I'm getting back into riding after a bit of a hiatus, and I can't help but notice that manufacturers now tend to plaster their respective logos all over the components they make. Wheels, tires, bars, stems, saddles, seatposts, etc.

So, my questions are:
1) Is there any way to remove logos safely from metal parts? I've tried various solvents including xylene and Goof-Off to no avail. How about leather? Any ideas?

2) Are there some manufacturers who go logo free on their products, or at least keep the obnoxiousness to a minimum?

(I don't understand why anybody would actually want corporate logos splattered all over their bike and clothing. WTF? If you're going to be a rolling advertisement you should at least get paid for it.)

Thanks

SGS

A number of the logos are just stickers. On frames they may be applied UNDER the paint clearcoat. Otherwise, peel away to your heart's content.

Seems to me that just about everything I own has a label on it. Just look at the bottom of your monitor.

+1 If I could get stuff with or without logos, I'd pay extra for the stuff without.

I agree Sea Green. Unfortunately...there's really no way to do this on most bikes without damaging the paint. The logos are often under the clearcoat, or otherwise attached in a very durable manner (at least on nicer bikes.) I would have removed mine long ago, but I lack the time and skill to refinish my bike's paintjob.

It's really more about the silk screen logos on the stems, bars, seatposts, saddles, cranks, and sometimes chainrings. Can't find a way to get them off. Errrr.

SGS

Exactly. I seem to tolerate it better on bikes, but on clothing... argh!

If it's a decal that's not under a layer of clearcoat, find a hand held hair dryer. Crank up the heat for 30 seconds or so, and voila--the decal will come away pretty easily.

true. stickers and ads are a drag. a friend just bought a rear wheel drenched in yellow Mavic logos. i threw up. however, i'm not gonna lie...i like my old decals on my frame tubing.

I had a Ritchey stem I wanted to get the logo off of. I went up the scale in harshness of my solvents: goof-off to fingernail polish remover to mineral spirits to acetone to paint stripper. Nothing so much as made a dent in that logo. I stopped short of using oven cleaner because I was afraid to damage the aluminum. I cleaned it with wax/grease remover and spray painted it instead. That was 6 months ago, and it still looks great - and if I decide I ever want to sell it, I know that paint stripper will take the spray paint off without damaging the underlying logo. For some parts, concealment rather than removal is the way to go.

I have four custom bikes and have removed or covered up every #$*!^@ logo on my bikes. Then I added my name to each one (I own them, so my name). They look much better to me and I get compliments even if people can't quite figure out what looks different. One guy did have to keep himself from falling off his bike when he found out I removed the Seven logos from my road bike; I told him I pried the Ferrari logo off my car too.