Popemobile Goes Two-Wheeled with Custom-Painted Breezer
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Pope Francis landed in the US earlier this week, where he was spotted in an eco-friendly Fiat in Washington, DC. Hopefully later in the trip, he’ll trade the temporary Popemobile for something even more eco-friendly: a custom-painted Breezer Downtown 8 bike.
The bike will be waiting for His Holiness when he gets to Philadelphia this weekend. Philly-based Advanced Sports International (ASI), the company that owns Breezer, is behind the bike and papal design. Yesterday, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and the Philadelphia Bicycling Advocacy Board presented the bike to Archbishop Charles Chaput; it was also announced that 100 Breezers will be donated to bicycle-based community programs in the area.
Though the Breezer itself is cool, the devil is in the details (ha!) and the paint scheme and ornamentation are what truly set this bike apart. The bike, which has a clean white and gold colorway, is decorated with graphics by Amanda Dirksen Catanzaro, head of ASI's graphic design team; the Pope’s crest serves as the head badge. We chatted with the talents behind the implementation of the paint scheme, head badge, and excellent wing-themed chain protector, Noah Rosen and Suzanne Carlsen of Toronto-based Carl&Rose creative agency and VeloColour Bicycle Painting.
RELATED: Inside Cycling's Coolest Art Show
BICYCLING: The white and gold paint scheme is very traditional. Why those colors?
Carlsen: Actually, the overall design was pretty clearly laid out for us. [Amanda] put the graphics together and chose the general color pallet; we selected the specific colors from our in-house paint samples and color books. We adjusted a few little details, but kept it fairly close to their original layout.
The major difference between what we did and [ASI's] original expectations is how we went about applying the graphics. Most companies get decals printed, do some larger vinyl wraps, stick them on, and call it a day. We stencil pretty much everything. All of the details on this bike are comprised of many individual layers of stencils applied with paint masks that we prepared and cut in the shop.
How did you guys get the job painting it?
Carlsen: It’s nice to know that VeloColour has a good reputation. ASI gave us a call out of the blue and mentioned something about a custom paint job and the Pope and said that we came highly recommended. Sometimes things just happen.
How did you come up with the design for the chain guard, and how hard was it to implement?
Rosen: Actually, Suzanne Carlsen (aka Carl) does most of the design work and all of the hand cutting for the custom head badges and chain guards. We received an image of Pope Francis' crest and of an angel wing, and Suzanne interpreted those to create a stenciled or positive/negative version of these forms. Some information is always omitted or altered for the intended use and overall style that we are looking for. Carl&Rose has a number of blank chainguards that were produced along with our other designs. When a custom design or pattern is needed, the blanks can be cut in almost any style—by hand, of course. The head badge was hand cut in brass and then polished and coated in automotive clear coat. The cutting, bending and polishing [of the head badge] took about five hours in total with some extra time spent reinterpreting the design.
RELATED: Cycling's Coolest Vintage Head Badges
How excited will you be if the Pope actually rolls away on the bike?!
Rosen: We do really hope that Pope Francis gets to spend some time with it, and if he rides it around the Vatican, of course we would be thrilled. Even if we don't see pictures of him riding outside, the idea of him cruising around on it through the halls of the Vatican—maybe even in his socks—is pretty awesome. Also knowing that an object, with our names on it, is within the walls of the Vatican is pretty neat.
You Might Also Like
