mc9000

Anyone consciously try to steer away from bikes or attire that is plastered with company branding?

Maybe it's because I mainly use my hybrid bike for commuting, but I'm reminded of this whenever I visit a shop and see logos plastered on everything. Upon seeing this, part of me thinks:

"Let me get this straight -- you want me to pay for your stuff and advertise your company?"

(FYI, I'm currently looking to get a second bike and am leaning toward a Giant Seek partly due to how understated it looks in comparison)

MikeWMass

I don't wear clothing with logos. I have two jerseys with writing on them; one is for the company that employs me, and one I was required to buy for a charity ride. Otherwise, I go with plain bright colors. My bike and wheels have logos, and if I could take some of them off, I would. I would leave the bike name on the down tube, and that would be it.
The bike I bought in the mid '70's was pretty garish, but most of it was decals over the clearcoat, so I just scraped them off, leaving... the brand on the downtube (and the model in small script on the top tube). I also left the Reynolds 531 sticker on the seat tube.

Jofu

While I understand the promise of your post, it's not exactly unique to the cycling world, besides of course the jerseys with 200 logos on them TVs have that annoying "SONY" or "SAMSUNG" logo on it, coffee machines have "Breville" all over, Nike has their oh-my-gosh-I-will-vomit-if-I-see-it-one-more-time swoosh logo on everything they make...

I will buy no-logo clothing for usual clothes, but I won't let a reasonably-sized (subjective I know!) logo get in the way of me purchasing a given item. I purchase a lot of Castelli stuff for example, and I've learned to live with that Scorpion logo.

Geoff

Jofu

Oh off topic but, you got it good cycling around Marin county and Muir woods! Lots of nice scenery and good climbing to boot!


Geoff

AlmostTrick

Pretty much everybody, no?

Unless you're on a team it does look pretty goofy.

Abe_Froman

I agree 100%, and yea its not relegated to just bikes. Though oddly enough I do appreciate just a small, simple brand and model tag on bikes so I know what they are.

79pmooney

I used to ride for sponsors. Small time; mid '70s. I was given jerseys to wear with the sponsor's logo. I wore them with pride. Since then, my feeling is that I either need to feel that company has made my cycling life better or they should be helping me with the cost. Since most companies won't, I leaver their stuff on the shelf.

Bikes? I don't pay a lot of attention to bike logos and it is not a factor in my purchases. That said, two of my bikes are plain repaints and three are customs that I show the logos of with pride. The two builders have been part of major changes (for the better) in my riding life.

Peter Mooney well before I went to him for a bike. He was a clubmate. 1978 was my season racing after my head injury. I knew it was my last and the each race was my last on that course. Smuggler's Notch would be that last race in my territory as a pure climber. I rode the race to win but crashed 5 miles for the finish. GOt up and chased but was far from up to speed when Peter approached me from behind. He was a Cat 2, I was a 3. The first 18 riders of the 3/4 race caught the 1/2 race that started 2minutes ahead because we rode Smuggler's Notch like it mattered and they lolligagged; doing two laps to our one. Peter hadn't been riding much as the was when he was just getting started in a real shop, not his basement. As a result, he had been dropped.

Peter pulled in front of me and brought me up to speed with a long pull. I came through but still couldn't add much. Peter took another turn, pulled off, grabbed my seatpost and threw me ahead like a madison toss. That is the ultimate sacrifice for a teammate/clubmate. I HAD to get back on. Did and sprinted to something like 10th place and won a minor prize. That summer, post major injury, the highest possible place in any race was, for me, a win.

As the season wound down, I knew that the next challenge of my life was coming up, getting back into life and my profession and that these would be very hard and a major test to my sanity. I needed a bike for the quiet I could only get from riding. It needed to be a place as special as my racing bike but not remotely a racing bike. I knew Peter could build it. Never occurred to me tor talk to anybody else. The bike he built me kept me sane (with a few really crazy rides) and served me very well. Some hard crashes. A LOT of miles. It has spent most if its life where he is not known, but I have displayed his name on that bike with pride (and will soon be getting a new set of decals from him for its second paint job).

There is less of a story behind Dave Levy and TiCycles. I rode a ti bike ~1989 and knew that material was it. Early 2000s I went to TiCycles to have a custom stem (eventually 4) made. 2006 I landed a job where a $4k custom was feasible and went to Dave because I already had a good relationship with him. 2011 did it again to have my dream bike, a fix gear I could ride on roads with any grades as a near 60 yo. Those logos I show with pride also.

Ben

FrenchFit 

I've owned two 'unbranded' bikes that I built from strach. Didn't miss the decals, but I have to say I do miss a real nice head badge, (I had one made custom, other one I ordered off of eBay). A makers' stamp is a nice touch.

Wileyrat

I understand manufacturers logos on bikes, and I understand small manufacturers logos on clothes, but I don't get looking like a NASCAR Sprint Cup car while you're riding the local mups. If you want me to be a rolling billboard, I need to get paid.

My newest road bike has too many company logos, but I got a good deal on it. My jerseys, and shorts can have company branding as long as it's small.

SquidPuppet

Exactly.

The arrogance kills me. The consumer obedience and desire "To be seen" in the "right" brand makes me puke.

$150.00 for a pair of $15.00 tennis shoes? NOPE! And you want me to be a walking billboard and you aren't going to pay me? NOPE!

I remove logos from bikes and components using razor blades, sand paper, chemicals, whatever it takes to be as logo free as possible. I even remove logos from tires. And logos that are lazer etched into components get sanded and powder coated to match the bike. Rims, cranks, stems, hubs, everything.

You want your logo on me or my bike? PAY ME!

indyfabz

No. This looks far from goofy:

caloso

9 times out of 10 I am wearing my team jersey, which has a couple logos you might recognize, but mostly small local businesses who support us and make it possible to organize our annual race and other team activities to grow the support: our LBS, a local microbrewery, a local mortgage broker, a local dentists.

They support us and I am happy to support them in return.

Mobile 155

Must make life much easier for anti name brand people to go to the store. Just buy generic brand of everything. I had a neighbor like that, None of us stuff had a name brand on it. His beer just said Beer, not Bud, not miller, not Coors just beer. He even bought all of his tools from Harbor freight and his bicycles from big box stores. A true no name believer. (Hyperbole for entertainment only, not to be taken seriously.)

idiotekniQues

I dislike logos or brands on any kind of clothing, cycling-specific and everything else. I make my choices accordingly. Logo or almost-logo free clothing gets the selection.

mc9000

Yeah, this is my approach also. I mean, I don't mind Adidas shoes w/ their three stripes, but don't see myself wearing a t-shirt that shouts ADIDAS in huge letters.

FullGas

do you anti-logo types take the mfg's emblems off your cars too...? yeah, didn't think so...

all of my cycling jerseys have logos on them...love my Continental jersey, very tasteful...and I use their products.

the bland, generic Nashbar look is pretty awful...not my style.

shorts are always black and logo-free tho.

Nermal

No, I don't, but if the dealer (new or used) is planning on sticking their decal on my car, I'm going somewhere else. A replaceable license plate holder might be different as it's something I can throw away.

bargeon

I'd love to have a jersey with an STP logo.

SquidPuppet

I do! I hate that stuff. Model numbers or names. Engine displacement or layout. Lame. I won't run a license plate frame that advertises for the dealer either.

You PAY to use their products. And then you advertise for them...for free...

FBinNY 

My bikes all predate the trend to clutter them up with logos. The most they have is a head badge, brand on down tube, and a small "echo" of the head badge on the seat tube. Most have less than that.

jerseys are different, because most were gifted by various teams and companies I had relationships with. So as they say, beggars can't choose. On the bight side, all are fairly old and I believe that every logo is from a company now out of business.

BobbyG

In the 1994 documentary "Crumb", iconic 1960s counter-culture cartoonist Robert Crumb (Mr. Natural, Fritz the Cat) is asked what differences he sees in youth today (1994) vs the youth of the 1960s. One thing he mentions is how many wear clothing with corporate logos or brand name logos.

mc9000

That's right, forgot about that. Great documentary, btw. Ha, I wonder what he thinks now with corporate branding much more commonplace than it was in '94.

FullGas

yep, and it's totally not a problem...

Daniel4

How often do you see car commuters dressed in GM, Ford or Chrysler logos?

jamesdak 

Yeah, I don't really care either way I guess. A lot of my jerseys were gotten on sale somewhere over the years usually. I just need them to do thier job and could care less what's on them. I care even less if someone else cares what, if any, logos are on my jerseys. Of course I'm the guy with one of my old bikes having a lot of hot pink on it so I usually ride it with a pink $8 jersey and pink socks. Life's too short to care about simple stuff that means nothing in my book.