Mark Noble at Deluxe helped with tried and tested quality manufacturing, the design is simple and elegant in gloss black and gold with graphics created by typeface designer Seb Lester – also a BMX flatland rider – bringing the image of the Swift to life with beautiful hand drawn lettering and head badge, also available in gold and black print t-shirts here.

The bike is in prototype stages at the moment, and should be out hopefully by the end of the year.

All artwork at the event will be for sale with all money going to the Save the Children – Haiti Earthquake appeal. The auction will begin at 7pm Friday 26th March and will end at 10pm Friday 9th April.

The website is here.

All of the plates are now up for auction with proceeds going to a very good cause, the Athlete Recovery Fund. Many of the auctions have already ended, with the rest ending in the next couple of days. You can go to the main page here, or a direct link to the auction pages here.

“The Haro number plate was a landmark product in BMX. Within this plastic panel is the story of a 16 year old BMX kid bending sheets of laminate over his mom’s stove, hand crafting each plate and number as a way to support his riding. It is one of the first examples of iconic graphic design in the sport of BMX. The product was also a piece of functional sport performance equipment that doubled as a platform for individual creativity, giving every kid in BMX a “blank canvas” to express themselves. It was the point on the bicycle where speed met style.
Bob Haro went on to leverage this successful product and create a brand name in BMX that was always rooted in great design. Bob’s next contribution to the sport was even more iconic as he fused his love of skateboarding and BMX into a new sport category called freestyle. Bob and his friends literally opened the doors of imagination of what could be done on a bicycle, riding in the streets, skateparks, and on ramps.”

The artworks will all be auctioned off in public to generate funding and awareness for The Land Of Plenty. The other 30 artists include some great creators, some people that really influenced me at an early age, Bob Haro, Andy Jenkins, Mark Lewman, John Martin, Kevin Wilkins, Todd Bratrud, Yogi Proctor, Michael Leon, Dave Fox, Nick Phillip, Jeff Tremaine, Gork Barrette, Michael Lau, Rich Hansen, Joe Polevy, Ronnie Bonner, Norman Chuck, Dave Ortiz, Andy Mueller, Greg Higgins and David Slade.

The Lightning Bolts show will debut in Beijing, China on May 15, 2008. And if your interested in a little bit of a history lesson you should watch the documentary Joe Kid on a Stingray.

It’s not particularly new, but i recently discovered the collaboration between Paul Smith and Mercian Cycles of Derby. All of their bikes are still handmade at their Alvaston workshop and in this collaboration they produced unique Paul Smith designs available in a selection of six hand painted colours in both track and touring set ups. Smith originally wanted to be a professional racing cyclist (he rode a Mercian), but an accident ended his dream at age 17 and was actually the main reason which led to him becoming a fashion designer.

These bikes also sport handmade leather Brooks saddles and handlebar tape, still made by craftsmen in Smethwick just outside Birmingham. Their website has a gallery of catalogue covers as well as a nice collection of illustrations from their original patent applications. They’re beautiful objects that should last a lifetime and actually adapt to the shape of the rider with time. I really should be riding one.