Which color is the fastest?
 

This question might seem trivial, or even silly, but in the spirit of inspired independent research (and since I just acquired a red bike and have some time on my hands), I would like to assert that RED is the fastest color and the best color for a bike if one wants to go fast. My support:

It is widely reported that RED cars receive the greatest number of speeding tickets. Ergo, there is something about the color that increases one's speed. See: http://www.colormatters.com/BBArchiv...nchor-Do-23240

An internet search for the terms "red rocket" returns 60,200 hits, compared to 57,500 for blue; 24,500 for yellow; and just 24,000 for white [sorry, D.G., and I'm not going to include the number of hits for "black rocket" because it doesn't support my argument].

The color red produces less thermal energy than other colors. Since cycling is all about efficient use of energy, this means that red wastes less energy, thermally speaking, resulting in greater energy channeled into speed [disclaimer: I am not a real scientist]. See: http://www.colormatters.com/colorheat.html

Finally, Red is the "most emotionally intense color [and] stimulates a faster heartbeat and breathing." [source: http://www.infoplease.com/spot/colors1.html] In other words, red increases conditioning!

As a footnote, blue is the most "unpalatable" color, so if you want to lose weight, dye your food blue and put a blue lightbulb in your refrigerator.

Go with RED, it's the color to have if you want to ride FAST!

Red IS the fastest, if you're going for the ILLUSION of speed. Red cars look fast. Fire engines are red (but not very fast, come to think of it). But white is clearly the fastest. It's also the lightest, as well. :D

Well, let's consider Doppler effect. Light moving away shifts towards red, light moving towards you shifts towards violet. So, I guess a red bike would be fastest off the line and a violet one would be fastest coming into the finish line. :D

Well, I did a search on "black rocket" since all my bikes are black or shades of black. WOW! No wonder you didn't include it:D:D

I wear a Red helmet so it kind of pulls the rest of me along faster.

Clear coat over carbon fiber, the stealth bike. So fast it's undetectable!
Mud:rolleyes:

All of you are wrong. Titanium is the fastest color - and it won't chip, fade, rust or peel! See below for actual color swatch. :D

Just in the spririt of independent research huh?..........:rolleyes:

Interesting thing about red cars- IIRC the insurance is more with that color.

guybierhaus--are you and Beverly riding buddies with black bikes?

May I simply call you gbh 'cause my deutsche is lacking? BTW, this reply is to Digital "White Bike" Gee, as well. gbh, I believe you have your color spectrometer reversed. BLACK is the presence of all colors whereas WHITE is the absence of color; that is why, in some circles, references to "people of color" leave out, well, people who have no color.

In my further research on this topic into the color-speed continuum, I discovered the following about the color white:
"For the eye to perceive an object as white, the object must reflect all colors (or close to)."

I once owned a white bike, a Specialized Sirrus, so I have first-hand experience with white-colored bicycle speed.

Here is an old picture of my white Sirrus-->





In my additional further research, I learned that "New fallen snow is quite white at about 90lumens per watt and 10,000 footcandles or 10k lumens/sq ft is correlated with 121 milliwatts per sq cm of solar energy." Wow! Therefore, if one accepts D.G.'s assertion that the color white is the fastest and lightest, by extension, a bike made out of snow would be the best if one wishes to ride for speed.

It has been snowing here for a couple of days, and I am now going to go outside and test this theory by building a bike of freshly fallen snow and test riding it.

The Psychology of Colors:
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/colors1.html

"Doctors and nurses wear white to imply sterility."

Could this be why DG rides a white bike???

Hmmm, and how many internet hits do you get for "Titanium rocket" if you do a search?

There are assertions and then there are supported assertions.:)

Nein, Nein

rideon7 "I believe you have your color spectrometer reversed. BLACK is the presence of all colors whereas WHITE is the absence of color; ....."

This is only true for those who color with crayons.

rideon7 "In my further research on this topic into the color-speed continuum, I discovered the following about the color white: "For the eye to perceive an object as white, the object must reflect all colors (or close to).""

This part you got correct. To reflect all colors it must contain all colors. Black reflects no color cause it has none. Shine a white light thru a prism and you get all colors. Shine a black light thru a prism...heck I don't know what you get, suspect nothing. The whole thing is based on what we see reflected off a surface under white light. Put yourself under a monochrome light source (sodium light), and what colors you see? Black is still black; however, cause it has no color, it reflects nothing.

:roflmao: Sometimes you folks are just weird

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I would think the fastest bike would be the one carrying less B.S. on the seat.:p:rolleyes:
Wink

Dude, where am I going to get a black light? Those went out even before disco balls.

I'm going to go with this: "Black is the color of objects that do not reflect light in any part of the visible spectrum. Scientifically, a black object absorbs all the colors of the visible spectrum and reflects none of them." [emphasis mine]

Anyway, I think I'm getting a better understanding of this. Thanks. As to color and speed, I'll stick with my original assertion that RED is the fastest color.

+1 .....on clear over carbon.....then again less B.S. on the seat is hard to argue!

Bill J.

The speed of green is directly proportional with the approach of Christmas. Entering into December, green will bolt out of my wallet at phenomenal speeds.

What he said.

White is right.
White wins the fight.
White is as fast as light.
White doesn't bite.
White defeats the night.
White is flight.
White is quite a sight.
White has no fright.
White serves its knight.
White is a delight.
White is polite.
White doesn't incite.
White can excite.
White can invite.
White is so tonight.

:roflmao:

I have a white bike, and brown eyes. My bike carries more B.S. than others. ;)

An engineer friend of mine said that they wear white because it scares germs. :p

White is a bite
White is uptight
White has no might
White is for the slight
White is like beer light
White is a blight
White lost the prizefight
White has poor eyesight
White is so trite