[Closed] Prettiest Bike you ever saw?

robgarrioch

Nice, very nice.

Did I miss the part in this thread where it was revealed that the thread title was meant to be ironic and everyone was meant to post the ugliest bikes in the world?

the wifes tri bike, fondriest reverso, still draws admiring looks

You sure they were admiring looks?

I'm with OCB - my perversion is with racks. Odd, I know, but there you go. A rack says this is a machine with a purpose. Bikes with racks are used - important because for lots of bikes and their owners looking good comes before functioning well. Only once a bike is fully functional can it be considered beautiful.

Other than that I'm a steel man. Oddly though, the best bike on the thread is Houns Manitou and the Klein. But the Manitou gets it!

I'd post up photos of my own bikes but I don't want to embarrass myself.

[IMG] [/IMG]Eye Candy :0)

grum - Member

Did I miss the part in this thread where it was revealed that the thread title was meant to be ironic and everyone was meant to post the ugliest bikes in the world?

That from someone that doesn't ride a bike on a regualr basis. 🙄

I'm glad that people like different bikes. Makes things much more interesting.

[url= http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/ben-lomond-pics ]I've been out biking 3 times in the last week thanks[/url] - don't see what that has to do with anything though.

But it's really nice of you to point out that I haven't been able to ride much in the last year and so my opinion isn't valid. 🙄

Grum

Come on then, show us what [b]you[/b] think is pretty.

Have to agree with above re big lettering etc. I hate items, whether it's a car, bike, clothing etc. which make you look like a moving advert.

Three times in the last week.

Wow you're my e biking hero.

Big springs and a specialgiant sticker dont make a bike pretty.

Well it was quite a big breakthrough for someone who hasn't been able to ride much at all for ages due to illness - don't know quite why you're being such a *&^% about it, or what the relevance is to my opinion on the aesthetic value of bikes. 😕

This one is what I would call pretty...
[img] [/img]

http://www.theracingbicycle.com/Wilier_Triestina_1986.html

Big springs and a specialgiant sticker dont make a bike pretty.

lol - nice bit of brand snobbery there too

*Laughs at the overlength cables*

lol - nice bit of brand snobbery there too

Call it what ever you want but it's true. We've had a few specialarsed bikes in our garage over you years and they've all been dog ugly.

Call it what ever you want but it's true.

What, that only a niche bike can look good to a snob?

Grum - Really??

Thats one of the ugliest bikes i've ever seen, right down to the colour.

You could of rubbed of the stickers and put apollo on there and i'd be none the wiser.

If by "niche bike" you mean that it's been built with attention to detail rather than mass prdouced then yes.

Grum - Really??

Thats one of the ugliest bikes i've ever seen, right down to the colour.

Yup - love the colour too. Of course some people are less 'visually literate' so don't understand. 😉

What would you call a nice looking bike then?

Proper LOLs at the handbags.

Like primary school.

A "nice looking bike" depends on what the owner [b]really[/b] wants it to look like.
Vanilla, IF, Wolfhound, Black Sheep or any other custom builder can do this for you.
Specialgiantmarinsantacruz can't nowt snobby about that. Just that some people want more than a Mondeo.

Mine's the silver Guchi thanks Al.

[img] [/img]

agreed cynical-al , singlespeedstu chillout ffs

[i]A "nice looking bike" depends on what the owner really wants it to look like.[/i]

This doesn't actually agree with this;

[i]Vanilla, IF, Wolfhound, Black Sheep or any other custom builder can do this for you.[/i]

Making this;

[i]Specialgiantmarinsantacruz can't nowt snobby about that.[/i]

...not make any sense at all.

If you are trying to suggest that uber expensive niche frames look better than more widely available ones, why not say so?

Yeah this looks ace doesn't it 😕

[img] [/img]

Just that some people what more than a Mondeo.

I just want a bike that rides really well. I'm not arsed about selecting a bike in order to try and feel superior to other people.

I'm not arsed about selecting a bike in order to try and feel superior to other people.

I don't need a bike for that. 😉

Tries to resist posting up pictures of loads of ugly specialarseds. 🙄

I don't need a bike for that.

Clearly.

Where did I say that Specialized bikes were pretty? I just think it's rather silly to claim that niche brands are automatically more aesthetically pleasing than mainstream ones.

many see beauty in the ordinary or mainsteam, the inability to do do is a bit sad IMO.

Bed time stu.

mboy, what bike is that? I think I'm in love.

I just think it's rather silly to claim that niche brands are automatically more aesthetically pleasing than mainstream ones.

I didn't claim that at all.
What i said was that if someone has an idea of how [b]they[/b] want a bike to look the best way to go about it is a custom build.

That doesn't mean that anyone else will like the look of it and TBH I don't know anyone that's had a frame built so that other folks will like it.
The whole thing of a custom frame is that it's for [b]you[/b].

Al
I love all bikes anyway.
Just some more than others.

Oh and you're right it is bedtime. Up early tomorrow for a big ride. 8)

[i]The whole thing of a custom frame is that it's for you.[/i]

Pooh on a stick.

A custom frame is about buying the prejudices and pre-conceptions of a frame builder just like a 'factory' bike, except it costs more and takes longer.

Plonker.

[img] [/img]

I rather like that

[img] [/img]

Just love breezers i will have one some day 🙂

[i]Plonker.[/i]

Succint and incisive, but not particularly illuminating.

A custom frame is about buying the prejudices and pre-conceptions of a frame builder just like a 'factory' bike, except it costs more and takes longer.

apart from the fact you can get it to fit you perfectly, made for your style of riding and it can have all the little design features that make it special to you. I'd prefer to get a tailored suit to fit me rather than a cheapo mass produced one with compromises, why would I not do the same with a bike?

Sorry, don't agree.

Custom frame builders can change the length and the angles of tubing. That's about it.

What if I want hydroforming? What if I want carbon fibre? What if I want a 3D rear end ala Orange 5? What if I want a frame designed to work with a particular suspension setup or device?

Innovation in bike design is done by the big boys, custom is essentially as I described; you pay more and wait longer for a few tweaks on a basic, albeit time served, design.

...and given the adjustability of the modern bicycle, most 'custom' work is done as vanity projects, rather than for any sensible reason.

LOL- that's a big chip on the shoulder you have there crikey, does sir own a carrera and feel a bit aggrieved?

vanity projects

Oi! That's my phrase!

sorry crikey but eh wtf? you can get a pair of shoes from clarks but a pair of shoes made to your feet will feel like gloves in a destruction of simile sort of way*

*I've never owned the latter it has to be said 🙂

No chip, honest!

I've had a custom frame, built just for me, with all my own little tweaks added....

It cost more than an equivalent off-the-peg frame, it took 8 weeks then another 6 weeks to get to me, and I lived 3 miles from the shop...

Bike frames are not that sophisticated, and can be adjusted in numerous ways; I think the whole custom thing is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay over-rated, and is not where innovation and development occurs.

As things of beauty ( a nod to the OP..) they may have a place, but one steel frame is pretty much like any other at the end of the day, whether built in a shed by a man with a beard, or built on a production line with modern quality control.

Sorry cynic-al, you must be rubbing off on me.

In a manner of speaking...

Heh 😀

pretty much agree with you on the custom thing. Tho I love mine!

and is not where innovation and development occurs

no that tends to happen with small frame builders who can play with trends whilst the big corporate design houses are working to a strict criteria.

Carver with the 96er.....trek followed

Frank the welder with the hard core hard tails like the spooky metalhead and adjustable geometry and travel bikes like the sinister splinters

gates belt drives are being embraced by the custom frame boys, if they get them to work the big boys will follow

29ers in general

FFS even orange started out as a bloke in a shed and are still mainly designed by steve wade

big companies have the money and teams to smooth out some of the oddball designs and get them to the mainstream with some much needed tweaks, but a lot of innovation and risk is still taken by the smaller guys

Hmmm.

I think you are still talking about tweaks rather than real innovation.

What I do think would be a major step forward is the development of custom carbon frames at a price point that allowed people to walk in and order one, and see it built in a reasonable time.

The idea that building a steel frame with a few changes to geometry and tube length or swoopiness qualifies it as some how better than a mass produced frame is hard to justify.

I suspect that you could take a steel custom frame from the UKs best builder and get it reproduced in China or Taiwan, in quantity, with good quality control, in half the time, for half the cost.

Maybe I have a different attitude towards bikes than others; I see them as tools rather than objects of beauty, as functional rather than aesthetic, although one does not exclude the other.

I rather like that

If it said Carrera on it you'd be saying the opposite.

no because I'm not a label whore, I couldn't give a **** what others think about the way I look or what I do, so why would I give a shite about the name on a tube? if i like the look of it and it would give me pleasure to play on it then that's all that counts. It's a bit like humping a fat lass 😉

Valid arguments and all but can we go back to pretty bikes.

[img] [/img]

reynolds 953 singlepseed

Depends what you mean by tweaks. I would say a bike as we would define it is pretty well agreed - 2 wheels, sit between them and pedal through some form of connection to the wheel to make it move forward. After this it is probably all 'tweaks' including what its made of, what size the wheels are, how to do the gearing, headset and BB type and size, etc, etc.

I would say a lot of these tweaks came from custom builders like tazzy writes - 29ers, belt drives, chain tensioning systems (black sheep HACS or the guys that do that hinged thing) even frame materials - 953 tubing, bamboo...
I cannot see why having a cheap mass produced carbon frame is any more innovative than this?