Rebuilding one of my bikes. Red frame. It has silver brakes which I am not changing. Ordered silver hubs.

Had thought of silver crankset and RD and rims, but now guys are suggesting black. These are going to be 105 parts.

What do you guys think? Does a mix of silver/black look good? Should I stick to silver? Is it too stupid to discus?

Do you have a photo of the bike as it exists now? Will the wheels have silver rims? What about bar tape? I think if there is half black and half silver, it won't make much of a difference. It's all about what your eye is drawn to when you first look at the bike.

All silver looks good on traditonal/small diameter tube frames, but looks out of place on more modern frames.

JMO, YMMV

Red is faster.

Sorry to be silly ... No I'm not. Anyway ...

I had to decide what color to paint my aged Raleigh and I couldn't make up my mind so I went with clearcoat over bare metal. So yeah, it is a tough decision.

Black on red looks completely different than silver on red. To me, black on red seems more sinister, more menacing, while silver on red seems almost ethereal, almost celestial. Most younger more competitive people would probably rather look more like Rambo or Terminator .... not that most people even notice that much outside of their own stuff anyway ... Red and silver probably won't look as mean and bad-ass ... but some folks really don't care to look "mean and bad-ass."

Maybe google images of red bikes and find a few in red with black and a few with red and silver and see what you think?

I'd go with all silver components; black too often look like cheap plastic.

Maybe it's an exception that proves the rule, and it's not a bicycle, but a motorcycle, but the bad-assed-est bikes I've ever seen are the MV Agusta F4, which are typically red and silver - and predominantly silver:

I think it's important for the same colors to match, not be 2 or 3 different shades of silvers or reds or whatever. My bike is primarily silver with black but the black is a mix of matte and gloss, doesn't look good at all.

Athena Silver would be my choice

Ok, I have to admit, I sneaked that in. Not a 'real' road bike but I love it. Here it is in current avatar.

Keep it silver. Don't knock the Bike Friday, those things are sweet!

I think silver too.

I don't knock them, my roadie snob friends do. They all seem to shut up when I tell them that while they 'talk' about cycling vacations, we have done over maybe 40 cols on these bikes;-)

Sounds like you need some new friends, not a new bike!

Silver.

The two appropriate choices for bicycle components are

1. Silver coated or rust-resistant bare metal (titanium or stainless steel). Scratches are silver and often invisible when you don't look too closely.


2. Clear coated carbon fiber. Scratches are grey and not very noticeable.



Silver worn areas on black coated metal look bad.

Thanks all. Silver it is. Ordering the stuff tomorrow.

You do realize that we won't let you rest until you post pics, right?

I applaud the decision, btw. Red/Siler can have a lightness while still having a presence. Eagerly awaiting pics of the finished product.

Long long wait then. Getting stuff shipped to India and thru customs is something you guys living other countries need to experience to believe. Hubs and shifters from the US thru a friend. Crank, BB and RD from Germany, thru post, which takes ages. Rims from a local LBS who still has to source from the US.