Don't box me in, bro...
From the beginning, we've been known for color work. Hues that you don’t find elsewhere in the bike world, unexpected color combinations and graphic treatments identifiable as distinctly Speedvagen, even if spotted at a distance down the road. Dating back to when we first started twenty plus years ago, it’s common for our customers to give us some info - are they looking for mean, or wild, or classy, or colors that they like and don’t like - and then turn us loose giving us the freedom to do what we want with their bike.
Trust
Trust is earned, we’ve learned over and over again that when people turn us loose and trust us, we are at our most creative and excited. Probably true for everyone, autonomy is empowering right?
With Speedvagen, we took the notion of ultimate trust one step further and debuted our Surprise Me paint option. With the promise of “No hints. No regrets.” Each Surprise Me scheme represents the pinnacle of design that we’re most excited about in that year.
The Program
Each Surprise Me scheme will be available until the day the following year’s scheme is released. There are 3 options:
Option one: A “True Surprise Me” is still on the table, all you have to do is deposit and wait until the next years release.
Option two: Wait until the scheme is release. Once you see it place your deposit and we we can still give you a complete surprise color palette.
Option three: If you love the scheme but are risk adverse we can work with you on the color work.
2021-22 Surprise Me
“The Painters Proof”
When we say Speedvagen is a group of experts coming together to produce a once in a lifetime bike for every customer, we mean it. Most of us have dedicated our lives to the bicycle and have decades upon decades of combined experience. We are “lifers” in this industry.
One thing you might not know is a lot of our employees were highly skilled experts in other fields before coming to Speedvagen. Head of Operations, Woody was a mechanic for the Olympic track team, Creative Director Richard, was a Product Designer. Our Head of Fabrication, Jim owned his own printing business. Lead Painter, Patrick was also an expert printer and press operator. Leaning on the history of our employees and their expertise in other fields is what makes our shop what it is today.
We have always said it’s what’s under the paint that matters. Though the outward aesthetics of our bikes are the most instantly recognizable feature. In a similar way any printed material has the marks of the expert that get cut off the page and are never shown in the final product. Much like how our notes on a frame, scribe lines, quality control, and fit-up checks fade away below the paint. For 2021 the base idea came from thinking about what would a paint scheme look like if we printed it. Mimicking flavors of print and showing the work of the “printer”. It’s about the hours each custom Speedvagen takes that no one will ever see besides us. Before the paint, before the polish. There is an attention to detail thats something we take pride in. We also feel strongly that the printing industry instilled the level of detail and care that both Jim and Patrick are known for.
Details and Colors:
Choas and control
The color work for 2021-22 Surprise Me is not held back at all, we are pushing the level of detail repeatable in our custom frames. As always though, you give us the adjective and we will make it happen. Classy, Mean, Fast or Wild all can be achieved. Any bike ordered now until the release of the 2023 scheme can be ordered as a Surprise Me and it'll get the a similar graphic layout, but with a different color palette. Each of these schemes will truly be unique and 1 of 1. (note: no other bikes will get the white scheme or a repeated color way).
Just like all Surprise Me schemes from the past, this is truly a snapshot of where our heads and for sure hearts are right now. There is a lot of chaos in the world, and navigating that can be hard. We find so much when we are on the bike this chaos completely disappears and the beauty of the world shines through. This scheme is us bringing chaos to the world, not simply taking what the world has to throw at us. It’s the difference between surfing a wave or getting hammered by one. This scheme is us seeing the light at the end of the Covid tunnel knowing things will change for the better soon.
Thanks for sharing in our excitement!
speedvagen standard features
Speedvagen steel is realer than real
Made from the latest technology, our new steel is to traditional steel what a Tesla is to a 60’s Ford. Speedvagen tubes are 4-6 times stronger than the tubing people typically associate with a steel bike. Because it’s stronger, it can be made lighter, resulting in a Speedvagen as light as 13lbs (6kgs) complete. Learn more about our tubing in our deep dive.
Flat Mount thru Axle
We use our Custom Speedvagen chain stays designed to be paired perfectly with our custom machined flat mount. A new addition the fold is Robert Axle Project thru axles, so that the front and rear share the same hex size for ease of use.
INTEGRATED SEATMAST
The integrated seatmast makes for beautiful lines. There are a couple
of things that are unique to our bikes. Each length of every Speedvagen seatmast is finished specifically for its owner. We also use stainless steel around the top of the seat tube where our post head mounts, rather than the post head wearing on a painted surface. The result is lighter and cleaner than a traditional seatpost, and the collar looks great topped with our ENVE-made Speedvagen post head.
Process, PRocess, Process
Planning,
After the base color is laid down and contrast color has been unmasked all of the color pops are airbrushed individually to create the blending color effects.
Planning,
Art is nothing without process. But process alone isn’t art. This scheme is us balancing chaos with a plan and ridged structure to create beauty (at least we think so).
and more planning.
One of the hardest parts of what we do with paint schemes is there are no stock sizes. Paint schemes have to be designed in a way that everything can be adjust from the smallest bike we make to the largest.
