Originally Posted by
boardwalk
I wouldn't repaint it. I don't know where in Korea you are touring but it's better to have a bicycle that blend's in on a foreign tour. I know that first world people want to impress others on their social media with their blingy bike's in foreign places. But I've found that it's safer and people are more open and welcoming if you look like you belong. I've been to places where even having $200/US is more than most of the locals made in 6 months to a year. Just my two cents...
Edit; also 26" is probably the best tire size if you get off the beaten path a bit. 26'ers are only dead in first world countries.
My partner is Korean. Also their median salary is not significantly lower than in New Zealand.
I take your point about not having a flashy bike. My touring bike has rim brakes and downtube shifters. It's not cheap but to most people's eye it looks like a crappy old road bike, which is good. The vast majority of cycle tourists in NZ now ride pretty flashy modern gravel bikes.
A lot of people overthink gear for touring and could do much the same thing with far less gear, but there's also a lot of ridiculous grouching in the other direction against modern/nice stuff when that is also what you can simply buy and not think so much about. Many of the new things are nice.
Option B for her bike is that 26" old mtb in the first pic, so yeah, maybe. 26" isn't exactly dead here either, a lot of people ride 26ers.
Also if you're really worried about signalling wealth, or, your footprint, don't fly to another country. Our flights far outweigh the cost of a powdercoat.