bikes look good to me, but I wonder if they also show dirt like the white ones.

I'm wondering what frame color you like and why. Also, does it hide dirt/grease well or does it seem to stand out?

obed7

I have 4 bikes that i ride regularly...2 are mostly white, one is mostly red and one is all gloss black...
seems I can not pick a favorite color either....the ones I have painted have been gloss black, i love the deep look and high shine when they are wet sanded and polished out....I actually think the gloss black ones show dirt faster than the white ones.

CliffordK

I like the cheap ones...

It is hard to say that I have a favorite. I'm partial to my old Colnago... which once was shiny blue. I still like the color, but perhaps just like it because it has been my primary bike for many years.

Some maker's marks are nice.. but not too overpowering.

My recently bare metal Titanium Litespeed is nice. It does pick up dirt in the winter... great winter bike. But, it is easily cleaned.

I just snagged a used Jamis Coda which seems to have an amazingly advanced frame for a Hybrid. I think it is a brushed chrome plus a clear coat.

If you're doing custom steel... perhaps look at the difference between chromoly and stainless.

dr_lha

I'd probably go with blue. That or orange, I've been toying with the idea of converting my DB CX bike into something with a bit more style and panache, and that new orange Surly Cross Check frame would make a nice place to hang the harvested parts. But honestly if I went with orange my wife would likely kill me in a jealous rage, or in the best case, make me buy her an orange bike too.

Of course what you really want is a custom built unpainted stainless steel bike....

Jarrett2

Who offers that?

ShortLegCyclist

I prefer bright traffic cone orange, neon green or yellow, or black or dark grey with large components of any of the above colors as contrast, but then again, my primary concern is visibility in busy traffic, not aesthetics.

I also intentionally keep my bikes dirty as I want them to blend in with other bikes on the rack and not look too shiny new to attract the thieves.

Then again, all my bikes are intended for and used for commuting, even my one road bike, which has addon commuting gear now as opposed to when I rode for recreation rather than transportation/utility.

dr_lha

Start here:

Framebuilder List | KVA Stainless

ShortLegCyclist

R + E cycles offers that:

gjhsu

I'm not too particular, but try to stay away from super bright colors. Drawing attention to myself isn't really my thing. I think the grey/orange theme on my Fuji cross bike is pretty sharp looking, but in a different way than I see the black/white/red theme of my Focus road bike.

indyfabz

Why, Independent Fabrication, of course.

That aside, forget paint. Check out Cerakote. Lighter than paint. Tougher than paint. Less expensive than paint. You spray on one coat and bake it in the oven. Enve even allows you to coat their carbon forks without voiding the warranty. Don't know about other fork manufacturers.

This is the road bike my builder built for himself:

Cerakote Coatings: Custom Mix of H-137 Gloss White and H-169 Sky Blue

The photo doesn't do it justice.

This is the one he built for me coated in a custom blend of Zombie Green and gloss white, with application by Paint By Todd:

LGHT

I like anything bright and colorful. The flat black trend is so blahh and boring.

The Alien S-works paint job is a true work of art!

jsigone

why not just paint that new Eclipse you just got?

I like color, so don't dig all black bikes. If I do something custom, it would be w/ metallic flakes, maybe hard chrome the chain stays/ part seat stays

sstorkel

The metal needs to be coated with something so that it doesn't rust, but there's nothing that says the coating must be colored. Clear paints and powder coats are available...

ColonelSanders

I am very interested in the Jamis Coda range, but my knowledge of bikes is not all it could be, so what is it about the Jamis Coda frame that has impressed you?

ExtremeSquared

I'm considering spraying my black frame with white krylon, because it causes contact burns when it's over 110°F in Arizona.

indyfabz

When I saw this it reminded me of something I saw recently:

Bandera

Whatever color you choose, some match to their intended component group some to their school colors, nothing looks as good to me as a custom lugged frame with traditional contrasting panels or stripes and hand applied lug lining. YMMV.

Quality durable post construction metal preparation, primer, base coat, finish coat and clear coat application is a process that is jobbed out by many small builders w/ no direct quality control of the process.
Just another variable to consider when ordering a bespoke frameset intended for decades of service.

-Bandera

Jarrett2

All good info, thanks!

MikeRides

As an teenager/adult I've always rode black bikes, but I really like my daughter's orange frame. I think the official name was "Velo Orange" or something like that. Really bright for riding in traffic, and really easy to keep clean.

The best paint job I've seen is a custom made steel frame painted olive green with a white star on the head tube and a mirrored US flag on the seat tube. The down tube read "Freedom isn't Free." I asked the owner about the bike once, and he said one of his soldier buddies had it made years ago before their legs were blown off by a IED. He bought the bike and had put over 20,000 miles on it in 3 years, riding it in 6 different countries including Iraq and Afghanistan. I wish I had thought to take a picture of the bike at the time, I haven't seen it in about a year (the owner was probably reassigned)

bassjones

I like black. I added lime green DeepVs to my black CAAD9. Adds a bit of color, but next build will be all black.

majorbanjo

My Colnago Master X Light in White (PR99) that I love!

RubeRad

My CrossCheck is "dark dirty blue", which I like for two reasons:

* black decals are kind of hard to see, which makes me less like a walking (rolling) billboard

* it hides dirt pretty well

New_IA_Rider

Baby blue, because that was the color of my first bike.

I also like "off" colors - my new bike is a muted purple. I like copper, khaki-green, anything "dusty." Don't like pure, true, bright colors, or black.

Wittyname

Big fan of not-black, simply because black/white/red has been done to death. Give me purple, orange, or green anyday

TheManShow

I love the paint on the old Allegro's, there was a Metalic Gray with highlights that looked like someone blew Black Smoke on it.