This brightly colored machine is possibly the most fascinating bike yet featured on The Spoken. Created by an up-and-coming Canadian builder by the name of Adam Hammond, it is actually based on a painting by Greg Curnoe, an artist who was also an avid cyclist. Curnoe was tragically killed in 1992 by a truck while riding his beloved bike, so this is also a humble tribute to a man who loved to ride. The painting referred to is a ‘portrait’ of the artist’s Mike Barry-built Mariposa time trial bike, and Adam has re-interpreted the two-dimensional image as a three-dimensional, rideable work of art.
Adam documented the entire build process on his blog, Two Serious Bikes, and inscribed a running dissertation (and creative manifesto) along the way. No mean feat, as he was also working on his Lit PhD. As a result, he has provided an eloquent exposé into both his philosophies and Curnoe’s. It’s an intriguing notion, and Adam summarizes it thus: ‘Greg Curnoe Bike is a translation back into three dimensions of a two-dimensional work of art that is itself a translation into two dimensions of a three-dimensional bicycle’. The entire theory is well worth a read, and it’s invaluable to fully appreciate the careful consideration Adam applied to his design.
Of course, it’s not a mirror image. Time trialists spend most of their time in the drops, but Adam won’t be time trialling on his version, so he’s completely wrapped the bars. He has, however, used clear hoods to mimick Curnoe’s lack of them for his painting. The orange tires have been replaced by orange fenders, but the TA Specialites cranks are consistent with those in Curnoe’s painting. Noah Rosen of VéloColour performed a spectacular job of painting the frame, as close a representation to the original painting as can be, with Adam’s logo replacing the Mariposa branding on Curnoe’s own.
The re-integration of Greg Curnoe’s Mariposa TT into the third dimension is complete. The next phase will be to document the riding Adam will undertake upon it, around the same region Greg Curnoe used to ride. Keep an eye on Two Serious Bikes to observe the process.
Special thanks to Andrew Blake for the tip.
