Video: Norco Shows Off Haley Smith & Peter Disera's Olympic Race Bikes in 'Spinning Maple Into Gold'

Jul 21, 2021 at 14:06
by Norco Bicycles  

PRESS RELEASE: Norco Bicycles

The potential of The Games runs through the veins of every athlete who commits to the pursuit of gold – and when you’re one of the select few Canadians chosen every four years, those golden hopes, and the pride of your country, course through you like the veins of a maple leaf.

When Norco Factory Team XC riders Haley Smith and Peter Disera were selected to represent Canada in Tokyo, we wanted to do something to celebrate, and give these amazing athletes something special to commemorate their experience.

We transferred the excitement that comes with Norco’s first ever trip to The Games into the creative energy it took to imagine the visuals for these one-off Tokyo-bound XC machines.

To achieve this amazing effect, we spun maple into gold by plucking actual Canadian maple leaves and imprinting them on the aggressive lines of Haley and Peter’s Norco Revolver FS 100 and HT frames.

The finish was achieved by the skilled artists at VéloColour, and the results render a pearl golden-green organic leaf texture that shimmers over a clear coated carbon.

The frames were barely dry before being boxed up and whisked off with the hopes of a nation to surprise our two gold medal hopefuls, who are busy making their final preparations to take on the Izu MTB Course next week.

Photo by Nick Iwanyshyn
Photo by Nick Iwanyshyn

Photo by Nick Iwanyshyn

Photo by Nick Iwanyshyn

Photo by Nick Iwanyshyn
Photo by Nick Iwanyshyn

Photo by Nick Iwanyshyn

Photo by Nick Iwanyshyn

Photo by Nick Iwanyshyn
Photo by Nick Iwanyshyn

Photo by Nick Iwanyshyn
Photo by Nick Iwanyshyn

Photo by Nick Iwanyshyn


Video and photos by Nick Iwanyshyn.

Author Info:
norcobicycles avatar

Member since Feb 11, 2000
127 articles

31 Comments
  • 56 0
 That leaf paint process is next level. I’ll root for them due to the bike alone!
  • 16 1
 God damn, I follow bike custom painting heavily and have even started to dabble myself and I have never seen anything quite like it. Stunning result!
  • 5 0
 I'm in Texas, where there are no maple trees, ...and even I want this. Fantastic
  • 5 0
 Vélocolour does some of the best paint work on the planet. Good humans and fast bike riders, too.
  • 3 1
 you know under normal circumstances i would just say something like "cross country sucks" but the paint on this bike is next level!!!! it looks stunnin, this is the bike that would convert me to a full blown xc rider
  • 14 0
 Very cool frame
  • 8 0
 A friend discovered this paint technique accidently when he leaned against a freshly painted car leaving a perfect arse imprint of his jeans. Unfortunately for him he was sentenced to sanding it back out so it could be resprayed for the customer..
  • 9 0
 Who is the new CMO at Norco...absolutely killing it. @brianpark would be so cool to get interviews with folks behind the brands not just the engineers!
  • 8 0
 Go Canada!!! Love it!
  • 3 1
 Its nice to look at and a cool idea but unfortunately they used non-native/invasive Norway Maple leaves instead of our native sugar or red maple!
  • 1 0
 I don’t care. It looks amazing ;-)
  • 1 0
 Oh wow! That is special. Yes please. Top it off with that saddle Rocky did a few years back for ALN with the maple syrup dripping out
  • 2 0
 Nothing will ever beat a creative custom paint job on a frame. Gets me every time.
  • 3 0
 Absolutely killing the custom game, as always Veloolour (Suz and Noah!)!
  • 3 0
 Well done @norcobicycles–looks very good.
  • 2 0
 Dear Santa: I’ve been a very good boy. Please send me a large. Even without a shock, I’m not greedy. I believe!
  • 3 0
 This is a big YES!
  • 2 0
 Seeing the process behind the artwork was really cool!
  • 1 0
 Canada does it best! Incredible bike with an even more spectacular curb appeal.
  • 2 0
 That might just be the most gorgeous paint job on a bike of all time.
  • 1 0
 Thats a beautiful paint effect, I dont have the patience to do that. amazing.
  • 1 0
 But anyone else who paints it voids their warranty right? Lol
  • 1 0
 Yeah because "anyone else" is often someone in their shed who has no idea what they're doing.
  • 2 0
 You’d be surprised how many people remove paint with an angle grinder equipped with a metal cutting grinding wheel.
  • 1 0
 I wonder how many people will feel threatened by that Revolver?
  • 1 0
 Is that a new triangular shock?
  • 2 0
 New elastomer tech.
  • 5 5
 is it just me or does the rear triangle look budget?
  • 1 0
 very pretty
  • 1 0
 One helluva sexy frame







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