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Garrett Chow on the Argonaut Mavic 125ans Road Bike

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Garrett Chow on the Argonaut Mavic 125ans Road Bike

Garrett Chow is an exceptional designer and I’m very fond of his work. In today’s industry, so many cycling-related projects rely on paint design, meaning it’s the ultimate crux in a project’s success.

It’s easy to draw some chevrons, or paint a logo a pantone and call it a day, but to really dive into data, something that’s typically not visually stimulating and pull a compelling paint job from a series of numbers and historical markers takes talent.

With the recent Mavic 125ans project bikes, I took a liking to Argonaut‘s design. There was information there and it required you to stop and really examine every aspect of the bike. There were a lot of immaculate paint jobs in the 125ans bikes, but this one was more than that…

See more below!

Custom Painted Scott Road with SRAM Red

Reportage By: John Watson

Custom Painted Scott Road with SRAM Red

This was just one of the many cool bikes I saw today. I met Youenn Colin today very briefly. He’s a designer at Ideo and painted this bike himself. Truth told I forgot which Scott road bike model he chose to respray.

Design, paint, assemble… amazing. I love the halftone detail!

My Death Spray Custom Purple Rain Camo Geekhouse Cross

Reportage By: John Watson

My Death Spray Custom Purple Rain Camo Geekhouse Cross

David at Death Spray Custom has been painting forks for people all over the world, for what is quickly becoming the “Fork You” series. He always gives me shit about having purple bikes, and in one email he asked if I “thought I was Prince” – which quickly became the theme for this German rain camo inspired design. Before I could even argue, he told me I was getting “Purple Rain”.

David’s process on something like this must be maddening. Especially masking off every little marking over his Dark Sky Horizon fade and with the Death Spray on the inside of the fork legs…

Originally, I was going to save this fork for an upcoming project, but I thought it would look sinister on my Geekhouse Mudville instead. I do travel with, ride and shred this bike more than anything else in my stable. Personally, I think the worn and tattered powdercoat of my Mudville contrasts the funky DSC design, especially with the Chris King purple headset and bottom bracket.

Last Friday, I rode with some friends out to some trails here in Austin, jammed around a few hot laps, with my camera in a hip bag and took a few minutes to shoot this bike in the late afternoon sun…

From the Paint Booths of Death Spray Custom and Garrett Chow

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From the Paint Booths of Death Spray Custom and Garrett Chow

From Beautiful Bicycle: Stanridge Speed x Death Spray Custom Highstreet Track

From Recent Roll: Garrett Chow and His FEA Specialized Venge

Social media has done a great deal for the cycling industry. One of which being a platform for people who are movers and shakers, who might have not had a readily-accessible forum before. The two parties involved with this post in particular have created some stellar work in their day and if anyone has the right to have their opinions heard, it’s them. I saw this on Garrett Chow’s Instagram and had to post it up:

“From the paint-booths of @deathspray and @garrett_chow:

Hey Cycling-Industry! With the trade-show season upon us, it’s our guess that a great many in your employ are feeling the annual, dread pall of humiliation and embarrassment with your ‘little problem’: Shit Colors and Graphics, and weak product-offering. That twinge of, “oh fuck, I donno know — just make everything black, red, or white”. And, the tiresome, nagging itch of, “put three stripes on it, and call it a day”, needn’t be suffered nor endured any longer. These ‘strategies’ never hide the fact that your bikes are inane, open-tooling, off-the-shelf death-traps, anyway. And, no amount of voice-conferences, consultants, or Power-Point presentations will ever change this, either.

Adding insult to injury, the small company two booths over, who invested 1/23rd the cost of your ‘clever’ marketing-budget on their talented, appreciated and fairly-compensated designer (and not a color-blind engineer moon-lighting as your ‘de-facto design team’–the one with an iMac and a dog-eared back-issue of IdN Magazine on his desk), is literally KILLING your 2014 line-plan with one hand tied behind its back. Your self-congratulatory back-slapping echoing throughout the exhibit-hall–like so many floundering, dying fish gasping their last breaths–belies the fact that the death of our beautiful industry is precisely where your pedestrian products are taking us.

So, here’s your escape plan for model year 2015: Please, put down the golf magazine just long enough to write an email to: info@deathspraycustom.com and, garrettchow@yahoo.com IT’S REALLY, /REALLY/ THAT EASY! We are here for you –and with love, D & GC”

As someone who also works freelance and constantly finds himself frustrated with the lack of creativity in cycling, I can commend these two…

Stanridge Speed x Death Spray Custom Highstreet Track

Reportage By: John Watson

Stanridge Speed x Death Spray Custom Highstreet Track

Like a true artist, each and every piece that leaves Death Spray Custom has a concept, or a story behind it. When you first see this Stanridge Speed Highstreet, however, you might just end up scratching your head. Even though the concept is crystal clear. Let me elaborate.

A few years ago, when Dan Chabanov first received his Highstreet to race at the Red Hook Crit, the initial reaction someone had to the frame was “that’s not steel”. All it took was a magnet to prove it was, in fact, steel. When I walked in the doors at King Kog hours later, the magnet was still on the seat tube. Adam from Stanridge told David at DSC and he went wild with it.

Simple enough right? That’s the beauty of true art. It’s simple. The execution though, must be flawless and this bike is just that. Flawless. Well, that was until it flew over the barricade at the Red Hook Crit Navy Yard!

This machine has seen its share of races, spills and thrills. It’s not a wall-hanger, it comes alive at the Red Hook Crit. If you’re going to be at the Red Hook Crit Milan or Barcelona, you’ll be able to catch this bike in person. If not, see more in the Gallery!