Paint Colours
Old Raleigh frames were dipped in vast vats of paint, so
are black on the inside too.
Bicycle colours don't really matter.
The paint is just there to stop the steel rusting. Yet, that said, colour is the second most important factor in many people's choice of bike after price.
Here are Neil's opinions on bike colours:
Black
Can you be more boring? Black makes a bike look heavy. It's the default choice of over half the men from the West of Scotland, whose residual machismo makes them unable to think of colours as "that's what lassies dae".
Blue
Can be good. There are many shades; light blue is good for fast bikes, darker hues suit touring and utility bikes. One of my favourite bikes, the Raleigh Wayfarer, was dark blue.
Red
Red is good. Red bikes are the fastest.
Brown
It's rare, but tasteful.
Green
Green is excellent, especially the vivid Kawasaki Racing Green. British Racing Green, on the other hand, is almost as boring as black.
Yellow
Unfortunately yellow bikes attract insects and therefore yellow paint is best avoided for this reason.
White
White certainly shows more imagination than black, but looks dirty very quickly.
Pink
Pink takes courage and will fade.
Purple
Purple is excellent, but rare these days.
Tone is important.
Traditionally racing bikes were brightly coloured, and utility bikes more dull.
Touring bikes are sometimes bright, but most are muted to blend in with the landscape.
Mountain bikes should be brightly coloured, as I once spent some time looking for my grey MTB in the bracken after I fell off.
The paint is just there to stop the steel rusting. Yet, that said, colour is the second most important factor in many people's choice of bike after price.
Here are Neil's opinions on bike colours:
Black
Can you be more boring? Black makes a bike look heavy. It's the default choice of over half the men from the West of Scotland, whose residual machismo makes them unable to think of colours as "that's what lassies dae".
Blue
Can be good. There are many shades; light blue is good for fast bikes, darker hues suit touring and utility bikes. One of my favourite bikes, the Raleigh Wayfarer, was dark blue.
Red
Red is good. Red bikes are the fastest.
Brown
It's rare, but tasteful.
Green
Green is excellent, especially the vivid Kawasaki Racing Green. British Racing Green, on the other hand, is almost as boring as black.
Yellow
Unfortunately yellow bikes attract insects and therefore yellow paint is best avoided for this reason.
White
White certainly shows more imagination than black, but looks dirty very quickly.
Pink
Pink takes courage and will fade.
Purple
Purple is excellent, but rare these days.
Tone is important.
Traditionally racing bikes were brightly coloured, and utility bikes more dull.
Touring bikes are sometimes bright, but most are muted to blend in with the landscape.
Mountain bikes should be brightly coloured, as I once spent some time looking for my grey MTB in the bracken after I fell off.
