Paint - Who's doing it right, who needs a slap on the wrist?

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I can't stand the spashing of the brandname all over a bike, yet somehow I really do like how a few manufactuers figured they can put their name in huge letters 4 X in multiple colors around the downtube like the Santa Cruz or the Intense shown earlier and it somehow looks good. My Focus is like that and I think because it's so big and multi-colored the text blends in.

Meanwhile "Trek" or "Specialized" or whatever in normal font once per side looks boring.
 
Trek did have a few cool paint schemes over the past few years, but I think the award should go to Santa Cruz, because Nomad. This thing is the sexiest bike out there, and it looks even better with the Fox 36 with retro, orange decal. Their gravel Stigmata looks amazing too.

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The Santa Cruz stuff I've seen is super well done.
I wish there were more paint options, like a car. The bike I have on order is like a model T Ford, I can get any color i want as long as it's black
Talking to a couple shop keeps they are hesitant to order some of the higher end 'risky' paint jobs for stock out of fear of not selling them.

Seems like the average Joe likes their vanilla color scheme.

I SAY GO LOUD!
 
I wonder how brown wrinkle would hold up on a frame. MTB may not be the best application with the mud but I've always loved the finish on my Kennedy tool chest.
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Where do you put the wheels?
 
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Specialized is murdering it this year. I've built a bunch of S-Build Tarmacs, and they're each like a work of art. That blue S-Works is one of the sickest paint jobs out. It's a deep metal flake that sparkles in sunlight. And the S-Works Tarmac is ballsy from a big manufacturer, produce a 10K bike with no visible logos on it. Same with the Fatboy carbons, logos are under the DT so you can't see what bike it is.

IMO - Trek has come a long way in the MTB department, but the road bikes still say Trek from any side 8 times. I have one in the shop at the moment, I'll post later. It says Trek 20 times on the frame and fork. Not to mention the shop that built it also left all the warning and sizing stickers on it so it looks even more terrible. PPS - Shops that do that, STOP. Peel the god damn warning stickers off before you deliver a bike to the customer, we're not Sports Authority. You know who you are.
 
I wonder how brown wrinkle would hold up on a frame. MTB may not be the best application with the mud but I've always loved the finish on my Kennedy tool chest.
kennedy-26-11-drawer-journeyman-machinist-tool-chest-52611.jpg

Where do you put the wheels?

My Rusty bike had a textured brown powder. While it looked insane, it peeled quickly and I had to re-paint the frame.
 
I wonder how brown wrinkle would hold up on a frame. MTB may not be the best application with the mud but I've always loved the finish on my Kennedy tool chest.
kennedy-26-11-drawer-journeyman-machinist-tool-chest-52611.jpg

Where do you put the wheels?
such a classic piece right there.... how many drawer pull tabs are still in tact?
 
I can't stand the spashing of the brandname all over a bike, yet somehow I really do like how a few manufactuers figured they can put their name in huge letters 4 X in multiple colors around the downtube like the Santa Cruz or the Intense shown earlier and it somehow looks good. My Focus is like that and I think because it's so big and multi-colored the text blends in.

Meanwhile "Trek" or "Specialized" or whatever in normal font once per side looks boring.
my trek has it on the downtube... its a 2012. in 13' it just got better.

i do love the "hidden space" logo of the santa cruz downtube though....
 
I don't like any of the big companies' paint jobs. Neither paint nor powdercoat holds up well on a mountain bike. My last 3 aluminum bikes (Ellsworth, Santa Cruz and Maverick) were all anodized and looked great for years. I ride a Ti bike now so no paint. That said, Dave Wiseman's bikes are works of art. The solid greenish one is matched to a classic Thermos color, which was a pretty cool idea.
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