Originally Posted by
New Yorker
Obviously, people tend to like the look of bikes in their size. Duh. But I don't believe that's what the OP was getting at when this question was posed.
Look at mens' shoes in shoe ads. The art directors who design these ads can choose any size shoe they want – but they all choose the same size: 8D. Why? Because, design-wise, that size shoe has the best proportion of height to length; visually, it makes all men's shoes look better.
It's the same way with bicycles. Visually, smaller bikes tend to have a better proportion of height to length. They "look" right. Large bikes look too tall, ungainly and unbalanced. They appear top-heavy. It's a design thing. If you're not an artist or a designer, you may well think what I'm saying is BS, but if you have a "good eye," you know what I'm talking about. You can like whatever you like, but in terms of design, smaller bikes look better. It's not subjective.
Er... I am an artist. (Maybe, I draw comic books and cartoons, and many a wall artist has insisted I'm not an artist). Your criteria are entirely subjective. There are many more factors than simply size that factor into aesthetics and balance. Look at the two bikes I posted above. Now tell me which one is more aesthetically pleasing. If you answered the Huffy, your eyes, good or not, are missing and you need to go look for them.
This entire argument is like saying a beautiful woman can only be a certain height. Having dated both women shorter and taller than me, I can say any assertion that height is a determining factor is pretty bogus. Admittedly, it was hard to find a woman taller than me...
A Motherwell can be aesthetically pleasing, as can a Durer. Just like if the Serotta were 48cm and the Huffy 62, their aesthetic would be entirely reversed.
Seriously, claiming that a "good eye" tells you smaller bikes are more aesthetic reminds me an awful lot of the snobbish wall artists who would try and tell me Jean Giraud couldn't draw and his pages were an abomination.
And they'll say the same about Carl Barks and countless others.