Velo City: Bicycle Culture and City Life

Koizumi Madison Taipan

Koizumi Madison Taipan

Some guys go to incredible lengths to restore an old school BMX to period correctness, but Lixy Bacskay is a female Kiwi artist whose latest project, a Koizumi Madison Taipan, eclipsed them all — the final result is a testament to both her efforts and creative energy.

A self-confessed over-achiever, Lixy currently runs three businesses, including a successful design studio. She also paints, sings and plays guitar in her band Medollic and spends an inordinate amount of time meticulously recreating rare and historically significant BMXs.

The Koizumi Madison Taipan was manufactured on the same factory line as the Diamondback Large Pro frame in 1979, which Lixy acquired after 33 years in storage. Each component was separately sourced according to its correct heritage, stripped and re-finished.

You can read the entire parts list on Lixy’s website but here’s a quick breakdown: Race Inc bars and Takagi chainring, 1980 stamped Akisu forks, 30 year old NOS Dia Compe 890 calipers (stamped Feb ’82), a Sugino Diamondback stem, Cyclepro TTK 80s pedal cages and Takagi Tourney cranks.

The frame, bars and forks were sent to Roberto’s Custom Powder in Morningside, QLD who applied a Super Gloss (‘Fiola’) Yellow powder coat, before being stickered with repro decals by Lixy herself. Oh, she made the custom repro pads herself, too. Quite a sight to behold, wouldn’t you agree?

Special thanks to Lixy for the photos. Check out the full story of the Taipan project, and the other builds, on her website, where you can link through to her art gallery site and design studio’s site. And her band’s website

Koizumi Madison Taipan
Koizumi Madison Taipan
Koizumi Madison Taipan
Koizumi Madison Taipan
Koizumi Madison Taipan
Koizumi Madison Taipan