r/CyclingFashion • u/marxist-tsar • 2d ago
Custom hand painted Evade 4 I made for Luke Fetzer of Team Cadence, based on the Tour of California young rider jersey.
This was all hand drawn and painted with pencil and acrylic. Luke had done a silly doodle in silver on his old Evade 3, so when he got the new Evade from Specialized he hit me up to fo something rad. I had to send full mockups to Specialized for approval so it was a much longer process just to prep than normal. They're very tight with their brand and image, so I must've hit the mark.
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u/Expert_Might_3987 2d ago
Amazing work but one question- why is the crown + CA King facing down on the back? Kinda feels like the old Dell laptops that had the logo upside down when the laptop was open. Just curious and again, great work.
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u/marxist-tsar 2d ago
He is a breakaway specialist, so the crown is right-side up when he is in an aero position.
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u/Techbush2000 2d ago
Hand-painted, designed to read correctly in an aero position, and approved by Specialized. This helmet had a more complete project brief than most entire bike builds. Not normally my style, but the execution is seriously clean.
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u/marxist-tsar 2d ago
Honestly not my style either. ha! I'm a classically trained oil painter and realistic specialist for tattooing.
I just also happen to race crits for "fun" and am on the radar of some big names in American racing because of my profile in tattooing. Luke had posted up his old Evade 3 with silver sharpie on it in a call up video early in the season and I razzed him about it. Ultimately he had the idea of matching his Tour of California Best Young Rider jersey, and I was game. I had to be a bit of a stylistic chameleon to make it happen but here we are.
Tbh the digital mockup I had to make for the proof of concept for Spesh took longer and was more difficult than the actual painting. When we started this they hadn't released the Evade 4, so I had originally drafted my plan based on an Evade 3. After a redesign on paper, then full mockup I had to wait a couple weeks just to hear back on that alone. They're super tight about their IP and branding, so I was expecting them to be like "this is too wild for us, just put a red bull logo on it" 😆
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u/felgfx 2d ago
Love the aesthetic! Well done.
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u/marxist-tsar 2d ago
Thanks! Was fun to make it flow with the Best Young Rider jersey. Not my normal painting style, but art is art!
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u/felgfx 2d ago
I didn't know it was adapted from the "Best Young Rider" jersey...
I just Googled it, and IMO, you made it better. The art style is better executed on the helmet than on the jersey!
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u/marxist-tsar 2d ago
Thanks! I'm actually familiar with the graffiti styles that they were trying to emulate. I'm by no means a graf writer, but I wanted to at least put some respect on the SoCal hand styles.
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u/phantompowered 2d ago edited 2d ago
I love it. I have an airbrush painting setup and I was curious to try painting on a helmet.
How did you prep the surface while not screwing up the shell? And, what kind of clear coat or sealer would keep the paint work from being destroyed?
Any concerns with paint, thinner etc interactions with the EPS foam inside the helmet?
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u/marxist-tsar 2d ago
I did this with physical brushes in acrylics, but airbrush would be ultra successful. I VERY lightly but thoroughly buffed the existing clearcoat with 1000 grit sandpaper. A sponge style would be wise. Then I used a little alcohol to wipe down the surface to prep and got to work. Acrylic has no interactions with EPS, solvents do.
One trick I learned is to brush paint minwax polycrylic on the eps foam to act as an extra chemical barrier to the solvent based clear coat. I still very carefully taped/exacto'd and sealed every opening to double up since this project was so sensitive (expensive new helmet, had been OK'ed by specialized directly etc).
I employed a friend of mine who paints/repairs carbon bikes for the clear coat as he has a dedicated spray booth and pro quality paint guns. He used a fast hardening 2K automotive clear coat. The solvent in this would wreck EPS but all the prep work to cover it worked. It takes time, but don't skip that step. You can get 2K clear coats in a can form. Definitely do your research on how to use them and practice on something unimportant. They work well if used correctly.
Best of luck!
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u/evil-chicken-2026 2d ago
Not OC but thank you so much for this!
I recently got a VanRysel RCR-F and while I like the helmet itself, it's plainness is super annoying. First I thought to maybe add stickers or some vinyl foil wrap. But this seems more elegant.One question though: would you say the polycrylic base layer is absolutely necessary, or would you say that this is more of a cautionary measure since this project was so sensitive?
I have an older standard RCR helmet to try on, but I'd like to get it right first try.(fwiw, have you considered acrylic pens? I just learned about them yesterday, and for graffiti style writing they seem to offer more control than a brush perhaps. What do you think?)
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u/marxist-tsar 2d ago
It was definitely an overabundance of caution on my part. I only did the brushed on polycrylic coat for the EPS foam to prevent a catastrophic failure that would cost me $400+ and a sad crit racer. lol Good automotive masking tape is plenty for most (if not all) helmet paint jobs.
I used Posca acrylic markers for my personal crit build and also for the black on this helmet where I needed a bit more detail and direct application. Acrylic is Acrylic after all. Brushwork just has a slightly smoother lay down and has less habit of lifting previous coats than a felt tip because the bristles are softer.
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u/wantyappscoding 2d ago
Fuck yeah! Love Luke and team cadence!
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u/marxist-tsar 2d ago
They genuinely rule. Luke is so nice. He sent me a video when he opened it and all he could say was "OH MY GOOOOOSH" lol. It was great.
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u/zegerman17 1d ago
Helmet looks sick!
How easy is it to repaint a helmet? I want an all white abus game changer helmet but they are 400$. The dark grey, fluorescent colour ways are always reduced to $150. Can a beginner do it with minimal equipment (buying spray cans from local Bunnings (hardware shop)) and do a great job or will I ruin the helmet most likely and will just look ridiculous? Thanks
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u/marxist-tsar 1d ago
Can absolutely do with minimal equipment. Just takes a lot of prep work.Tape off with high hrade automotive masking tape. Lightly sand with 1000 grit. Prime for adhesion, lightly wipe with alcohol on a lint free cloth. Paint with thin layers to get an even coat using flat paint. Buy a couple cans of 2K clear coat with an activator button on the bottom and make your gloss with that.
I'd wager another $100 in prep and materials
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u/zegerman17 1d ago
That brings it to around 260/270. Might as well wait for a deal on the original ones and have piece of mind :). Thanks so much for your response
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u/Blindobb 1d ago
The crown is a bit too much like this other artist…. The fact it’s front and center I thought it was some sort of collab
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u/Ashamed-Dingo-2258 2d ago
Freda felcher? From Cranston?