[Closed] "Pretty" mountain bikes. Is there such a thing ?

Here goes a raft of pictures of bikes from the hand made bicycle beard show with platinum plated lugs and wotnot.

l would not normally use the word "pretty" to describe a mountain bike.

However l was out on my Kona FS the other day and passed a couple of guys with a group of kids on some sort of outward bound course.

One of the guys said " oooooohhh, that's pretty" to me. I hoped he was talking about the bike and not me.....lol

Normally I find hardtails more aesthetic and attractive than FS bikes but there's only FS frame that has withstood the test of time and is, in my opinion, 'pretty':

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I agree 8)

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Oh chunky, I believe that's the bike stand at ciclo Montana

Very rarely, but I agree, the Ibis is a really nice design. Designed by a female industrial designer. The recent Spesh FSR carbons have similarly integrated lines that look good to me, particularly between the shock and seat tube / top tube area.

But if a benchmark 'pretty bike' is an Italian steel road bike from the period before loud fluo got cool over there then no, MTBs are just functional or 'stylish' at best.

there is definitely an air of simplistic elegance to those early kona steel ht bikes

exhibit a 8)

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just saw this beauty also 8)

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Ibis +1 always found them "pretty"

Candodavid - Member

Oh chunky, I believe that's the bike stand at ciclo Montana

Yup. Such a blast on that steep rocky stuff on the Mojo.

MTBs particularly Full suss aren't pretty, too complicated, too fussy, too fat.

I love em all, they need to be seriously bad to make me think they are ugly.

I'm with racefaceec90 on this - early 90's Konas, not flashy, not pretentious, but beautiful!

Someone on STW has a really nice singlespeed Niner Air 9 carbon.

To the OP. Even owning the year/colour combo Trek Fuel Ex8 I wouldn't call it pretty 🙂 Especially not with that chainset (sorry!)

Pretty MTBs to my mind are usually hard tails - nice clean simple lines.

Bikes arnt pretty. Some can be lovely but not pretty.

I'd agree, the Kona's and Soul (also the Ibis) are lovely, but 'pretty' ? My Trek is not to my mind pretty, my octogenarian ma thought it so, which got me thinking (in a free moment). As mtb riders, maybe our eyes, and brains, are tarnished ? I don't want to cause any argument, just a musing on a sunny afternoon in HK

Konas do look great, really well-balanced frame lines. Brodies from the late 80s also, where Kona came from really.

dont like those Ibis frames at all, or specialized or 90% of santa cruz bikes, I like four bar designs best with straightish tubes. Covert is a nice looking bike.

I love em all, they need to be seriously bad to make me think they are ugly.

That got me thinking about [url= http://bike-related-projects-and-antics.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/full-suspension-frame-part-13.html ]this[/url] homemade carbon FS bike featured in another STW topic.

Fair play to the builder. He's doing something I wouldn't attempt, presumably learning a lot about bike design and having some fun in the process ... but it certainly isn't pretty

Older bikes were prettier. FACT.
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I'd like to nominate my '99 Dekerf. Now with headtube badge to finish it off.

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Was just thinking the same last night after leafing through the 'trail bike of the year' awards in WhatMTB.

Whilst picking a bike on aesthetic reasons isn't the best way I was mentally going though the whole list of contenders thinking only the bikes mothers could find any of them 'pretty' or even good looking. Think it might be that swoopy downtube that makes a lot of them a bit gawky.

Function over form every time for me.
I still think my Klein Adroit I had a few years ago on the orange and red metallic was genuinely stunning looking bike.
Still a fantastic functioning bike. Wouldn't want to try and ride one nowadays as vastly overbuilt aluminium, great for racing, not so for real long days out in the hills though.

My Marin Quake 7.1 is so goddamn ugly that it definitely fell out of the ugly tree hitting every branch on the way down, its so ugly it's gone way out the other side of ugly, way, way waaaaaaay out the other side of ugly to beautiful.... 😉

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all in the eye of the beholder, there are 'pretty' bikes but also plenty of f-uglies too.

old bikes +1 there are some classic designs that sure are pretty.

swoopy downtube

Yup. Never liked 'em. They make a bike look like a fed snake, or something pregnant. I think I was surprised by a Trek once that managed to pull it off, but that was a special case.

"Thicket" of bikes.

I'm having that.

Actually, to thin it down a little, not ALL older bikes, just those from around 94-97, I reckon.

See what I mean?
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[img] http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/download/file.php?id=181452 [/img]

You can't go wrong with low front ends and curved fork blades like that 🙂

Stanton slackline ti is not pretty but beautiful. Pics online etc dont do it justice

Plenty here: http://www.cycleexif.com/category/dirt-bicycles/mountain-bikes

http://www.yeticycles.com/mobile/bike.php?bike=arcc

😳

When my Mk1 Soul frame arrived MrsMC saw me take it out the box and said "I wish you'd look at me like that"

Last summer it was propped up against the pub wall after a nightride and my mate said it looked "proper".

Still makes bike shop staff come over to take a look 9 years on. I think it's pretty - could do with a respray, but the bike probably thinks the same about me.