Recently at the Smithfield Nocturne in London I had a bit of an epiphany – you’ll laugh when you hear this, but it really got me thinking.. See at the Nocturne, which is an annual bike bonanza of racing around the Smithfield meat market, a loop of about 1km that the racers go around at staggering 50km an hour and over, consisting mostly of right turns that make me all queasy even thinking about trying to negotiate those in a bunch sprint.. anyway, this fantastic event drew racers from near and far, fixie enthusiasts from all over with their custom bikes and anyone under the sun interested in cycling. I even spotted Mark Cavendish with girlfriend wandering the streets after the final elite race, seeing Geraint Thomas clinch the victory..

Well at the Nocturne the bit which was equally, if not even more interesting than the racing itself, was the people and more specifically, the fixie watching one could indulge in and here I had my ephiphany – someone was wheeling around a beautiful fixie with a white frame that had been completely covered in postage stamps and lacquered over, neatly finished with some blue deep v-rims, nitto bars and MKS pedals. This idea of starting on a frame as a blank canvas was really what has had me thinking of endless new bike projects, all around the idea of customising the frame itself a lot more than merely the components.. I’ll have to think about this one – and hope I see a picture of the fixie somewhere!

In the meantime we will have to contend with some sumptuous painting courtesy of Brad Fudge and Cathy Bosma.