Bike Customization #9: Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

Having a brand new bike in an urban area does pose somewhat of a conundrum.  If a bike is killer looking, it's also likely to be a killer target for bike thieves.  So if you plan to ride a decent bike, you best try to camouflage it.  I lock my bike outside at times while I run errands and such and  I definitely want the bike to be there upon my return so both security and subterfuge come into play.

A longstanding Make article on 8 Ways to Ugly Your Bike provided me with inspiration, although in a weird way. In listing spray paint as one way to ugly a bike, the article states:

“A can of spray paint is a good start but choose wisely. Black is out. We’re talking ugly here, not cool. Think orange.”

I take great offense because my favorite color is orange.  I guess it's a bonus for me though because if the majority of the population thinks orange is ugly, I can incorporate orange into my bike and think it looks fabulous while thieves will hopefully turn away in horror.  I used this inspiration as the basis of my own case study on making one of my former bikes ugly.

I purchased a can of Krylon 2411 Pumpkin Orange Gloss and went to town on the fenders of my old Peugeot along with incorporating duct tape, stickers, and inner tubes on the frame.  Personally I still think it looked quite cool, but not everyone shared my opinion.


Well, I still had a lot of paint left in the Krylon can and it was crying out to be used on my brand new bike.  The only problem is, I think it actually looks pretty freaking good with Pumpkin Orange fenders.  Readers can chime in to tell me if I am off base.


At first I was going to do a really uneven paint job but I figured I would give them a nice even coat and I can ugly them up over time if necessary.  I think some random purple over the orange might accomplish that objective.  Rust colored paint might also be an option - kind of an oxymoron on plastic Planet Bike fenders though.  I'll see how I feel as time goes on, and I am open to suggestions.  Feel free to comment on how I should continue to uglify.

Comments

[john h]

Orange looks awesome. But yellow,gray and purple dont go well together and if sprayed unevenly are really repulsive. Sorry to say your fenders do look great.

[Jones]

A swatch of duct tape across the saddle gives a deterring impression that it's torn. It helps sway theft.

[MS]

I like the rust-colored paint idea.
A great camouflage that I did in college was spraying the sides of the wheels (non-rim brake models) & tires without masking. The paint eventually flakes off, but unevenly, accentuating the effect.

[Kim Laroux]

Aren't those fenders made of glossy plastic? I have the MTB set of these and they are very glossy, like mirrors. If you didn't sand the whole thing before paint, the paint will probably flake. In an ideal world, that would be bad, but I think here it'll actually help. ;)

Btw I like the duct tape idea on the saddle, but I'm worried it'd stain pants. I always pull off my saddle when I lock my bike, because Specialized saddles simply stand out of the bike rack. Taking the saddle off makes the bike disappear within the other bikes.

[Layton]

Hold the phone on color- is that a dork disc behind your cassette?

[Matt]

Layton,

I kinda have to give you credit. You noticed the dork disk, but you did not notice the plastic chain guard on the chainring =)

It's all a process fine sir, the bike is transforming, it is in its cocoon stage right now.

Matt

[WV Cycling]

There is no way I would ever want to touch that bike. Impale me with a 2"x4" first.

No offense.