Soliciting opinions: black or silver fenders on the bike below?

I used to have black, which I thought looked good and appropriate, because the bike was sold with black first-gen Dura Ace components (all of which except the brakes have been sadly replaced). But now I have to get new fenders and I'm questioning. Any strong perspectives? The plan is to go with fancy Honjo style.

Silver.

Too much black, it needs some more contrast.

Agree, silver. Too murdered-out with all black. I'd go with smooth fenders, not hammered. My 2 cents.

I'm feeling the silver too

Ii is a Vent Noir after all, so noir fenders seem appropriate. Otherwise, I'd probably say silver as well. But it isn't otherwise, so black it is.

Of course, my opinion is worth exactly what you're paying for it.

Yeah, silver. I always say the fenders should match the components, not the frame. Silver matches your rims, stem, cranks, brake levers, shifters, front hub (can't see rear), headlight, chrome accents on the frame, and much of the derailleurs. Only things they don't match are the brakes. And you may need different (centerpull?) brakes anyway if you plan on getting metal fenders that are very wide at all. They don't deform as they're squeezed under old single-pivot sidepulls like plastic ones do.

I have had the same dilemma on my '74 satin black / chrome lugs Paramount. For me, it came down to the tire. An all black tire looked fine with both black and silver fenders. A tire with a tan sidewall, to me, needs black fenders. The tan is an obviously major graphic element, and it plays beautifully off the black treaded section. A silver fender kills that contrast immediately (silver = light grey, which is really close to tan/light brown), and this new found "super brightness" in color never played well with the tuxedo classiness of the black-with-silver-accents frame. The black fenders keep the black-and-tan contrast and visual play while keeping you dry in the rain. Win-win.

Yeah, the conundrum is that almost everything is (intentionally) a silver and black mix to match the pattern of the original components. But the wheels are all silver, including rear hub. And the brakes and headset are black.

I’ll be keeping the Dura Ace sidepulls - they work really well and I’d like to keep some of the original parts.

Thanks for all the perspectives so far!

I vote for wood! Surfer Variation to be exact https://www.woodysfenders.com/wood-b...der-ff-242.htm

I am going through the same process with my red 84 Paramount Touring. I have always loved red and black. My answer was to buy some black SKS fenders to try them out before I made a decision. The SKS fenders will end up on another bike eventually and I will have seen the black fenders on the Paramount enough to make decision before I invest in metal ones.

On your bike, I vote silver. I think they will go great with all the black.

Gold to match the decals!
Brent

was thinking silver till I read this. If you can find gold, go gold.

Might be a bit too utilitarian but I have seen some cream or beige colored fenders that were functional that I think might look good with your ride. The silver rims are nice on their own. Adding silver fenders could diminish their impact and get lost in too much silver. Someone said Noir - I am wondering if this is the matte black anodized subtly polished look? I can’t remember if it is Honjo or Velo Orange that makes those but they could be made to look classy. For added detailing with all the black paint and with the gold decals, it would be tempting to play around with color matched fender mud flaps and handlebar tape. Tan naturally comes to mind but if that is too predictable there are other subtle variations of color, texture, materials or finishing that you could explore with a bike as classy as yours. I have a red Puch Marco Polo touring bike (same family as your Austro-Daimler) with a 25” frame that I had matching red fenders, red handlebar bag and red panniers that had silver rims and which I used Bianchi Celeste water bottle cage and handlebar tape that I thought turned out well.

BTW: I’m loving your rear derailleur choice. Can you speak a bit about it’s performance? Are you running it in index or friction mode?

Have it all: silver, black and gold. And yes, tan-wall tires.

Another thing to think about: silver fenders will reflect the other colors of the bike in them. Black absorbs light, doesn't reflect back much at all unless it's shiny. And then you get into how you want to tune this reflectivity-or-not by getting hammered or smooth or fluted fenders. Maybe that's the real aesthetic breakdown. Or maybe I'm just spouting.

Also: I have some old long-reach Dura Ace sidepulls and they don't wrap around VO Zeppelin fenders (52mm wide) to close onto a Mavic A319 rim with stock pads. But I built a bike with them and they do work with VO 45mm wide "hammered" fenders. For what that's worth. They might work with the 50mm "snakeskin" fenders but I don't know.

The third picture shows the bike with PDW matte black fenders - they really blend in so they’re kind of hard to see.

The rear derailleur works great. I’m running it indexed with a 9 speed 32t rear cog but it can handle a 36. But the shifts are smooth and quick, no complaints at all.

Black fenders, tanwall tires, and maybe tan brake hoods?

I do like the idea of gold fenders but I can’t find any that aren’t hammered (and I really like the look of the smooth Honjos).

Woody's fenders are great, he even made some to a custom width for me about 5 years ago. They may not be right for every bike though. On a black and silver bike I would probably go with silver fenders.

Which is a major advantage of black fenders if you don't want them to stand out.

Silver. There’s a lot of black already, let the silver fenders allows some of the components to pop.

Also, you’ve already done black, try something new! Copper or cream may also be cool.

Awesome bike btw.

I actually think copper colored hammered fenders from Handsome Cycles would look pretty cool on it

Another vote for silver, black is acceptable but as a rule of thumb fenders should match the accent color, which is silver in this case.

Silver, I'm partial to the VO Faceted which add a nice bit of interest without being too fussy.

There is something to be said for painted fenders (coupled with some pinstripe tape.. I loved the way these Sekine fenders, alloy I might add, fitted my Legnano just right...

Well, the people seem to have spoken. I thought this would be a little closer, but no, nearly everyone says silver.