Colours... Choices... All at Sea - Can You Help??

God it’s harder than I thought……… this choosing malarkey!

I’ve been commuting to work for 12 years and riding for a lot longer than that, always on multi-geared road bikes (except when I was younger than 9). My current commuter is on its last legs and I fancy a change, keep it fun…. Know what I mean??
Anyways, I want to try fixed and after speaking with Craig at Harry Halls in Manchester who obviously knows his stuff, I’ve a pretty good idea of what I want but since visiting Bob Jacksons’ at the weekend I’m stuck on a couple of things that I can’t quite visualize. When I've bought my 'good' road bikes in the past it's always been a case of see what's in the shop at the time, not too hard to choose.
I want this bike to last me a long time, I see this as my ‘last throw of the dice’ to try something different while I’ve still got the legs – I mention this as you might find my choices strange. My reasoning being: get two bikes in one by switching bars and fork back to standard once I’m past it.
The thing I’m really stuck on is the colour. All was OK until I discovered I could have any colour and any number of colours, originally I was just going to go black so the fork would blend in but now I’ve got the choice it feels wrong to not come up with at least a gradual fade. I’ve looked at virtually every picture on FGG and have found a couple I like (hopefully inserted below) but I’m hoping someone might have some good ideas for me with the components below in mind. Thanks if you can help……

Ideas so far……

Bob Jackson Custom Pista – lugged in 631 with 725 stays (getting measured Thursday)
Velocity Deep V Rims in possibly Metallic Blue, Orange or Green
Phil Wood low flange hubs
Chris King headset – to match wheels or frame – don’t know which
Sugino S75 chainset

For now – while I can still pedal
Carbon fork – possibly Easton - possibly not bother??
Easton Delta Force Bars (already purchased – impulse buy)

For when I’m past it
Original Bob Jackson Fork
Track Bars

If I get a custom paint job should I get the forks graduated or stick to one colour or chrome? I’m not really a red type of guy btw but the one I've included looks mint.

Stuff I like the look of seen so far…

http://i13.ebayimg.com/07/i/000/dc/a9/b625_3.JPG
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v285/permanoid/Sany2.jpg
http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/2008/feb/3/ZackeryStover-1.jpg
http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee126/gabekeirin/vogue/ts140.jpg
http://fixedgeargallery.com/2005/jan/chow10.jpg
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p194/d0gsballs/CIMG0026.jpg

And I have seen some black frames ( I like black) that fade to other colours but I can't find them now!

I had my frame sprayed at Bob Jackson in the Ice Blue and it looks awesome. My two house mates have also had their frames sprayed there in the Mint Green that looks so much better than in the picture on the web site, The other is inm the lime green that looks a bit darker than the website. If I was getting my bike sprayed again I would go for orange with matching rims...

are you on a life support machine or something?

no, but my commuter racing days are drawing to close. I think if I go fixed I won't have to go out everyday trying to ensure I don't get overtaken.

none of those bikes have anything in common........ was that supposed to narrow it down????????

any colour or combination of colours can look good, what's more important is a lightness of touch about the whole thing i think. and don't worry too much about it!

DGS: how old are you? if you don't mind me asking.

Superprecise none of those bikes have anything in common........ was that supposed to narrow it down????????

any colour or combination of colours can look good, what's more important is a lightness of touch about the whole thing i think. and don't worry too much about it!

i agree...obviously you want this build to be perfect but i think you're stressing to much over a small detail.chill winston!

40 in May.

I know there's not a lot in common with the ones I posted but I like them all. As I don't have a good eye for colour schemes I don't want to end up buying loads of bits that look wrong when it all goes together. I've got a 4 month wait for the frame but was gonna get the wheels and other bits first so it's ready to go when the frame's dry. It just seems a crime to use just one colour when the chance is there for 2 or more. It's there that I get stuck: the colours that will work together on a frame. I've seen some shockers while doing my lengthy browsing - don't want to end up similar.

I can sort of picture a bronze or silver (or even bare lacquered metal) fading into black. Then I get stuck on the rims.

it's not just about colours, it's about aesthetics. wacky colour schemes often look gash. is it an italian bike? is it japanese? there are different aesthetics for different types of bikes that can look piss poor when mixed together. Moreover it should fit you and ride properly.

personally i think that white and orange IRO is vile. yeah it's 100% white and orange but none of the oranges match and those tyres aren't even for outdoor use. too much. lots of co-ordination but no style. personally i have a neutral (white) frame, chrome fork and silver('alloy' silver)/black components, with a few red bits that i can swap out if i get bored of the colour.

Also forget the Phil Wood unless you're planning on spunking all of your cash.

ciocc does look mint though.

if you are building a classic lugged bike, have a look at this website.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/nkilgariff/

there are all sorts of weird combo's that look good ie orange with navy blue headtube.

The Ciocc is the probably the best of the bunch you picked out. Classic clean colour scheme, understated graphics, nice alloy components and the frame with chrome accents to match. The only thing I would think about changing here is bar tape instead of white rubber grips, and perhaps a Brookes Swallow.

If you are looking at small flange hubs, have you looked at the Royce track hubs?
http://www.royce-uk.co.uk/

a ha, did you add Dogs' Dave Yates or did i miss it?

DQS 40 in May.

bloody hell mate you're writing as if you're 80-odd!

years left in you especially if you cycle everyday to commute...

another 25 years minimum of commuting..

another 40+ years of cycling in general

Yeah, my very old great uncle still rides round on his bike. He is well into his 80s. I seem to remember him winning a tour de france bike off the bbc a couple of years ago. So somewhere in yorkshire there is at least one lycra clad old man riding round on a carbon road beast. Age is no problem.

Superprecise a ha, did you add Dogs' Dave Yates or did i miss it?

Yeah, forgot to add at this one - knew I'd seen it somewhere, trawled my history to find it. If I did something like this (I don't mean copy it) say in blue to black I wouldn't know whether to go for wheels that were a match for the blue or the black, or a complete contrast.

that very frame might be up for sale soon if i remember rightly. speak to dogsballs.

colourwise... whatever! Check this one out:

Hey DQS, relax and have fun building it! Make some mistakes and swap out the bits you don't like later...
It's only a bike! (Ducks for cover) ;)

You're worrying more about the look of the bike rather than riding fixed for the first time.
Don't put yourself in such a pickle!
Ask yourself the questions and you'll find the answer...

It isn't possible for us to give you the answer. That's because it's a personal project.
There's also much more fun finding things out yourself rather than us telling you what you think you need to know.
Everyone here rides completely different bikes.

You can always chop and change. Dogsballs will testify to that.

You're in a great position. Enjoy it! ;-)

@Superprecise. But isn't that made of buublegum? Bring back the fade!!!

Have a play with Pedal ID and then post your results here.

blue deep vs and chris king head set on my bike

pipwish Have a play with Pedal ID and then post your results here.

+1

pedal id is great, just try out different combinations and see which one you like most,

/quote]

personally I like the nagasawa, was thinking of doing a similar thing, darker seat and chain stays with the majority of the frame in a lighter colour. Also have alook at dulux's website links below, as they give you an idea of what colours you can put together to create colour schemes which work, whether by contrasting colours or matching colours

http://www.dulux.co.uk/colours/experts/scheming/index.jsp
http://www.dulux.co.uk/colours/index.jsp

if you click on a colour you can get a contrasting colour that'll work with it.

good luck, have a think and a play about before you decide on anything, and in the end, if your happy with it then the devil take the rest of us and our opinions.

DQS [quote]Superprecise a ha, did you add Dogs' Dave Yates or did i miss it?

Yeah, forgot to add at this one - knew I'd seen it somewhere, trawled my history to find it. If I did something like this (I don't mean copy it) say in blue to black I wouldn't know whether to go for wheels that were a match for the blue or the black, or a complete contrast.[/quote]
this?? (which is for sale ;) 56 seat, 54 top)

actually violet to grey (looks blue in every picture)

probably no 49 Viola Chiora or 50 Viola