Author Topic: Grayson Perry on function and status in cycling  (Read 7246 times)

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Grayson Perry on function and status in cycling
« Reply #25 on: 29 January, 2019, 08:50:44 pm »
Apparently black is consistently one of the most popular colours for bikes in UK but not in rest of Europe. It occurred to me possibly this difference could be an influence of school uniform(!!!) leaving a lasting fondness for, or ease with, black. Obviously there must be lots of factors but commonly cited ones like amounts of daylight don't seem consistent (some high-latitude cultures favouring bright colours, some tropical the same, etc). Most countries in Europe don't have school uniform, forcing their populations to get used to clothing choices at an early age.
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Mr Larrington

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Re: Grayson Perry on function and status in cycling
« Reply #26 on: 30 January, 2019, 09:56:27 am »
Black is the only colour for a Gentleman's Bicycle.  Further proof, as if it were needed, that Abroad is unutterably bloody and Foreigners are Fiends.
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ian

Re: Grayson Perry on function and status in cycling
« Reply #27 on: 30 January, 2019, 09:58:55 am »
I think people buy bikes in the colour they come in. Mine had the options of grey or grey. Admittedly, the Brompton did have a choice of colours. I have a blue one. I'm not so sure why, I'm not actually a fan of blue.

Phil W

Re: Grayson Perry on function and status in cycling
« Reply #28 on: 30 January, 2019, 10:11:03 am »
The colour thing is interesting and applies in outdoor gear as well.  Buy some mountaineering trousers in the UK and you will have a very limited choice of colour. Visit the continent and you will be assailed by a wealth of colour  choice in the outdoor shops.

ian

Re: Grayson Perry on function and status in cycling
« Reply #29 on: 30 January, 2019, 10:33:55 am »
That's the Red Trouser Effect.

citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Re: Grayson Perry on function and status in cycling
« Reply #30 on: 30 January, 2019, 10:45:03 am »
I think people buy bikes in the colour they come in.

Perhaps, although speaking for myself, if I were choosing between two bikes, colour would probably be the factor that tips it one way or the other (because let's face it, most mainstream bikes are much of a muchness otherwise). I don't think you can truly love your bike if you don't love the way it looks. But perhaps most people don't love their bike, because... well, because it's just a bike.

I borrowed a Specialized Crux for testing last year, which came in a fairly in-yer-face 'Acid Pink'. It looked truly awesome. It was a real wrench to give it back. It was a really fun bike to ride but cross bikes generally are. It was the colour that made the difference.
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Grayson Perry on function and status in cycling
« Reply #31 on: 30 January, 2019, 10:51:27 am »
When I bought a mountain bike, I rejected Trek because of their truly hideous (at the time – it was about ten years ago) graphics. But that was graphics rather than colours per se. I don't recall quite such a dramatic visual dislike with any road bike I've ever contemplated buying.

Picking up on the "it's just a bike" thing, wouldn't this lead to black being the default colour in places like Holland and Denmark, rather than Britain? And I suppose it is, for "just a bike" bikes, at least judging from the commonly seen photos of Dutch urban parking.
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Kim

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Re: Grayson Perry on function and status in cycling
« Reply #32 on: 30 January, 2019, 12:49:43 pm »
With something like a bike, I'll always go for function over colour.  But given a choice of colours, I'll lean towards the more pleasing ones: BLACK, darker reds[1], purple[1].  Definitely not anything on the orange-yellow-light green spectrum.  White is just silly.

When I bought my Brompton, I established that the lovely purple that the Birmingham Bromptondock ones come in wasn't an option and went for default black.


[1] I suspect it's no coincidence that I have a preference for colours that - with my vision - occur rarely in the real world.  In a world of blues, greens and generic poo colour, it's the deeper reds that are interesting, even if they become black in low light.

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Grayson Perry on function and status in cycling
« Reply #33 on: 30 January, 2019, 01:55:03 pm »
Cadbury purple would be a good colour but I think I'd go for pillar box red.
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Re: Grayson Perry on function and status in cycling
« Reply #34 on: 30 January, 2019, 02:22:37 pm »
I would quite like a pink Brompton à la Adam Buxton, but the shade of pink they offer is a bit bleurgh.

My next Brompton purchase (when I can afford/justify it) will be a 'Black Edition' because I think the mudguards etc look better in black, but not necessarily with a black frame.

There's a woman who gets the same train as me in the morning who has a purple Brompton and a helmet (urban/skateboard-style, not vented/racing-style) in a very almost perfectly matching colour. I approve of this.
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

Re: Grayson Perry on function and status in cycling
« Reply #35 on: 30 January, 2019, 05:20:42 pm »
The other thing, which everyone knows on here, is that the Dutch wear their normal clothes when cycling to work, the shops etc.
I rode into town this afternoon to visit a shop on my black Spa Audax bike. I wore black Sidi cycling shoes, dark jeans, black fleece jacket, black Rausch ski gloves, black and grey fleece hat, and had a grey back-pack. My bike was adorned with front/back steady and flashing lights.

Re: Grayson Perry on function and status in cycling
« Reply #36 on: 30 January, 2019, 06:01:32 pm »
I borrowed a Specialized Crux for testing last year, which came in a fairly in-yer-face 'Acid Pink'. It looked truly awesome. It was a real wrench to give it back. It was a really fun bike to ride but cross bikes generally are. It was the colour that made the difference.

Having just googled the model, they do come in a variety of awesome paintjobs (including, to put it in LFGSS-ese, a variety of 'sick candy fades'). The only thing that might put me off would be the difficulty of touching in chips. In a similar vein, I do like the 9 Streets Brompton's paint fade finish.

Re: Grayson Perry on function and status in cycling
« Reply #37 on: 30 January, 2019, 06:16:10 pm »
My bike is black. When we were in the shop ordering it, MrsC said 'the other model is a nice colour', which it was - a nice dark green - but it was also the next model up and was another £400. So I have a black bike.
"No matter how slow you go, you're still lapping everybody on the couch."

Re: Grayson Perry on function and status in cycling
« Reply #38 on: 30 January, 2019, 06:20:18 pm »
I borrowed a Specialized Crux for testing last year, which came in a fairly in-yer-face 'Acid Pink'. It looked truly awesome. It was a real wrench to give it back. It was a really fun bike to ride but cross bikes generally are. It was the colour that made the difference.

Having just googled the model, they do come in a variety of awesome paintjobs (including, to put it in LFGSS-ese, a variety of 'sick candy fades'). The only thing that might put me off would be the difficulty of touching in chips. In a similar vein, I do like the 9 Streets Brompton's paint fade finish.

I'm getting a distinct 1990s Klein vibe about some of those candy fades.
"He who fights monsters should see to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." ~ Freidrich Neitzsche

ian

Re: Grayson Perry on function and status in cycling
« Reply #39 on: 30 January, 2019, 07:15:12 pm »
I think I bought a blue Brompton because it was the most favourable of the colours in stock and I couldn't be bothered to wait. Admittedly, it's mostly the colour of London road grime at the moment. I suppose I ought to wipe the worst off before I start commuting again (which my new boss reminded me I'd promised to do, bah). Blackfriars here I come.

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Grayson Perry on function and status in cycling
« Reply #40 on: 30 January, 2019, 07:51:58 pm »
My bike is black. When we were in the shop ordering it, MrsC said 'the other model is a nice colour', which it was - a nice dark green - but it was also the next model up and was another £400. So I have a black bike.
My black bike is black for the same reason, except the price difference was £550 and the colour of the more expensive model (with equipment upgrades I didn't fancy anyway) was a sort of pale beige, and the very top model (a further £1k) was a blue white.
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Kim

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Re: Grayson Perry on function and status in cycling
« Reply #41 on: 30 January, 2019, 08:02:51 pm »
I think I bought a blue Brompton because it was the most favourable of the colours in stock and I couldn't be bothered to wait. Admittedly, it's mostly the colour of London road grime at the moment.

This is why I dismissed the idea of a bright yellow Brompton.  (Bromptons are, for some inexplicable reason, able to look good in bright yellow in a way that proper bikes aren't.)

rogerzilla

  • When n+1 gets out of hand
Re: Grayson Perry on function and status in cycling
« Reply #42 on: 30 January, 2019, 08:17:03 pm »
I only have one black bike, and that's carbon.  I don't like black bikes - they show the dirt (you wouldn't think this, but they do) and they also look heavy.
Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

ian

Re: Grayson Perry on function and status in cycling
« Reply #43 on: 30 January, 2019, 08:18:37 pm »
I have a black bike and it doesn't just look heavy.

Re: Grayson Perry on function and status in cycling
« Reply #44 on: 30 January, 2019, 08:20:37 pm »
Black's the best colour for the simple reason that the touch-up paint matches. Otherwise it's best to have a bike that's the same as a popular car colour, so you can pick up some paint at a local motor factors.

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Grayson Perry on function and status in cycling
« Reply #45 on: 30 January, 2019, 08:22:39 pm »
If that's your main criteria then surely it's best to have an unpainted carbon, titanium, stainless steel or similar bike.
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Re: Grayson Perry on function and status in cycling
« Reply #46 on: 30 January, 2019, 08:25:45 pm »
If that's your main criteria then surely it's best to have an unpainted carbon, titanium, stainless steel or similar bike.

I did have a titanium bike. It cracked around the bottom of the seat tube. As it was a bargain offer from Merlin in Leyland, it was replaced with a black Hewitt Cheviot frame, which has been no problem.

ian

Re: Grayson Perry on function and status in cycling
« Reply #47 on: 30 January, 2019, 08:32:03 pm »
I'm minded that scratches are character building. They'll disappear eventually under dirt or your wife's nail varnish.

Re: Grayson Perry on function and status in cycling
« Reply #48 on: 30 January, 2019, 08:33:50 pm »
Slightly OT but a few years back and saw a Sikh (I think) who had the head wear which was a kinda light purple which perfectly matched the van he was driving.

Wowbagger

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Re: Grayson Perry on function and status in cycling
« Reply #49 on: 30 January, 2019, 09:24:30 pm »
I'm minded that scratches are character building. They'll disappear eventually under dirt or your wife's nail varnish.

My wife doesn't wear nail varnish. At least, she doesn't for me.
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