To decal or not to decal that is the question ?

[silverclaws]

Decals on bikes they range from the subtle to the out and out bold and garish, but what are they if anything but advertising or an artist's title and signature at best, where do you stand on this subject ?

Is it important to you that cycle decals must be in place as a form of the original shop sale likeness or sublime conformity or do you prefer your ride to go in the buff so to speak naked of lettering that sometimes ruin a suberb paint scheme ?

To cycle aficianado's, they know about bikes, they recognise the geometry and there the make and type and perhaps don't need telling what a bike is by the letters on the frame, but to the general public, a bike is just a bike, maybe a pretty bike, but just a bike and to the dishonest, decals are nectar to a bee.

And of decals who are they for, you or those you wish to see you with it,
that being do letters and names act as some kind of kudos inspiring action ?

But a bike, a retrobike without decals attractive or not or do the decals make the bike ?

Is your bike for you or for those that may see you with it ?

 

[petitpal]

Personally I find it a bit uncomfortable looking at MTBs without their decals - sort of the icing on the cake for me. But I'm not a purest and couldn't tell you, at a distance, who built what frame - so may be they also server as a crutch.

In terms of my own bike: I've left my original, very tatty, decals in place - despite having spent hours cleaning, stipping and polishing everything else. I think it's to remind me that however shiny the frame gets and however much the components change this is my bike and the decals show me what we've been through together over the years. May be that's over romanticising things a bit but I'm good with that.

 

[mechagouki]

My Xizang wears period incorrect, custom colour decals, my Muddy Fox (when it ever gets built) will be the same. I build my bikes the way I want them to look, I don't really care about them being facsimiles of stock bikes or something someone else has ridden, but I don't expect anyone else to particularly like them either - if they do it's a bonus.

 

[hamster]

I tend to go without decals:

One bike (skinny steel Marin) with nothing but a gorgeous paint job.
A Litespeed with bare Ti but a head badge.
My Kona has a flat grey paint and completely incorrect 1994 decals.

Personally I tihnk stickers are for kids and tend to look yucky. If you don't paint your car up with screaming lettering down the sides, why do it on your bike?
Less is more.

 

[Anthony]

When I bought my Orange E4 frame it had bogus eBay replacement down tube decals and no top tube E4 decals and it looked all wrong. Not what the designer had intended at all. Took them off and it looked plain and a bit sorry for itself. Then Gil_M made me some decals, very close to authentic, and that immediately made the bike look twice as good.

Another argument in their favour is that you can expect authentic decals to justify their cost in adding to the value of the bike. I am often surprised by people on here rushing to respray a frame in a colour that they obviously like, but then straight away deciding to sell the frame in favour of another project. So often they struggle to sell their wonderful work of art, let alone cover their costs. As a buyer, how do you know what's underneath the paint? An uncertain bidder doesn't bid, or at best bids low. The right decals help enormously to authenticate the frame as being what the seller claims for it.

 

[We_are_Stevo]

:shock: Blimey, you could round up small to medium size livestock with that rear mech. outer!

WITH decals BTW - looks like you stole it otherwise...

 

[brocklanders023]

Defo with decals. Gives a bike identity imo.

 

[retro73]

Defo with decals just looks complete, and as someone else has already said it also helps me identify the model

 

[Major22]

Absolutely decals.

 

[one-eyed_jim]

I gave my Stumpjumper a single colour powder coat ("gris agathe") and left it plain:

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?p=365376

I think it looks fine. When I had the work done I was more interested in a tough, inexpensive finish, and having decals applied professionally and lacquered over would have nearly doubled the cost.

The fork isn't original to the frame, so I felt that adding decals would somehow be labeling the whole as something that it's not, and I don't think the '92 decals would particularly suit the bike. I'm not planning to enter BotM any time soon, and when I'm riding the bike I'm not looking at the frame in any case.

Allard's S-Works also looks fine in dark grey with no decals:

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/gallery2/mai ... emId=85040

Perhaps some flat colours work better than others.

You're a metalworker. Have you considered a flat colour with a discreet custom headbadge?