[Closed] Changing bike parts for cosmetic reasons?

Just paint it 😉

Red and black Fizik Arione Ti on my Brompton. Matches the colour scheme, really doesn't suit the bike!

Until recently, i had purple Hope hubs on a black/white/red Stumpy with orange rotors and Kashima bling 🙂

Suspension forks, because they were Orange.

orange pedals to match the orange hope wheels...

I'm a KTM fanboi !

I had white Formula RX brakes on my yellow and black Solaris. I also had some black Formula R1's on my Blue and white Meta AM. Both sets working fine.

Decided to swap them over, but brakes on the Meta are internally routed and have braided hoses. So needed to swap the hose over as well.

I now have the white RX's on the META which still work fine.
I also now have a brand new set of Magura MT sports on the Solaris as I couldn't get the bloody R1's working and lost patience. Due to some other cock ups with delivery the bike was out of action for about 3 weeks as well!

Changing bike parts for cosmetic reasons = £160 down!!

buying a new front tyre as the lettering was slightly different to the rear

I've also bought a new set of brakes because I couldn't be bothered bleeding the old ones...

Other way round for me. Bought a lovely (to my mind) Tartan Gusset R saddle. Bike to put it on chosen on the strength of the colour match.

Considering rebuilding my front wheel to colour match the hub with the rear :).

I'm looking at changing my bars from a perfectly good 760mm Whyte pair...to Raceface Turbines or slightly wider Atlas...will I be able to tell the difference? Maybe. But they'll have a better brand on them and in my head will be 'better' because of it 😳

I've swapped stuff around and bought stuff to match a build despite having equivalent bits in the shed, but I don't think I've taken good bits off the bike to swap for cosmetic reasons.

My fatty (white+ orange) currently has green chainring bolts and purple skewers because they were cheap.

Rusty black bolts in my Arkose stem recently replaced with Ti.. because I don't like rusty bolts.

I swapped a normal chain for a pink one, just because the lbs had it for sale. Then changed that for a gold one, to match the hubs and stem bolts...

It's the reason why a lot of ultegra cranks got sold. Shimano ruined that when they updated the 105 spider

On the couple of FB groups I'm a member of the amount of people that ask what colour Hope parts they should replace their current hubs/stem/seatpost collar with on their new bikes just for looks astounds me. It's not the 90s any more.

I have to admit I did once swap some slightly uncomfortable but serviceable grips for some comfy onza yellow ones because they matched my bike, but that was in the 90s.

I can understand if things don't match properly, but just to swap stuff for bling purposes makes me think that MTB is full of the old Max Power kids who can't be bothered to pay for the insurance on a pimped up Corsa.

Wanted a 180mm Hope disc for a new build. I had a 160mm for the rear but it had a blue spider, andI wanted a black one...

Also really want vented rotors for the Patriot for absolutely no reason other than they are cool But I've wanted them for years and not bought any yet so I guess I'm safe there.

Re the stem - whole bike is black, silver and red, except the stem which is white. And now becoming tatty as the paint is flaking (hence the painting thread the other day).

I go through a lot of bar tape, if that counts.

Ohhh, I 3D printed some tiger stripe SS spacers for my El-mariachi! Does that count?

I swapped a pair of grips over for branding reasons, I could plausibility claim that the old ones were worn, but they weren't [i]that[/i] worn

9070 di2 front mech to a 9170 variant

Also really want vented rotors for the Patriot for absolutely no reason other than they are cool

Duh, thats the point....

freeagent - Member
Rusty black bolts in my Arkose stem recently replaced with Ti.. because I don't like rusty bolts.

Years ago everything had to be colour coded hope red. Still try to match same make stem and seatpost : saddle and grips/bar tape. Currently doing very badly on both bikes!!!

Aye, get rid Molly, white finishing kit has no place on a bike.

On my sb66, not long after building it, had similar feelings looking at white rims. They were gone soon after.

Not done individual components, that would be daft.

Did change the following perfectly fine bits for new when I had my 5 repowdercoated as they didn't go with the new colour in one hit though:

Hope wheels. Gold hubs to black.
Hope floating discs. Gold to black.
Easton Stem. From a Thomson.
Hope headset. Black to black, purely as it had a bit of wear on the anodising.
Reverb (sliver collar to black collar version).

Normally I don't care too much but I wanted the rebuild to be perfect.

I used to be a proper pimp my ride type. Now my bike is mainly black, it’s so much simpler and cheaper 🙂

All these parts replaced other perfectly functional parts that were not red ano because I could hear this glorious symphony of colour playing in my mind.
😀

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