End of decal obsession

Amen. I try to wear no logos on my clothes. I wear a baseball cap with no logo, too. I refuse to pay
my money to provide free advertising. I wish my car had no nameplate, and I'm thinking about
removing it. (It's a Volvo 240 wagon, I'm sure people could identify it without a nametag). Maybe
I'll write a different name, like Mercedes, on it. (not!) Truly classy items don't plaster
themselves with dumb logos. Next time I paint my bike, it will have no logos, too.

Michael Pearlman said:

A biking companion of mine just recovered from his obsession with decals. He now has a nice old
English touring bike repainted with NO DECALS at all. It looks wonderful and advertises nothing.

----- Original Message ----- From: "Michael Pearlman" <[email hidden]> Newsgroups:
rec.bicycles.tech Sent: Saturday, March 22, 2003 11:59 AM Subject: End of decal obsession

Quoted message said:

A biking companion of mine just recovered from his obsession with decals.

....cut

I assemble and ride bikes using good qualiity parts usually with titanium frames. My bikes are a
conveince so I lock and leave them when shopping, touring etc. which some people find odd as they
never let their bikes out of their sight when they are not locked up at home.

I always remove Decals and logos from components whenever possible, avoid fancy paint and
shiny bits.

It seems to work, a dull grey frame without big springs and go-faster stripes seems to be invisible
to theives when locked with a kryponite U lock and cable around the wheels. retep

[email hidden] (Michael Pearlman) wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

A biking companion of mine just recovered from his obsession with decals. He now has a nice old
English touring bike repainted with NO DECALS at all. It looks wonderful and advertises nothing.

To me a bike frame looks rather bare without any decals at all. After I painted one bike black I
found some great looking Kuwahara decals that faded from orange to yellow. On the black bike they
looked perfect; in fact many of my friends used to joke about my rare French Kuwahara (the bike is
an old Gitane).

I suppose you could put different decals on your bike every time you repaint it and other cyclists
might think you have a new bike. If you don't want any logos on your bike you can always put your
own name on the down tube; that would make your bike unique anyway.

best, Bruce

"Gary Smiley" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Amen. I try to wear no logos on my clothes. I wear a

baseball cap with

Quoted message said:

no logo, too. I refuse to pay my money to provide free

advertising.

Me too.

Matt O.

"peter" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I assemble and ride bikes using good qualiity parts

usually with titanium

Quoted message said:

frames. My bikes are a conveince so I lock and leave them

when shopping,

Quoted message said:

touring etc. which some people find odd as they never let

their bikes out of

Quoted message said:

their sight when they are not locked up at home.

I always remove Decals and logos from components whenever

possible, avoid

Quoted message said:

fancy paint and shiny bits.

It seems to work, a dull grey frame without big springs

and go-faster

Quoted message said:

stripes seems to be invisible to theives when locked with

a kryponite U lock

Quoted message said:

and cable around the wheels.

This is the main thing I like about Ti bikes -- a low-key appearance, and permanent,
no-maintenance finish.

The one thing I don't like about my current bike is that it might be a little too flashy.

An older photographer friend used to put black tape over the logos on his cameras. He used to say,
"Thieves only know names, not cameras." In years of travel to countries known for lightfingered
types, he never had one stolen.

Matt O.

(Bruce Jackson) said:

[email hidden] (Michael Pearlman) wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

A biking companion of mine just recovered from his obsession with decals. He now has a nice old
English touring bike repainted with NO DECALS at all. It looks wonderful and advertises nothing.

To me a bike frame looks rather bare without any decals at all. After I painted one bike black I
found some great looking Kuwahara decals that faded from orange to yellow. On the black bike they
looked perfect; in fact many of my friends used to joke about my rare French Kuwahara (the bike is
an old Gitane).

I suppose you could put different decals on your bike every time you repaint it and other cyclists
might think you have a new bike. If you don't want any logos on your bike you can always put your
own name on the down tube; that would make your bike unique anyway.

best, Bruce

wonderful things can be done with lettraset or the like - my principal DF bike has a GIZMO "medium"
derailleur (actually an old Exage) and is name-branded for a bit of the local scenery. Just apply
and clearcoat... the font selection could be better locally but watcha gonna do - Ъ×

Maybe I should get an expensive bike and apply a decal that says "cheap WalMart Bike", or
"Huffy", etc.

Matt O'Toole said:

"peter" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I assemble and ride bikes using good qualiity parts

usually with titanium

Quoted message said:

frames. My bikes are a conveince so I lock and leave them

when shopping,

Quoted message said:

touring etc. which some people find odd as they never let

their bikes out of

Quoted message said:

their sight when they are not locked up at home.

I always remove Decals and logos from components whenever

possible, avoid

Quoted message said:

fancy paint and shiny bits.

It seems to work, a dull grey frame without big springs

and go-faster

Quoted message said:

stripes seems to be invisible to theives when locked with

a kryponite U lock

Quoted message said:

and cable around the wheels.

This is the main thing I like about Ti bikes -- a low-key appearance, and permanent,
no-maintenance finish.

The one thing I don't like about my current bike is that it might be a little too flashy.

An older photographer friend used to put black tape over the logos on his cameras. He used to say,
"Thieves only know names, not cameras." In years of travel to countries known for lightfingered
types, he never had one stolen.

Matt O.