For most of us, 2020 has been a weird year. There’s been some ups and downs and it’s only now that the world is sort of getting back to a (socially distanced) sense of normality.
Back in April, most of us went into lockdown. We weren’t allowed to see mates. We could only go to the shop for necessities. We had to stay 2 metres apart from everyone. We clapped every week for the incredible efforts of the NHS. And with the exception of a quick bit of daily exercise, we weren’t allowed to go shred our bikes.
It was with this lack of stoke that we got together with the guys at Marin bikes and we hatched plan. Whilst the world was down on itself, it was time to get people stoked again. Whilst we weren’t allowed to go and have proper fun on bikes, we could at least get people excited at the prospect of it. After all, getting through the dreaded lockdown was knowing that there was a glimmer of hope and more importantly, some freedom on the other side.
Our plan was simple. Give away a complete Marin Alpine Trail, but with the ULTIMATE paint job. We could’ve gone down plenty of routes to offer out this competition, but we settled for a nice and simple colouring book. Whether you’re 40 years old, or 4, nothing beats getting back to basics and trying your absolute best to stay between the lines.
After a few weeks of putting it put to our followers and over 2,500 entries later, we had the daunting task of narrowing down the choices to just one Dream Marin. There were entries from kids as young as 3, there were professional designers, there were people that perhaps got a bit carried away with how many dream bikes they had and there was one guy who completely disregarded the colouring book and drew his bike from scratch. Over a fair few coffees and plenty of emails, we’d narrowed it down but still couldn’t decide on who we thought should win.
So, like the cowards we are we gave it to someone else to decide. Cue up Marin pro riders Matt Jones and Mark Matthews. We gave them the shortlist, got them both on a video call and let them decide. The choice was so hard that even Matt and Mark couldn’t decide and in the end the winner was chosen by the good old fashioned method of rock, paper, scissors.
The winning bike was designed by Justin Schroth and has since been given the name ‘Rocket Pop’. His choice of colours make it look like it was inspired by the rocket shaped ice lolly’s (popsicles if you’re not from the UK!) that we all enjoyed when we were kids.
10.21.2020
Custom painting a Dream Marin Alpine Trail
We took Justin’s basic coloured in design and turned it into a digital format ready to get pained. Not content with just giving Justin basic colours, we added some Image Design Custom flair and a little bit of magic to the final design. We worked in a metallic blue for the bulk of the frame, that contrasted well against a bold red. We also gave the frame a final addition of a full coat of a shimmering candy pearl that made the whole bike really come to life. With the bike painted, we headed over to The Woods Cyclery, for the bike to be fully built by the delicate and capable hands of the guys there.
Fast forward a few months and the bike made it’s way from the UK, all the way to Justin in Massachusetts. He’s since upgraded a few of the stock parts and added a some more red elements to the build, including a beaut set of RockShox Lyrik Ultimate forks that is a sure bet this bike is going to get sent to the fullest!! We‘re thoroughly jealous of this Dream Marin build, but given the state of the world it was pretty rad top get people stoked and give one guy a bike that he’ll no doubt treasure for years to come.