8 great cycling logos

A few months ago Mountain Bike Action magazine (Nov, 2006) did an article about memorable cycling logos. As a marketing person I really liked this idea and have been meaning to do my own post on cycling logos ever since.

Of course this is a total copy of MBA's idea, but at least it will be interactive. Also, I didn't agree with all of the choices they made for memorable logos, however, some of this is admittedly subjective. So I went hunting around the Web to find some cool or memorable logos to start a conversation with you. Nothing deep here, just some good old fashioned fun and well, maybe I'll throw a little of my marketing speak at you, but we'll see.

Before we get started, I have just got to say that it ain't easy pulling logos from companies sites. They've got them baked into flash animations, embedded in layered .gif images, and/or in formats that just do not do them justice. I say that because I need you to know that this post took me way more time to construct then it looks. Why do I need you to know that? No good reason. Just that I'm here on the road traveling and am a bit cranky right now...but I'll get over it.

Ok...so here we go:

Crank Brothers: Who doesn't love Crank Brothers logo? It's just simple and clean like an iPod. This stands in stark contrast to what we're used to in cycling with so many jerseys plastered with bright garish logos all over begging for our attention.

Chrome: Chrome Bags logo exudes strength. Of course it does so with a bit of a gothic and a hint of Shutzstaffel style. Fight the power baby! Or, maybe it's "I got the power."

Black Sheep Cycles: I really like the Black Sheep Cycles logo, though the one I show here does not do it justice. You have to go to their site and watch the angry sheep's eyes turn red and snort at you. This is also a great one because the sheep can take on different personalities as shown here in this photo.

Crumpler: Crumpler's got one crazy looking logo. But it is no doubt memorable and maybe even lovable?

Specialized: The big S. Bold, hot, and fast. With or without the word you can't miss it on all of their stuff.

Santa Cruz Bikes: Not quite as bold as Specialized's, but serves the same purpose.

Kona: I'm not certain how I feel about Kona's logo. It's memorable but a bit funky. Is that an amoeba behind the word Kona?

Moots: Moots has a pretty cool logo. It's simple and strong, yet still shows that bikes are fun when you throw in the crocodile.

Wow...I kept the marketing speak to a minimum...I'm proud of myself. But, don't let that stop you.

So what do you think? I'm sure I missed some great logos out there. What are your favorites? What makes a logo for cycling truly great in your opinion?