Pinkbike Redesign

Having previously ridden mountain bikes, Pinkbike was one of the websites I used almost daily. It became my go-to for everything from bike news, event coverage, technical advice from the forums, and the largest community for buying and selling bikes through its marketplace.

Despite having a passionate global community and millions of followers across its social channels, the platform has remained visually unchanged for many years. While its continued popularity shows that this still works for its audience, I took the opportunity to explore how a more modern UI, an improved visual hierarchy, and refreshed user experience could make the platform feel more modern without losing the identity that has made it so successful.

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While the existing Pinkbike logo is well established and highly recognisable within the mountain biking community, I saw an opportunity to explore a more modern visual identity that could scale more effectively across different platforms.

I also noticed that, despite Pinkbike being one of the company's flagship products, there isn't a dedicated mobile app - Trailforks, another product within the same group, has its own app. I wanted to consider how the brand and user experience could evolve beyond the website, creating something that would work equally well across web, mobile, and future digital products.

Branding

I began by exploring a refreshed visual identity, starting with the logo. My goal was to create something that felt modern and distinctive, while still retaining a connection to the Pinkbike brand. I also wanted to introduce a vibrant pink gradient that could become a recognisable part of the identity across web, mobile, and other marketing materials.

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While sketching ideas in my notebook, I noticed that the lowercase p and b, when joined at the tail and stem, loosely resembled the silhouette of a bike. I developed this concept further, refining the letters so the bike shape became more apparent.

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With the logo created, I defined a colour palette and typography that would be used consistently across the website and app. For typography, I deliberately avoided decorative typefaces in favour of something clean, and highly legible. Pinkbike is a content-heavy platform - whether users are browsing news, forums, reviews, or marketplace listings - so readability and accessibility were key considerations throughout this.

The visual refresh was intended to modernise the brand without compromising the clarity and that the community relies on and are accustomed to.

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With the branding confirmed, I turned my attention to the website itself. My first step was competitor research, looking beyond just direct competitors. Pinkbike (as mentioned) is a unique platform that combines news, forums, a marketplace, and community features, so I explored each of these areas independently to understand how different platforms handle content-heavy experiences. This gave me a broad set of ideas before moving into the first designs.

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Design Abandondment

My initial approach was to preserve the way Pinkbike works today - a central hub where users can quickly branch off into news, forums, the marketplace, events, and other services. The homepage shown below was designed around that philosophy.

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After building an interactive prototype and using it as though I were a member, I began questioning whether I had actually solved the problems I set out to address.

Although the visual design felt cleaner and more modern, the overall experience still suffered from many of the same issues as the existing website. There were too many competing buttons, the page lacked a hierarchy - I found myself constantly deciding where to look or what to do next. The UI had improved, but the underlying user experience hadn't.

Rather than continuing to refine a direction I no longer believed in, I decided to step back and will revisit the problem itself.

Instead of designing around the site's existing structure, my next step is to identify the platform's core user needs and rebuild the homepage around those primary journeys. While I don't have access to Pinkbike's analytics, I'll use my own experience as a long-term user, competitor research, and UX principles to prioritise the features that deliver the greatest value.

Updated: 11/07/26
Project paused whilst I work on other priorities.