When BMC set out to create a new bike for six-time World Champion Pauline Ferrand-Prevot, they wanted it to be something special.
To design a bike that celebrated Pauline beyond just recognizing her mountain of riding achievements, BMC teamed up with an artist whose medium is tape and who is known by his pseudonym, No Curves.
The design process started with a series of rapid-fire questions to Pauline who had to respond to No Curves using pictures. The artist honed in on Pauline’s calm confidence and strength, adorning the headtube with a panther to represent how she interacts with the world around her.
Naturally, as she's no stranger to the rainbow jersey and in 2015 was the first person in cycling history to simultaneously hold the XCO, cyclocross, and road World Championship titles, the design needed to include some rainbow stripes to punctuate the bike's bold patterns.
 | Riding a bike that you’ve contributed to is a huge privilege. It really boosts my confidence as it’s also a part of me and shows a side that people won’t have seen before. Often athletes are only seen from the outside, but it’s not all performance.—Pauline Ferrand-Prevot |
 | You’re dealing with this extraordinary contradiction that is a BMC bicycle – designed with incredible digital software but ultimately still created in an artisanal and artistic way. It brings home that technology – however perfect – still needs the creativity and intuition of humans.—No Curves |
From BMC: 5 Things You Should Know
1.The vibrant colour palette makes use of her rainbow stripes, representing all of the continents, and Pauline’s fiery character.
2. Not only a nod to the bikes’ natural terrain, the deconstructed mountains at the junction of the downtube and the seat tube represent the new challenge with BMC, the highs and lows of the sport and how easy it is to go from one to another.
3. The panther on the head tube represents Pauline: super calm on the exterior but with an internal rage ready to be unleashed on race day.
4. The BMC logo stays true to its DNA on the downtube but is joined by Pauline on the chainstay and a discreet signature by No Curves.
5. Ensuring full compliance with the UCI World Champion stripes was worth breaking a sweat over and well suited to No Curves’ tape art approach.
No Curves aimed to create a bike that perfectly captured Pauline's personality and her stellar racing career.
132 Comments
Wow!
Geometric tape artist. Like EvH on his guitars. Spider webs. Fenceposts. No Curves!
Looking like computer chip clip art.
PFP’s muscle thing hit the wrong member of this collabo for sure. No Curves.
Imagine being less fun than BMC!
I am in awe.
No Curves!
Par contre moi je suis sûr que t'en es un...
I don't think that word means what you think it means.
$100 says that he'll sell some ugly NFT for >$100k in the next 90 days.
m.youtube.com/watch?v=oDDVR31mMhY
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yKay8HDjPU
I find it hilarious that majority of "modern" artists think they are original. "Art is theft." Picasso
Lance Armstrong: "Hold my beer."
For once that a custom bike looks arty and classy...
I guess some people prefer wasp or trout painting "artworks".
Some people did not like the look of this bike & that's okay...nothing to get upset about
BTW: i don't think classy means what you think it means
I didnt like the wasp, but you can't deny that paintjob took time, talent and skill...and taping skills on top of it. Im not going to bother hating on a 100 hour paint job that I dislike, but low effort "art" like this is genuinely insulting to the senses.
This bike looks more like someone paid to get his name out there. I strongly doubt Pauline was on a waiting list.
You have to be pretty narcissistic to think it's ok to hate on people for not having the same visual preferences.
Btw: I don't think "classy" is used anymore for what is means, and I don't think you should feel so good for making fun of a non native speaker. Not very classy
What are you, the armchair comment critic? How is that career working out?