Even Tom Cruise’s witchcraft can’t get the fire off this Spoon Custom’s build

Eric’s stock car inspired super bike. Photo by Simon Eldon

If you like guns, beer and big cars you’ve probably clocked where the idea for this build came from. It’s definitely more Talledega Nights than Tour De France in this unofficial tribute to a world famous American Stock Car. And, if you love to get drunk and watch V8 Muscle cars hulk around a massive oval for hours you’ve probably already got a pretty good impression of what you think the new owner is into too. 

Guess again. Eric is a Graphic Artist from Miami. He’s about as far away from a typical stock car fan as you can get. He’s also one of the most gentle, patient and creative people we’ve ever had the pleasure to work for, and that’s saying something in itself. 

Everything on Eric’s bike is painted on - no stickers. It’s all done with masks and an airbrush by Sam at Gun Control Custom Paint. Photo by Simon Eldon

He’s also very deliberate and considered. He’s more likely to drive a Tesla than a Dodge Charger. 

And that’s one of the many surprising things I love about this job and what the bicycle means for so many of us.

Bicycles allow us to go places where we wouldn’t normally find ourselves. Physically when we ride them on an epic journey and aesthetically when we design a bike around our actual dreams.

My first bike was my first taste of proper go anywhere, do anything freedom.  Your maiden voyage on your very first bicycle is literally the fastest you’ve ever been independently, ever. It’s like a muscle car, for your imagination.

Spoon Customs XCR with ISP, equipped with Enve and Dura Ace. Photo by Simon Eldon.

This bike is all about those adventures, physical and visual and imagined. It’s about the freedom to go where you want with it and burn rubber. It’s also about journey’s into nostalgia and fun time’s that perhaps we leave behind when we start buying wedding suits, hatchbacks and nicely designed kitchen appliances. 

Columbus’s Dove painted on by Sam at Gun Control Custom Paint

Sure, there’s plenty of bikes out there that look like your iphone, or that might fit in nicely with your posh toaster but the majority of my customers go further when it comes to their bikes. 

And, it doesn’t stop at our customers either - I think it’s actually a cycling thing. We all know people who drive black Audi’s and shop in Paul Smith (nothing wrong with that of course) but then they’ll happily put their money on down on a Palace EF jersey without even blinking. 

I’m not saying that’s who Eric is of course, but he’s definitely not a ‘these colours don’t run’ Stock Car Racing fan. 

Photo by Simon Eldon.

And that’s ok. Because somehow, and for some reason bikes enable us to go some place else, and express ourselves differently. Without fear.

“The garage is special. It’s an out-of-house sanctum that is subject to completely different rules.”

I don’t know why entirely, but I do know bicycles don’t (generally) live in your house and I think perhaps that might be why they don’t have to conform to the same rules. Bicycles live in the garage. The garage is special. It’s an out-of-house sanctum that is subject to completely different set of standards. 

Eric’s custom topper designed in house, and made in stainless by Paul Burf. Photo by Simon Eldon.

Eric’s dream bike (shown here) is a complete one-off, designed for his dream garage, around his own colour choice, our version of ‘Petty Blue’. The original colour was made famous by Richard Petty and his eponymous stock car racing team. The colour itself (also made in a garage I guess) was as legend has it, made by mistake. One of Petty’s mechanics spilled a tin of white into a much darker blue and they loved it so much they went with it. Garage rules. 

The more we got into the marvellous history of cars of the time the more we leaned into it. The topper describes the massive spoilers and the vintage racing cars of the time featured colourful logos on their wings. We love that ‘slap a rad sticker on it and make it better’ backyard garage mentality so we’ve tried to pay homage to it here. 

Photo by Simon Eldon.

There are of course no stickers on this bike. It’s painted by hand by Sam at Gun Control, and every line, logo, colour on the fork and throughout the bike is painted on with masks and an airbrush.

The ISP is carbon fibre from Enve, to match the wheels and finishing kit. Bonded into the Columbus XCR frame, hand made and immaculately TIG welded by Alberto. The topper we designed in house and had made in stainless by Paul Burf, to work with the Enve seat post hardware, keeping to the theme. 

The drive is from Shimano, DA with big discs. Somehow the old adage that there’s no substitute for horsepower fits nicely with the out of the box grunt you get with Shimano parts. 

The Good Year tyres are a final nod to the racing cars that inspired the whole build.  

Thank you to Eric for trusting us with his time and ideas. It’s been an absolute pleasure my friend.

This bike is a one off, but if you'd like to start your own custom bike build get in touch on info@spooncustoms.com and let us know what you’ve been dreaming of building; whether your own bike dreams are inspired by your favourite BMX, the landscape where you live, or your favourite movie, we can work with you to bring your dream to life in a perfectly fitted, fabricated and finished bike that will carry you on your best adventures.

We’re also about to launch a public funding round. If you’d like to find out more, or invest in Spoon Customs, so we can help more customers like Eric realise their dream bike build, head to the home page and leave your details in the pop up provided, and we’ll get back to you with more information.