Would I be mad not go for a barber's pole if getting a Mercian?

[Oxford_Guy]

As some of you have read, I have a Mercian Strada Speciale on order, whilst I have the spec for this pretty nailed-down, I'm still agonizing somewhat over the paint colour choice and other decorative options - in particular whether or not to go for a "barber's pole". A barber's pole, whilst not unique to Mercian, does seem quite quintessentially a thing to have on a Mercian bike and I have liked the examples I've seen on other Mercians (mostly tourers or audax types), so was considering getting one put on my Strada Speciale road bike.

After looking through dozens of photos of Mercian's and other classic lightweights and having a think, I'm not so sure it's what I want for my road bike, though, partly because of the interesting lugs on the Strada e.g. the seat stay/seat tube lug, in particular, is something of a work of art and I think looks stunning when in a contrasting colour to a plain white seat tube, as here:

[click to expand]





Whereas with a barber's pole, this lug work potentially gets a bit "lost".

So I'm now thinking instead a barber's pole, just going for a full-length (pearl) white seat tube (and headtube), but with multiple coloured bands - either in the main colour or possibly red (if the main colour is not red or orange).

Something like this (I presume on this Professional, it was also to show of the lugs)



or



or



Alternatively, I'm also liking the traditional bands and panel look, especially in blue (wish I knew which Mercian blue the below was!):



BTW my bike will have a 53cm c-t frame, so the seat tube is not very long. which may also limit decorative possibilities a bit.


But would I be mad not go for a barber's pole if getting a Mercian? It seems to be the done thing...

[Oxford_Guy]

As opposed to:

[Mrs Pingu]

I think the mix of metallic and white is odd.
Having said that, out of those posted the blue one is the nicest.

[ElyDave]

I tend to prefer the "less is more" aesthetic. 

I like the two colour or panel options

[rogerzilla]

Panels look great but are probably very expensive.  Argos charge £40 per panel, which doubles the respray cost if you have all four main tubes done.

[Oxford_Guy]

Panels look great but are probably very expensive.  Argos charge £40 per panel, which doubles the respray cost if you have all four main tubes done.

I think they're included in the cost, unless you go for something really fancy. Barber's Pole is £95 extra, I think.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Asking random strangers on the internet for advice on subjective personal aesthetic judgments is fraught with danger, but you have asked, so: the barber's pole is camp. Almost twee. Prissily ostentatious even. Whereas the three-band, the two-stripe and the contrasting-panel designs are all striking, simple and elegant.

[Oxford_Guy]

I think the mix of metallic and white is odd

That's why I was thinking of white *pearl*

[rogerzilla]

I'm with Cudzo: the barber's pole is an affectation.  I'm not really into the new-vintage thing (it's cheaper to buy the real thing and have it refurbed) but the blue one above looks best to me.  Except the non-aero brake levers, which are a step too far in the pursuit of cod-vintage style; the outers always get kinked.

[Oxford_Guy]

I'm with Cudzo: the barber's pole is an affectation.  I'm not really into the new-vintage thing (it's cheaper to buy the real thing and have it refurbed) but the blue one above looks best to me.  Except the non-aero brake levers, which are a step too far in the pursuit of cod-vintage style; the outers always get kinked.

I'll be using "aero" 10-speed Campagnolo Veloce Ergos (2006 vintage) plus silver alloy Veloce/Centaur drivetrain and Chorus hubs. A bit retro, but easy to live with.

One advantage of buying "new retro" is being able to get a custom fit, as well as fancier steels. But I agree it's not the cheapest route. The bike in question will be a 50th birthday gift to self BTW.

[Jakob W]

De gustibus and all that, but I'd not call a barber's pole prissy or an affectation (ostentatious might be a fair cop...); to my mind it signifies a certain joie de vivre on the owner's part. [Ed.: Well, he would say that, wouldn't he?] 

But the other options are equally redolent of classic Brit handbuilts; if you want to show off the lug work, then contrast seattube and bands work well. At the end of the day it's a steel frame; a couple of years down the line you can always get it resprayed and try out another look.

[Oxford_Guy]

Thanks for the (robust in some cases!) feedback, whilst I think a barber's pole can look nice on a bike, this is pushing me a little more into abandoning that idea (which I was already considering doing) for my bike, especially as the feedback on the other options seems pretty positive.

Am also currently trying to decide between orange or a blue (possibly with red stripes), I like green, but already have two green bikes and fancy something different. The problem with going for blue is that I can't figure out which one to go for, Mercian offer a number, but I was only able to see a few examples actually built up into frames. Something light-ish, but not *too* light. Was thinking of #12 Metallic Blue Polychromatic and #46 white pearl, but #12 may be *too* sparkly.

https://www.merciancycles.co.uk/frames/colours/

I don't know which of Mercian's blues the bike near the foreground (behind the yellow bike) in this photo is, but I like it very much - I may ask Mercian if they know.

[click to expand]

[rogerzilla]

Red stripes on blue are a mistake - they will dance in front of your eyes like a bad PowerPoint slide.

Blue and white or blue and cream work well, as do orange and white or orange and cream.

The pastel/Peugeot blues can look good on a traditional frame.  They wouldn't normally be metallic.  This one works quite well, I think: http://www.classiclightweights.co.uk/bikes/ernie-clements-rb.html?sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiAu73ly-7cAhXsIMAKHW_3CSoQ9QEwC3oECAsQBw (chain's a bit slack).

[Cudzoziemiec]

I reckon orange with black works well too. But this is the trouble: chacun a son gustibus! Oh, and I agree with not getting green if you've already got two green bikes. I'd go for red on the same basis (never had a red bike!).

[Oxford_Guy]

Red stripes on blue are a mistake - they will dance in front of your eyes like a bad PowerPoint slide.

You may have a point...

Blue and white or blue and cream work well, as do orange and white or orange and cream.

The pastel/Peugeot blues can look good on a traditional frame.  They wouldn't normally be metallic.  This one works quite well, I think: http://www.classiclightweights.co.uk/bikes/ernie-clements-rb.html?sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiAu73ly-7cAhXsIMAKHW_3CSoQ9QEwC3oECAsQBw (chain's a bit slack).

Nice, but that blue is a bit lighter than I was thinking of, I was thinking of more something like this (not sure which Mercian blue this is), without the chrome:



But not quite as dark as this old Legano:

https://www.bricklanebikes.co.uk/legnano-road-bike-blue

[Brucey]

almost pointless looking at pictures of polychromatic/pearlescent paints on a computer monitor; they don't show anything like their true appearance, which is how come you can't tell whether a bike is 12,16,37,47,58, or 61 on a computer, whereas is it not that difficult in the flesh.

The ideas that a barber's pole has to look affected and/or hide the lugwork are basically nonsense



it all depends on how it is done. For example you could have the head tube and seat tube in white, with a truncated barber's pole in the main colour on the seat tube, a bit like the one above.

Or looking at this one

or this one


the seat tube above and below the (truncated) barber's pole would be in the contrast colour not the main colour.

As I mentioned previously if you want the bike to look cohesive then it is worth thinking about the colours of the other parts such as saddle, bar tape, tyres and mudguards.

Coloured bands are Ok but they are arguably a bit dull, especially if the bike is meant to be 'special'.

cheers

[Oxford_Guy]

almost pointless looking at pictures of polychromatic/pearlescent paints on a computer monitor; they don't show anything like their true appearance, which is how come you can't tell whether a bike is 12,16,37,47,58, or 61 on a computer, whereas is it not that difficult in the flesh.

The problem is finding examples in the flesh, Mercian only had a few example frames in blues, they had a thing on their wall with short lengths of tubing painted, but it's still not so easy to tell from that, as opposed to a full frame.

The ideas that a barber's pole has to look affected and/or hide the lugwork are basically nonsense

<snip>

it all depends on how it is done. For example you could have the head tube and seat tube in white, with a truncated barber's pole in the main colour on the seat tube, a bit like the one above.

Or looking at this one

<snip>

the seat tube above and below the (truncated) barber's pole would be in the contrast colour not the main colour.

True, there are ways in which the lug work can still be shown off with a truncated barber's pole

As I mentioned previously if you want the bike to look cohesive then it is worth thinking about the colours of the other parts such as saddle, bar tape, tyres and mudguards.

If going for blue and white, would probably go for black saddle, white cable outers and either white or black bar tape, tan-walled tyres, silver rims

Coloured bands are Ok but they are arguably a bit dull, especially if the bike is meant to be 'special'.

Perhaps, though I was thinking of edging the bands (and the clover leaf lug cutout outer lining) with gold, which would give a bit more bling, and the silver Campagnolo components will also add some class.

[ElyDave]

I'd go for British racing green, or Ferrari red, everyone knows they're the fastest colours.

Stripes, white?

[Ben T]

Could go the whole hog and get "GENT'S HALF PRICE ON FRIDAY" emblazoned on the top tube   

[Oxford_Guy]

Could go the whole hog and get "GENT'S HALF PRICE ON FRIDAY" emblazoned on the top tube   

 

[Oxford_Guy]

I'd go for British racing green, or Ferrari red, everyone knows they're the fastest colours.

Stripes, white?

Both my Hewitt Cheviot and Brompton are British Racing Green, don't need another green bike! Red is possibly a bit too "Italian", but I dare say would look good on the Strada Speciale frame and I haven't ruled it out.

[Paul H]

Have you looked at the Paul Smith Mercians? 
No need to be so conservative you can have it all.

[Oxford_Guy]

Have you looked at the Paul Smith Mercians? 
No need to be so conservative you can have it all.

Not really my style, when it comes to bikes I'm more traditional

[LEE]

Mercian did a respray for me with white banding on the downtube.  That's my preferred option BUT it wasn't a Mercian frame.

I think the Mercian Barbershop Pole is so iconic that I'd go for it.

[Blodwyn Pig]

never been a fan of the barber shop pole thing, I had white banding on the BJ. Barber shop seems odd, as it never starts and never finishes, BUT if it could be made to rotate!! ah, but thats just silly.
100_1761_zps86f3002d by mark tilley, on Flickr


here was Blodwyn's banding