I haven't always had a sixth sense. Having one would've advanced me since I was a kid might have plugged me into a better life. Life is pretty good as is. By now you are wondering what my six sense is and I'm gonna tell you. I seem to be able to sense when a good deal on a '69 Camaro is coming. Twice, this gift has manifested in the world of bicycles. I have already written about my super-shiny Felt Slater and how it came into my hands. Pure intuition. This Felt "Little B@$+ard" came my way similarly: an itch to randomly scope out craigslist.org. When I did I saw this puppy there. It was very different. The paint was the worst I had ever seen on any Felt for any reason. Nothing was stock except the forks and I already had a few pairs of those lying about my apartment. The rest of the parts seemed to be exports from the Island of Misfit Toys. The rims didn't match. The seat, which was new, was designed for someone with tailbone issues, the handle bars were a sad piece of pipe that had the arc of a 55 gallon drum. I didn't even bother taking a before photo of the bike profile. I bought it with one purpose in mind: the color purple.
This is the best of the three partial before pictures. Seriously. This is it.
Above is pictured a bone stock 2005 Felt "Little B@$+ard."
When I write, "the color purple", I don't mean something for Nettie and Celie to cruise around on. If you've seen my other bikes you'll know that I prefer powder coat to paint. While talking things over with Christian at Powder Coating Maniacs in Torrance, CA, I saw a valve cover on the wall. The valve cover reminded me of the one on my Honda only this one had been powder coated. Christian told me the color was called illusion purple. Very nice, I thought. I let him know that I'll bring him another frame and it would have to be illusion purple. As mentioned above, the deal went down and I got a Felt to start with. I lucked out that the graphics on a "Little B@$+ard" are very easy to reproduce. I also began thinking of what should get bolted to this soon to be purple thing. I had a pair of double-crown coated but then I saw a carbon fiber Girvin fork on eBay and I thought that if I get it I'll go the carbon route. I won! Did I really win on eBay? Let's just say I was willing to pay more than the next guy. I knew I did not want traditional rims. I did not want one piece cranks. I did not want the "Lost Arc" handle bars the previous owner had on the bike. Now that I had the forks and the color I want a super-bada$$ cruiser unlike what I normally see being ridden around town. So I started looking for that carbon, baby. The carbon bars have an integrated stem. The carbon seat post has an aero shape which adds a smooth stylish look. The seat is made to mimic a Tioga Spyder seat which is made entirely out of fragile Swiss cheese.
The photo above shows the "130" that was reproduced by diylettering.com. The Girvin forks were sourced from eBay. Felt logos have been employed as bolt covers on the forks.
Like a butterfly's wing, the seat is just a beautiful and slightly less delicate. I have a similarly shaped seat for "go." This one is for "show."
I sent my love and some money to Niagara Cycles for the Skyway mags. I bought two rears in hopes of running disc brakes up front using an adapter from bicycledesigner.com (which I've used on four other bikes). Due to the fragility of carbon fiber and about 5mm I am not putting discs on this thing anytime soon or later for that matter.
The above photo is highlights the Skyway Tuff Wheel 24" mag with 24x3" tires. The tire covers which keep the tires looking fresh are still on when I took this. I was testing the light in the warehouse where I shot these photos and moving the bike around to find the best light.
During my shoot at the warehouse I saw a couple of tables and got the idea to elevate this thing. It produced a pretty neat effect.
While shopping for some valve caps I came across "The Punisher" logo. I said, I have an idea. I order a set of four and soon I'll be order four more to use the decals on them as bolt hole covers. I figured as long as I was thinking small I should think big as well. I got a set of punisher decals for the chainwheel as well. I used the front and back.
The shiny "Punisher" logo badge is from a key chain. It was meant for the head tube but the Girvin shock spring hits it so I never mounted it there. I recently decided to order a second one that I plan to grind down and bend to conform to the head tube. That should do it. Tires came from Amazon and if you can believe it, are unfinished. I ordered raised white letters to stick on them that say "Little B@$+ard" but they haven't left the box yet.
I saw an ad for a Haro Freestyle bike and it had some nice cranks. The bike was $25 and I went and got it. I yanked the cranks off and slapped a set of one piece cranks on it. Luckily, I still made 30 bucks profit on the bike after I cleaned it up. I got a lot of stickers this stuff and normally I can't be bothered to apply a single one of them. This time, I broke habit and stuck them on the number plate - front and back. Most are on the back. This was done prior to me ordering a set of my own Cycles By Gig Mata decals which is why my CBGM doesn't take center stage. Many motorcycle fans will notice this is a windscreen from a sport bike. It was cut to my specs by Joe Fama because I didn't have the tool at the time.
I was loving the way this plan was coming together. Honestly, I want to do a limited edition run of 100 of these in 8 speed form. This bike is so good looking that I have no desire to ride it. The same is true for a lot of my clients. They just look at the bikes I sell them and don't ride them. They didn't learn that by watching me. Did they? The bike photographs extremely well. It looks even better in the sunlight - that is when the color really starts to dazzle the eye.
There is much work to be done but Dezzie and Pedal Junkysaw a pic of this in my living room and wanted to see more. Here you go, guys. The bike will never be a show bike. It has a few nicks in the powder coating. The yellow paint on the forks will receive a few shots for a can of flat black Plasti-Dip. The derailur and shifter will have to be added. I am currently looking for about 20 Felt bar end plugs so I can finish this and a few other bikes. The bike still needs cable guides like the Jagwire units under the top tube. I have an antique drop stand that I want to put on the bike. Hopefully, the deraliur set-up will allow it. I'd feel lucky if it did. Someday, the blue tape over the kickstand hole and rear drop outs. Someday, the chain guard and chain will find their way onto the bike. A few months back Powder Coating Maniacs closed it's doors. I don't know who else can reproduce this color. If I found somebody who did I would likely build a second one and ride it to work on sunny days.
Many thanks to KB who gave me permission to use the warehouse for this shoot. This thing gets a lot of eyeball when I take it out of the house and run it up to my Studio Cycle Co. to have them help me figure something out or figure it out for me. Thanks for reading and looking.
The cranks are Haro units and the pedals are from Diamond Back. I used the same pedal on my Abarth tribute bike and they are super grippy.
This is one of my favorite shots from the shoot today. Yeah, I could crop it and make the yellow line level but I think that purple really draws the eye. No Photoshop required or desired.
Alice Walker's "The Color Purple" has a lot of great lines of dialogue in it. "I bet it just pisses God off when you walk by the color purple without noticing" is one of those great lines. This bike doesn't really blend into the wall, does it?
- Gig
This is the best of the three partial before pictures. Seriously. This is it.
Above is pictured a bone stock 2005 Felt "Little B@$+ard."
Like a butterfly's wing, the seat is just a beautiful and slightly less delicate. I have a similarly shaped seat for "go." This one is for "show."
The above photo is highlights the Skyway Tuff Wheel 24" mag with 24x3" tires. The tire covers which keep the tires looking fresh are still on when I took this. I was testing the light in the warehouse where I shot these photos and moving the bike around to find the best light.
During my shoot at the warehouse I saw a couple of tables and got the idea to elevate this thing. It produced a pretty neat effect.
The Punisher logo'd valve cap makes a nice bolt cover for trimming this brake bolt up.
Marvel never intended my heresy. No apologies here. It looks just right.
The shiny "Punisher" logo badge is from a key chain. It was meant for the head tube but the Girvin shock spring hits it so I never mounted it there. I recently decided to order a second one that I plan to grind down and bend to conform to the head tube. That should do it. Tires came from Amazon and if you can believe it, are unfinished. I ordered raised white letters to stick on them that say "Little B@$+ard" but they haven't left the box yet.
I saw an ad for a Haro Freestyle bike and it had some nice cranks. The bike was $25 and I went and got it. I yanked the cranks off and slapped a set of one piece cranks on it. Luckily, I still made 30 bucks profit on the bike after I cleaned it up. I got a lot of stickers this stuff and normally I can't be bothered to apply a single one of them. This time, I broke habit and stuck them on the number plate - front and back. Most are on the back. This was done prior to me ordering a set of my own Cycles By Gig Mata decals which is why my CBGM doesn't take center stage. Many motorcycle fans will notice this is a windscreen from a sport bike. It was cut to my specs by Joe Fama because I didn't have the tool at the time.
I was loving the way this plan was coming together. Honestly, I want to do a limited edition run of 100 of these in 8 speed form. This bike is so good looking that I have no desire to ride it. The same is true for a lot of my clients. They just look at the bikes I sell them and don't ride them. They didn't learn that by watching me. Did they? The bike photographs extremely well. It looks even better in the sunlight - that is when the color really starts to dazzle the eye.
Not a bad angle on this thing. It actually cost me less to build this than most of my other builds. I say that now. I may end up paying Tick Oner to cram a Sturmey-Archer 8 speed into a Skyway. Goodbye budget. Hello speed.
There is much work to be done but Dezzie and Pedal Junkysaw a pic of this in my living room and wanted to see more. Here you go, guys. The bike will never be a show bike. It has a few nicks in the powder coating. The yellow paint on the forks will receive a few shots for a can of flat black Plasti-Dip. The derailur and shifter will have to be added. I am currently looking for about 20 Felt bar end plugs so I can finish this and a few other bikes. The bike still needs cable guides like the Jagwire units under the top tube. I have an antique drop stand that I want to put on the bike. Hopefully, the deraliur set-up will allow it. I'd feel lucky if it did. Someday, the blue tape over the kickstand hole and rear drop outs. Someday, the chain guard and chain will find their way onto the bike. A few months back Powder Coating Maniacs closed it's doors. I don't know who else can reproduce this color. If I found somebody who did I would likely build a second one and ride it to work on sunny days.
I'm shooting with a Canon 60D camera sporting a Canon 85mm portrait lens because lighting was a premium. Prime lenses are unforgiving when it comes to focusing. I didn't know this pic turned out a bit blurry on the number plate. The focus was more on the 130 on the top tube.
Many thanks to KB who gave me permission to use the warehouse for this shoot. This thing gets a lot of eyeball when I take it out of the house and run it up to my Studio Cycle Co. to have them help me figure something out or figure it out for me. Thanks for reading and looking.
Here the bike is doing a double table top.
Alice Walker's "The Color Purple" has a lot of great lines of dialogue in it. "I bet it just pisses God off when you walk by the color purple without noticing" is one of those great lines. This bike doesn't really blend into the wall, does it?
- Gig
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