There’s no doubt people comb through our seventeen years of Beautiful Bicycles over here at The Radavist for inspiration. This week’s Readers’ Rides takes it to another level. Chris Hargreaves from Manchester, England, was inspired by Chris’s Independent Fabrication ‘cross bike we featured twelve years ago, and had a new-to-him Indy Fab painted to match. Let’s check it out!

The inspiration for my bike build—or perhaps more accurately, this very particular paint scheme—originated here on The Radavist, when I first stumbled across a decade-old photo story featuring Chris’s Independent Fabrication cross bike. Not only did John’s beautiful photography immediately catch my eye, but the introductory paragraph asking, “What’s not to love about a pink bike?” definitely hit home and started the process of pulling together the puzzle pieces of this project.

Imagining my own version of Chris’s bike, I already knew where I could potentially lay my hands on a similar frame. In fact, I’d seen it every time I visited my local bike shop, whenever I needed to work on one bike or another. Because that’s what’s so crazy about this story: the fact that in the very middle of Middle England, my LBS was once an Independent Fabrication dealership.

Sitting slightly forlornly in the shop window—a layer of dust and cobwebs attesting to its dormant state—this Indy Fab had the requisite canti brakes and was built up with an interesting mix of race components: Thomson seat post and stem, Phil hubs, Salsa Bell-Lap bars, and Race Face cranks. There was only one problem. Resplendent from nose to tail in signal red paint, it was the wrong color.

So why did I now approach the bike shop proprietor to discuss a potential sale when I’d been walking past this same bike for upwards of 15 years? The answer lies in last year’s Bespoked handmade bike show, where I first met Jason Bennett of Untitled Custom Paint.

Approaching his display stand—fronted by a beautifully painted Santa Cruz gravel frame which went on to win best finish—I made my introductions and soon discovered that Jason was a graphic designer by profession but in the process of setting up a dedicated paint studio in the industrial fringes of nearby Stockport. A few days after the show, I reached out with my proposition and a link to The Radavist photo story.

With Jason happy to help, I struck a deal at the LBS and delivered the bike ready for dismantling and bead-blasting down to bare metal. But first, we needed to discuss what—and what not—would make the final design, eventually deciding on a faithful reproduction of the pink and white fade, gloss black fork, and a smattering of stars.

Over the ensuing weeks, whenever I visited Jason in his new studio, the bike was one further stage closer to its final transformation. Stripped of the original paint and with a coating of primer, the smooth lines of the tubes and dropouts were a revelation. Then, after the base fade was laid down, the delicate process of designing vinyl masking for all the frame details began. Painstaking and requiring a steady hand, the resultant finish protected under clear coat was quite magical.

Pictured here against a backdrop of the city center of Manchester, I can perhaps imagine there might be individuals who feel this project was a missed opportunity. It may have been preferable to keep the original paint or opt for a new, totally unique design. But when the bike was finally finished and rebuilt, ready for its first ride, I had that same feeling of excitement that I experienced when first viewing the photo story.

Only more so because I would be taking this homage to a beautiful bicycle home with me, and, at the end of the day, if something looks right, then it’s right. Right?

We’d like to thank all of you who submitted Readers Rides builds to be shared here at The Radavist. The response has been incredible and we have so many to share over the next few months. Feel free to submit your bike, listing details, components, and other information. You can also include a portrait of yourself with your bike and your Instagram account! Please, shoot landscape-orientation photos, not portrait. Thanks!