Tour de France tech: One-of-a-kind graphics
From cocaine-fueled gangster themes to tiny details on the hubs
This article originally appeared on BikeRadar
For those who love to look at bicycles, there is no better place than the Tour de France. This year we have seen a variety of custom paint- and decal-modifications to frames, many accompanied by one-off saddles or at least complementary bar tape or a computer.
In the video below, we look at the top five custom bike designs of the 2014 Tour de France. In the gallery above, we show you those plus many more.
Sylvain Chavanel has a stunning Scott Addict painted by Swiss artist André Marty, designed by the team at Scott and Chava himself. Specialized partnered with McLaren for the sparkling green paint on Mark Cavendish's S-Works Venge, which just so happens to match the paint on one of Mr Cavendish's cars.
Vincenzo Nibali's shark theme gets a similar sparkle, but with a bit more teeth to the design. All nine Cannondale riders started the 2014 Tour de France above custom-painted SuperSix EVOs, each one painted with an animal theme of the rider's choice. While his teammates picked actual animals like a grizzly bear or a lion, Peter Sagan went with a comic book super hero – the Wolverine.
Finally, although not brand new, you have to love Fabian Cancellara's Spartacus design, while celebrates the gladiatorial theme tip to tail. Carrying over another theme from last year, Cancellara's top-tube name place says T Montana, short for Antonio (Tony) Raimundo Montana, the protagonist of the 1983 gangster movie Scarface, played by Al Pacino.
Which of these bikes is your favorite?
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