The Radavist

I’m in Moab, Utah with a handful of framebuilders and will be previewing their NAHBS offerings leading up to the event…

Fans of the Rebel Alliance would know that paint scheme without even reading the title. Ted Lincoln is an artist, one that paints scenes from the Star Wars Universe using mother of pearl in what he calls “Mother of Pearl Art.” Ted has been officially endorsed by George Lucas and has gained quite the traction amongst the Star Wars fans. Traction like a 27.5+ tire on sandstone! It just so happened that before Ted was big, Jeremy Sycip knew him in San Francisco, so for this year’s NAHBS, he asked Ted to paint his own personal hardtail for the show. What you’re seeing here is Ted’s first ever mother of pearl bicycle art.

Even as a photographer who loves challenges, this bike was particularly hard to document without my studio light setup allowing me to make the details pop out, but then again shooting bikes in Moab > shooting bikes in a convention center…

No matter what you spend your money on, be it a ‘cross bike, a mountain bike or a road bike, chances are you’ll put more miles on your touring bike but not on the open road. Most likely it’ll be running errands around town, or going to meet friends for coffee and yes, even a bar bike. My touring bike has seen more miles than all of my bikes combined, without a doubt, and so I really gravitate towards these utilitarian machines while at NAHBS. Now, whether or not I chose one to photograph, over say a MTB or a cross bike is totally up to fate but this Sycip tourer was just screaming for attention!