FWIW: If you're going to go with a printed sticker like the gear with the pipe or bike, ya might as well make the whole sticker fancy with shaded, shadowed lettering, gear & such. If your having it printed it doesn't matter how complex it is ... a bitmap is a bitmap. Is it going to have a background or be cut to shape? Will it stand out on a white bike & disappear on a black bike? I've made quite a few simple cut vinyl Blasterforum.com stickers in the past. Peeps want the latest, greatest stuff but ya have to be willing to pay for it. Usually you have to run a quantity to get a price which means you have to get enough peeps to agree on a design and put up the money. Like most group projects it's a tough road
Good luck & hang in there. Can't wait to see the final product.