I see that many of you/us take great pleasure in purchasing quality/high performance/prestigious (if you will) components--and even FRAMES--and then take more pleasure in removing the "branding" stickers. My question is, Why?
Someone recently took the Ksyrium stickers off a pair of top-end Mavic wheels and someone else is considering removing decals from his Merckx (Argh!).
I've heard the self-righteous cries of, "They're not paying me to ride their stuff, so why should I give them free advertising?" again and again and feel this foolish "reasoning." We buy things from specific companies in the first place because they have a certain amount of prestige/quality or certain looks (and don't deny that you buy things for looks--or for even small amounts of bragging rights, either!), and we all feel some sense of brand loyalty, I'm certain. What's the deal with stripping logos off bikes, wheels, seatposts, forks, etc?
Of course no one here's getting paid to ride Ksyriums; there are hundreds of RBRers who do, though, and are thrilled with their performance and looks. Why do we hate the companies we love? What's with the "stealth" thing? We have money enough to afford taking part in an expensive sport. We spend said money on some outrageously priced gadgets and gear. Then we remove all "proof" that we spent on this quality gear.
Someone please straighten me out on this. I personally like brands on bikes and components (without a bike looking like an Indy car), obviously, but I'm interested into the mindsets of all you destickerers out there. Enlighten me.
Cheers,
Nige
Someone recently took the Ksyrium stickers off a pair of top-end Mavic wheels and someone else is considering removing decals from his Merckx (Argh!).
I've heard the self-righteous cries of, "They're not paying me to ride their stuff, so why should I give them free advertising?" again and again and feel this foolish "reasoning." We buy things from specific companies in the first place because they have a certain amount of prestige/quality or certain looks (and don't deny that you buy things for looks--or for even small amounts of bragging rights, either!), and we all feel some sense of brand loyalty, I'm certain. What's the deal with stripping logos off bikes, wheels, seatposts, forks, etc?
Of course no one here's getting paid to ride Ksyriums; there are hundreds of RBRers who do, though, and are thrilled with their performance and looks. Why do we hate the companies we love? What's with the "stealth" thing? We have money enough to afford taking part in an expensive sport. We spend said money on some outrageously priced gadgets and gear. Then we remove all "proof" that we spent on this quality gear.
Someone please straighten me out on this. I personally like brands on bikes and components (without a bike looking like an Indy car), obviously, but I'm interested into the mindsets of all you destickerers out there. Enlighten me.
Cheers,
Nige
