LAJ

Not

Black stem, polished spacers, seat post and cages, weird bar tape and a white saddle.

A polished stem would be my choice. White tape and hoods would go with the saddle and cables.

Nothing goes with that thing hanging off the saddle.

Shadco 

wasn’t representing it as hot but to make a point.

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LAJ

Perhaps you mistook this thread for "What road bike do you have?"

Shadco 

Please forigive me for polluting your most awesome thread. Allow me to hurry and amend my answer to another poster on your thread.

Could you please delete the offending photo from your reply also?

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LAJ

It's not "my thread"

Sierra_rider

My first submission to this thread, my Canyon Ultimate. I know, indoor presentation sucks. Color isn't actually grey, but rather clear coat.

Turnin_Wrenches

I dig it! That's a very good looking bici

Eric F 

High-quality, racy machine. Nice saddle-bar drop. No superfluous accessories. Colored bar tape is coordinated well. All the things are in the right places....

Hot!

LAJ

Hot.
I think that bar tape works. There's always a first time.

Jrasero

Yes, I am part of the full stack of spacers gang.

Jrasero

The Look bike is "Hot" mostly because it having Campy and the Aethos just misses for me just because I am not a fan of the Super Sticky Fade tape. Call me boring, but I prefer the more solid Supacaz tapes

Eric F 

Those are both very nice bikes. However, their hotness is cooled by stem spacers, gear selection, and misalignment of cranks and valve stems. The saddlebag on the Spec is a cooler, too.

I understand that the handlebar position might be what you prefer for bike fit, but keep in mind that it's not personal. This is the thread of unreasonable bike judgement and criticism.

Jrasero

Not that I disagree with your takes, but these unwritten rules and the ability to take a proper photos abiding to these rules IMO have been and always will be arbitrary nonsense. Again, I don't disagree that my valves aren't unaligned and gearing isn't right, I simply disagree on a personal level that it even matters. If someone takes a picture of a Ferrari but the valve caps aren't align that IMO doesn't make it less of a car, maybe aestically for a picture it peeves some people but it's still a super car. If Margot Robbie isn't smiling, slouching, and wearing a hoodie she still is Margot Robbie and is insanely beautiful. Again, you will hear no resistance in me that I didn't follow these unwritten bike photo taking rules, but again I argue that these are bikes and not photography composition rules. In the end with these rules you could have a Huffy bike and as long as it followed these arbitrary rules it technically could be considered "hot". So I ask the question is it bike that matters or is it the rules?

Eric F 

Again...this thread is about unreasonable judgement and criticism. It is light-hearted, playful, arbitrary nonsense. You are absolutely correct that it doesn't matter in the real world.

That said, in terms of the framework of what this thread is about, the bike itself is the biggest factor. An un-hot bike does not become hot because of aligned valve stems, crank position, and/or gear selection. These things don't add hot points. Those points can only be deducted. A bike with significant hot potential can be cooled by setup, accessories, color choices, and misalignment. Generally speaking, the standard of comparison for setup is pro road bikes, and the staging/alignment guidelines this community has established. This thread is the equivalent of the swimsuit competition portion of a beauty pageant.

Also...I REALLY like your Scott.

Jrasero

I get the objective of the thread and know it's light hearted fun, I just feel on a serious note this perpetuation of cycling gatekeeping is what's making cycling less of a sport and more into something that resembles playing golf at a country club. Again, it's all fun here and I understand these unwritten rules, but they are getting into the obscurity of baseball and frankly this is what helps propel the false notion that cyclists are snobs or think they are better than everyone else.

Thank you for your praise but as someone who is married to a Filipino we all know the swimsuit section of the beauty pageant isn't actually the most important part but the interview segment is because all of the woman at that point are in the 1% of beauty so seeing them in a swimsuit to look for minuscule flaws really isn't going to make or break if they are "beautiful" or not

Eric F 

I've been around cycling a long time. That notion is not always false...unfortunately.

Eric F 

Exactly my point. This thread is a judge of appearance, with zero consideration for performance or how well a bike suits the needs of the rider, which are - by far - much more important to the riding experience. This is the swimsuit segment. It's unnecessarily judgmental and meaningless, but I still like looking at hot bikes.

seypat

1. I had to look up Margo Robbie. Must be out of the loop.

2. Is that a rattlecan paint job on the Scott? Odd combo. It's a love or hate paint job.

3. Green chain is not hot. I don't care if it matches the frame. Might as well paint the tires purple.

Eric F 

The Scott paintjob is factory. In the sunlight, it's spectacular (IMO), but probably not for you if you prefer a stealth look (like the Spec in the same post) The chain is "oil slick", and will present as a rainbow of different colors, depending on the light. Again, probably too much bling for some folks.

seypat

I was gonna go with a hot....until I saw that chain. Then I had to go to the bathroom and flush my eyes with water.

bampilot06

Don’t like the rules don’t post. Read the opening intro to this thread. If you want to post your bikes to show it off, post it in the “What road bike do you have thread”. Posting here, then complaining about the “rules” when you didn’t follow them, and then to act as if you are above them is arrogant.

Scott paint job is nice the Hyper wheels look sweet. Is than an KMC oil slick chain?
All black Aethos is nothing exciting.

bampilot06

Wife just bought me that chain for my madone. If that is how it looks, that will not work.

Sierra_rider

Yep...my Canyon that I posted above, is not my favorite road bike I own. The above Canyon is racy and climbs like a dream, but the braking is atrocious and it's not quite at home on some of the more rough local roads. I guess it meets the standards of "hot," but it's very single-purpose...I own it solely for long days climbing the big Sierra passes, it's not the best "daily driver." My heavy disc brake bike or even my gravel bike are the bikes that I grab the vast majority of the time.

Sierra_rider

Speaking of my "heavy" disc brake bike, here's the bike I take out the vast majority of the time. I've had it a few years now, by far my most favorite bike I've ever had.

I'm open to criticism on the bar tape. I know the red tape looked good on the other bike, but I'm split on red or black the next time I need to replace the tape on this bike.

seypat

I'd give it a hot, especially if you could make the silver around the headset disappear.