Bike Check: Jason Momoa's Aquaman Themed Specialized Turbo Levo
When he's not leading the Dothraki or saving the world from Steppenwolf, Jason Momoa is also an international ambassador for Specialized Bikes and, apparently, a keen mountain biker. Recently, the brand decided to surprise him with a custom painted Turbo Levo e-bike to celebrate his role as Aquaman in the Justice League and his own film.
And who better to paint it than Tony Bauman? Tony is the man behind several incredible recent projects including Bryn Atkinson's Snakeskin Norco Range and Jill Kintner's Queen of Hearts hardtail, so he has plenty of pedigree with these intricate designs.
Specialized were apparently happy to give Tony free range to let his creativity run wild on this project and that's exactly what he did. He got the brief in April last year and Tony immediately jumped on the project hoping to give Jason a bike that would "blow him out of the water". After 80 hours of labor, he emerged with an awe-inspiring, aquatic frame plus a custom helmet based on Aquaman's tattoos and suit.
 | I wanted to mix it up by having the helmet and frame be completely different while still very much belonging together. For the helmet I focused on his bold tattoos from the movie, which after spending some time breaking them down and planning it out, the design worked extremely well without having to force it. The black and gold pattern over the top gave the boldness that I was after and tied into his gold suit and King of the Sea status. For the frame, I followed the visuals cues from the movie. A deep-sea vibe, with light rays coming in from the top, sharks silhouettes, schools of fish, an angry octopus reaching up from the depths, glowing jellyfish floating around, seaweed, air bubbles and of course the bridge to Atlantis. |
Here's a behind the scenes look at how the bike came together and Jason's reaction when he first saw it:
Tony locked himself away in the pain(t) cave for 80 hours to work on this project.
The work starts with stencils for the graphics.
Blue was the only choice for the theme of this watery work, what else could it be for the King of the Sea?
A seaweed graphic coming to life.
These shafts of sunlight reaching into the depths are a super-cool detail
A well-deserved break mid-way through the project.
The octopus tentacles required some of the more dexterous work on the paint job.
There are plenty of details to appreciate when you look closer here.
The front triangle ready for the full build.
Tony was also asked to paint a helmet to tie in thematically with the bike. He went for a design based on Momoa's costume and tattoos as Aquaman.
Specialized completed the build with a SRAM drivetrain and brakes, Fox suspension and lots of in-house parts
An Aquaman logo hidden at the bottom of the seat tube.
Jason gives it the once over
Ever seen a man curl an e-bike?
He's a fan!
The helmet also gets the stamp of approval
A test ride around the hotel. Jason has apparently been riding it off-road as well as a shop sent Tony a picture of the bike with some dirt on it.
Learn more about Tony's work here, and follow his latest projects on Instagram, here.
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so, uhh...
dated, misogynistic, and unfunny?
The Washington Capitols called to say you're kicked off their team.
www.tsn.ca/washington-capitals-waive-brendan-leipsic-to-terminate-contract-1.1473842
Should be interesting.
Batman wouldn't need an E-bike. He clearly states in this clip at 1'34" that he "never skips leg day".
www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9ScWnmjpMk
Almost as disrespectful as an XY competing against XX just so that they can win
Link to NIH study: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6711045
Only for me to tell them I have tried one, I didn't like it. Then I become the hater :rolleyes
1. Climate change is due to human being
2. Human beings are a disease (for the Earth)
3. I am getting an electric bike full of non-recyclabable carbon and rare metals which extraction is a huge source of pollution. And it’s been made on the other side of the world. And I am stoked about it.
Not sure what to think really.
Just do as I do regarding these celebrities:
- avoid dumping money into their products
- avoid clicking into any headline about anything they do/said (but here we are tho...)
- waste near to zero time discussing what they say, give them the importance they deserve
- assume from the start 90% of them are insufferable hypocrite elitists, won't be disappointed this way
- if possible try to separate the person from the work so you can enjoy some entertainment sometimes
- in doubt, watch again Ricky Gervais's Golden Globes speech
These arguments about celebrities trying to improve the world but "they flew on an airplane hur hur hur" are so stupid. It's all about number of eggs broken. He might break a few here and there, but if his cause saves hundreds of broken eggs, he's having an impact. Everything I can find, he practices what he preaches. Yea....eggs will be broken, but he's going to have a net positive compared to most of us in these first world countries.
Now I find him tossing a cig on the side of the trail on his e-bike I'll grab my pitchfork with you, but cut the man some slack.
www.fastcompany.com/90290795/focusing-on-how-individuals-can-stop-climate-change-is-very-convenient-for-corporations
This battery tech is pretty amazing, hopefully him buying this bike will convince the fat dads down the street they can pilot that e-cargo bike with the kids.
I'm trying to do my part by buying lots of used parts, buying an American made bike that only shipped a few hundred miles made in one of cleanest states in the US, and riding it for more than a single season.
Momoa has been riding motorbikes since '99. I think he can pull a helmet on.
Cause nobody will notice that Gold Aquaman tribal pattern!
One would think a professional “tough” guy in movies and tv with trainers, all the time, money and advantages over silly mortals in the world to be in amazing shape could pedal a modern mountain bike up a hill without assist.
SAD!
Not totally relevant, but over time he stopped taking his medication and kind of blew off his continued symptoms and had a FIRE HOSE bloody nose! Seriously dangerous blood lose and was in the hospital for nearly a week and couldn't do anything strenuous after that for months to make sure it healed/wouldn't blow out again. If he'd have been doing his hour long commute and been out between towns he might have died.