I was talking myself into getting a new bike this fall and from research had one pretty well picked out. The 2015 model was very nice-looking, but they were long gone, so I was looking at getting a 2016. At the dealer, I asked if he had information on the new ones yet and he did have it on a dealer-only web site. I remember making the comment, half jokingly, that I really didn't care what color the bike was "as long as it isn't flat black." Well, he gave me a funny look and then showed me the 2016 version: flat black with gloss black lettering!

So what is up with this trend, which I thought had more or less run its course? Maybe it's a generational thing since I don't like flat black wheels on cars either, and in fact tend to associate flat black with primer. I don't think that the color of a bike is really a safety visibility issue, but do I really want a bike that's painted like a stealth fighter?

Anyway, I was disappointed enough that it cooled off my new-bike fever and made me reconsider the whole thing. In the end I decided that there was nothing in the potential upgrade that would be worth $3K over keeping my current bike for a couple more years and that's what I'm going to do.