MRT2

Here is the thing. It is understandable that the corporate bike shops will display a lot of merchandise with splashy logos, and that pro replica kit has a lot of corporate sponsorship right on the jersey.

The nice thing about cycling is, your choice of apparel is wide open. I see it every time I ride. There are folks riding in street clothes, and others in full pro replica kit, and everything in between. I own jerseys that are simple, solid colors with, at most, a small barely visible brand logo on the back pocket, and other jerseys that are a bit more colorful with either logos or designs. That is part of the fun. So if you want to stick with simple white, red, blue or or black jerseys with minimal logos, you can find them all day long for $20 to $30.

Phil_gretz

My wife has a Cadillac jersey in white. Sweet Giordana jersey that they were giving away mail order after you took a Cadillac test ride. I wouldn't drive a Cadillac, though...

BlazingPedals

Have you never seen someone wearing a football jersey for their favorite team? OTOH, have you EVER seen someone wearing a baseball cap that didn't have some sort of name on it? Did you take all the logos and nameplates off your car? Off your jeans? I guess the point is, putting the name on the product is almost universal. What I always thought was overdone, was Lemond, who put "LEMOND" in the largest font possible, on every tube on the bike.

Grand Bois

I always remove the logos from my cars. They're applied with double sided foam tape these days and are easily removed with a piece of nylon string.

Sy Reene

Have you ever seen a football jersey or baseball cap actually manufactured by that football or baseball team?

RiPHRaPH

I'll chip in here. I've always worn cycling logo gear of retired or defunct teams. Most really gear I like have a certain amount of advertising on it. I guess it adds to the "be seen".
Does a car driver care? The neighborhood kids? A dog walker? no no no.

I think the murdered out look or blank look says that you thought a lot about it. I will assure you more people will talk about you when seeing the extreme lengths you took to avoid logos.

idiotekniQues

It's really not. I have a walk-in closet full of clothes that either have no logo or a very small logo. For button down shirts that's easy enough to accomplish. I have a boatload of t-shirts of which I think none have a logo besides a couple Penguin t-shirts. Some have designs on them or words, but it's not a brand name. I don't think any of my shorts have a logo on them. Pants either. Some jeans have the brand's sewn on design on the back pockets, so that is that. Jackets? Logo free save for my sportier jackets like my marmot, lacoste, patagonia and outdoor research jackets. And those are small enough to be ok.

Gweedo1

Right. Like bicycle manufacturers make their own bikes and gear?

ClydeTim

Don't really care about the bike logos. Jerseys are plain.


I won't pay $80 for a local LBS to advertise. If they want advertising, then you can pay me to wear your outfits!

exmechanic89

I definitely feel the same way, OP. I HATE the look of bikes, rims, seats, bars, etc being covered in brand names. I wont buy anything with a lot of logos - bikes, parts, or clothing.

jsdavis

Muirwoods is model of bicycle from Marin bicycles. Marin names a lot of their bicycles after places in Marin like parks, cities, trails, etc.

memebag

My bikes have logos on them. The one I ride most looks like this:



I have no problem with those logos. I love that bike and I'm eager to tell people what it is.

All of my jerseys advertise the Saint Arnold brewery. I do charity rides (and many training rides) on their bike team. I'm happy to advertise Saint Arnold. I appreciate their business model and enjoy their product. I promote their bike team every chance I get. I get excited when I see other Saint Arnold jerseys when I'm out riding. I'm wearing a Saint Arnold bike team T shirt today because I'm going by the brewery after work to enjoy a tasty beverage and hide from the election madness.



I don't want to be a walking billboard for companies I don't like, but I'm fine with promoting companies and products I like. In the case of a great independent craft brewery (the other big Houston craft brewery just sold itself to Anheuser-Busch InBev) I'm eager to share my enthusiasm.

OwenMeany

On the bike, no problem. The extent to which it is decaled, such branding can be removed (or added to) as a matter of taste.

But, clothing is different. I go with Search and State or PedLA or Ornot, which all have excellent products with minimal brand ID. I don't have a problem with Club wear, but it is the highly branded Castelli type logo'ing or the ProKit wearer that I fell sorry for. Though, I find it interesting that so many here "hate" such persons and seem to enjoy vilifying them for their choices.... .

47p2

Decals/logos on bicycle wheels are too big, too bold, too loud for my liking so I remove them. The problem comes when some of the logos are painted onto the rim or clear-coated/lacquered

Dolan Navigator, before... The logo is a cheap vinyl sticker which is easily removed


After


American Classic 420 Aero, before & after... The logo is painted on and it took 2 days to remove with paint thinners, Farecla, polish.


Fulcrum Racing 7 before... The logo is of a higher quality vinyl sticker than the Dolan wheels above, but still easily peeled off


After

fietsbob

To Much Bother to remove Logos .. I just ride the bike to get places Now. Not really a Roadie buying the latest Kit.
like so many examples show..

Pay top dollar for your stuff maybe the brand Prestige matters to You.





'/,

bmthom.gis

Doesn't bother me. I do wish my CDale was lighter on the logos, but that's what was available, and what the shop I worked at carried. So, employee discount, not gonna complain too much. Mostly shop kit has been bought at cost. They have branding with brands they sell. Have one or two from a charity ride with their sponsors on them. One from a brewery, and a few other, more plain ones that just have the brand of the jersey on them. My Cycles Laurent has their shop name nice and big on it, but I got it as a souvenir when I was in Paris, so I'm quite happy with that.

memebag

Spending a lot of time removing logos indicates a deep, deep concern about appearance. I was raised to care less about how things look and more about their function.

47p2

^ or possibly a deep deep concern about not providing free advertising for the product paid for by the owner

caloso

Whenever we travel I try to find a local team or shop jersey.

FullGas

sounds like something a good counseling session could help with...

exmechanic89

Those 'after' wheels look great. I didnt realize you could remove a lot of those decals you typically see. I'll bear that in mind for future purchases.

47p2

Thanks exmechanic89, best not remove the logos or you'll be told by those in the know here you need to visit your shrink and have your head examined

exmechanic89

It's amazing to me how bad it's become. Lot's of bikes are just total spectacles of branding now, with goofy decals stuck on every possible place they can be attached. The appeal of that is totally lost on me. I can see why pro racers have them, because of their sponsors of course. But on regular bikes? Might as well cover your car in Nascar style logos while you're at it too..

BlazingPedals

How 'bout removing those obnoxious brand and model names on the tires?

idiotekniQues

I hate logos on clothes the most. I find it easy to avoid by finding logo-free clothes or clothes with small and unobtrusive branding for the most part. With bikes it's really hard to avoid unless you go custom or a small potato frame builder. I am ok with my Jamis bike, I feel the branding is small enough and stylish enough not to be garish and overall the bike is sexy. Although I do wish it had slightly smaller Jamis lettering