Bike meets Sharpie

After being inspired by a Lamborghini with a sharpie paint job I decided to take apart my BLK MRKT Riot and start to work. When I first started I didn't realize what I was getting myself into and wasn't sure what people would think of it.

After posting my first picture to Pinkbike and getting a bunch of positive feed back I kept at it and this is the final product.

Although there seem to have been attempts by bike manufacture's to apply art to their products, they never seem to go all out, and when you hear of a unique or custom bike you think of maybe a mono color painted frame with matching colored components. Even before I saw the sharpie'd Lambo I was thinking about different ways of making my bike truly unique and artistic. At first I was set on an 80's theme that I was going to airbrush onto the bike, although this may have seemed like a good idea I have never worked with an air brush gun and also do not own one. So when I got the influenced idea of sharpie graffiti I started right away. At first I started with a bullet and casing since it seemed to go well with the BLK MRKT theme and from there on I pretty much just "went with the flow" and incorporated some textures and idea's from friends at school and on the Pinkbike forums.


At first I was using a normal Sharpie and it seemed to work great, and then for some reason I switch to what I thought was an old sharpie because of its red logo. It wasn't till 3 days after I started that I realized it was an industrial strength Sharpie and once I realized this and looked at my frame I could see almost all of the area's I used the normal Sharpie wearing off. If it wasn't for this industrial strength Sharpie I doubt this project would have turned out as well as it did. So since all I have been using is a sharpie you can tell this was an extremely cost effective project and surprisingly The Sharpie lasted the entire bike.


Although it may seem something like this might only take a few hours on a piece of paper, and I also thought this when I started. It actually turned out to be very tricky and difficult to get a steady and consistent line on the curved surface. So, what started out as a relatively quick project turned out to take me close to 50 hours in total, but it was definitely worth every hour.


I hope this not only inspires riders to create unique art work on their bikes, but also the manufactures to start using their frames and products as a canvas. Art isn't just meant for canvas's and paper, it should be everywhere and I think a bike frame is one of many perfect places for it.


After my first request for a graffiti project to be done on another rider's bike I decided that I should take the opportunity to start my own mini business. After some thought I came up with some base prices for frame graffiti and here it is. With most projects taking around 40-50 hours I thought these prices were very fair. Prices may vary depending on demand, and waiting list.

Hardtails - $200.00
BMX's - $160.00
Full suspensions - $200.00-300.00 (depending on frame complexity)
clear coating - $15.00 - $25.00 (depending on frame complexity)
All prices include personalization such as specific graphics, textures, names, etc.

I will do more than just Bike frame however, pretty much anything you want customized, maybe wheels or handle bars? It's up to you and the possibilities are endless.

I will also be starting a web site (www.bikegraffiti.com)

You can contact me here on Pinkbike at radrider.pinkbike.com/