The bikes that emerge from the workshop of Sven Cycles in Weymouth, Dorset are usually of the more traditional British style — gent’s roadsters and tourers — barring a few eclectic models, such as that amazing Forager, and now this head-turning all-roader.
Darron Coppin and Andrew ‘Mog’ Mogford created this multi-coloured machine for Tony Silver, an early-80s MTB fanatic. Tony first saw Darron’s work at Bespoked, which provided the catalyst for his dream of one day owning a “truly unique, handbuilt bike”.
Tony says: “It so happens that he, his business partner Mog and I probably bumped into each other years ago. In consultation with Darron (we developed) a ‘retro’ looking bike with a horizontal top tube with an on/off road capability, made out of Reynolds 953.”
“Mog came back to me with drawings which I approved,” Tony continues, “and Darron got cracking. He and I were largely in agreement about the components, bearing in mind my budget and my intended use of the bike. Mog suggested the Salsa Cowchipper bars and I sourced the Absolute Black oval chainring.”
“I then applied my thoughts to the paintjob and looked to the animal kingdom for inspiration about patterns and color schemes — particularly fish and snakes. I like the Coral Snake pattern and found the combination of colors I liked on images of a fish I found online.”
The services of ex-pro DH racer, Alistair McLean at Fat Creations, were enlisted, who spent over 60 hours on the paint. The frame back at the workshop, it was built up with a SRAM Force group, a Wound Up fork, and Chris King R45 disk hubs laced to H+Son Hydra rims.
Tony concludes: “I am thrilled with the end result, which I consider to be a unique symbiosis of art and utility… and it rides every bit as good as it looks!” Sounds like a dream come true.
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