Lugged frames with modern black parts: best practices

[MarkY]

My lugged Onesto with black components.

[charliedid]

Black goes with every color of paint, can't lose.

[jamesdak]

I'd say it works with yellow for sure.



Not lugged but still with skinner traditional looking tubes.

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I've done it with white too.



I think it looks good on this one too.



I also went black with this black frame.



Finally the red/white De Rosa also had black.



I've got to admit though most of my builds get silver.

[grumpus]

I think all the bikes on the thread look great with black parts, but when I came across this problem, I opted for silver 105 where available and painted/polished the ultegra rx rear derailleur and painted the carbon seatpost. Any part can be silver with enough work. Just another modern-parts option.

[kiwisimon]

silver works well. imo.

[yarg]

That Tommasini is just outstanding!!!!

Originally Posted by tuscanyswe

Ill spam these some more. Hey they fit a lot of thread description okay..

[nortx-Dave]

SO many nice bikes. Id say that black components go with light metal flake blue for sure.

[KonaSS]

I actually think any modern group is going to look good on a nice lugged frame. I don't subscribe to the thought that lugged bike = reenactment build.

I think you need to pay most attention to stems, then bars and posts. Some parts hear made to mesh with large carbon frames are not going to work.

[jamesdak]

Originally Posted by KonaSS

I actually think any modern group is going to look good on a nice lugged frame. I don't subscribe to the thought that lugged bike = reenactment build.

I think you need to pay most attention to stems, then bars and posts. Some parts hear made to mesh with large carbon frames are not going to work.

To offer a counterpoint, that's really the biggest problem for a lot of us old steel lovers (and new) now. The fat clunky (mostly cranks) modern parts look so out of place with the thin, graceful tubes of a good lugged frame. Same with all the black that can clash with the beautiful colors and chrome of a nice lugged frame.

Of course beauty is in the eye of the beholder but I have many bikes that black, chunky, modern parts just wouldn't look pleasing on.

[julian3141]

I like the look of the Cannondale Hollow Gram crankset for that reason. It is however very not cheap

[Alistair]

Looking at these builds, my take-away is the groupset color doesn’t matter as long as the whole package is selected well. Don’t mix silver and black next to each other.

That said, I’m partial to silver wherever possible… headset, stem, hubs, crank, and seat post. And the rest black.

[madsciencenow]

Lots of nice options here. I’m partial to this one.



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[charliedid]

Originally Posted by yarg

That Tommasini is just outstanding!!!!

Stellar. Both of them.

[samkl]

Originally Posted by jamesdak

To offer a counterpoint, that's really the biggest problem for a lot of us old steel lovers (and new) now. The fat clunky (mostly cranks) modern parts look so out of place with the thin, graceful tubes of a good lugged frame. Same with all the black that can clash with the beautiful colors and chrome of a nice lugged frame.

Of course beauty is in the eye of the beholder but I have many bikes that black, chunky, modern parts just wouldn't look pleasing on.

Yeah, there’s definitely a challenge with the cranksets. I think the Ultegra and 105 cranksets can be very tough to integrate with skinny tubes. But look at that Bishop, just fantastic with the SR crankset. Then again Bishop frames have a modern look to them too.

I’ve never had Campy parts but my sense is their stuff tends to look better on steel frames. Sram stuff seems to look pretty good too. Shimano can look good too, but it seems harder.

[DHallerman]

Originally Posted by madsciencenow

Lots of nice options here. I’m partial to this one.

Just like white space on a page, a white bike offers perhaps the most design option for color. Perfect look on the Kirk.