Bespoked Osaka ”Ron’s Bikes Custom Paint”

Good evening, Konno from Cook Paint Works here.

I went down to Bespoked Osaka, which started on October 23.

First of all, thank you to everyone who came by! And to all the exhibitors and organizers as well — great work, and thank you for putting everything together.

BESPOKED originally started in the UK and has mainly been held around Europe as a custom handmade bicycle show.

This year, for the first time, it came to Osaka, Japan — and it was also our first time exhibiting as BLUE LUG.

From our sewing team, Jag-san and Stitch-san came out together and sold special custom triangle reflectors made just for the event.

All the materials we prepared sold out over the three days!

I had one made for myself too, and even as someone who works alongside them, it was really nice to see people choosing three different fabrics and having their reflector made right there on the spot.

And behind the booth, we lined up 13 handmade bikes that BLUE LUG staff actually ride.
Seeing that many together in one place had a serious presence.

Of course, we also prepared a couple of special handmade bikes specifically for the show.

When you think handmade bikes at BLUE LUG, you think Kamiuma — so Tani-san put together two bikes for the event.
I’m sure he’ll introduce the bikes themselves in another blog later, so I’ll focus on the custom paintwork here.

For the frames, we chose Ron’s Bikes, who we also collaborated with earlier this summer for the PUCCI project.
The frames are made by Larkin in the U.S., and Ronnie is someone we have a close relationship with, so it felt like the perfect choice.

Let’s start with the CR1.

Once we knew we were painting a show bike, I honestly struggled a lot with deciding on the colors.
Since this was for the BLUE LUG booth, I vaguely knew I wanted it to feel “BLUE LUG-like.”

That got me thinking about bikes, but also about the bags and soft goods made by our sewing team.

I personally use and love a lot of the bags and soft goods made by our crew.

While looking around, my eye landed on a tie-dye cushion I use all the time while working.
Tie-dye mixes lots of colors together, and it’s also pretty difficult to recreate well in paint.

That made it feel perfect for a show bike.
So I mixed four colors and started painting.

（Photos above from RADAVIST）

There was also another theme behind this one: solid colors only.

When you think of custom paint, you often think of expensive finishes — metallics, candy paints, color-shifting paints, special pearls, and so on.

This time, I wanted to limit myself to simple solid colors made from basic pigments.
Solid colors don’t have the sparkle or visual tricks of metallics or pearls.

So the idea was pretty simple: Let the solid colors speak for themselves.

Next up, the ALUMAX2.

For this one, I again took inspiration from fabric.
I’ve been using a SHTAK that Jag-san made about two years ago, and I decided to base the paint on its Night Tree Camo pattern.

Camo is pretty common in custom paint, but I hadn’t really seen much done in a realistic tree-style pattern.
It also gave us a nice contrast against the bright tie-dye CR1.

And most importantly…It looked extremely difficult to paint!!!!

So naturally, I chose it.

(The photo above is Mr. Paul from PAUL COMPONENTS! He bought one of the SHTAKs we were selling at the show.)

The base is black, with white tree branches and random leaves layered throughout.

There was another reason I wanted to use this pattern.

Ronnie lives in Connecticut, and I often see the scenery around where he rides on social media — lots of fallen leaves, autumn colors, and natural landscapes.

That made the tree and leaf motif feel very Ron’s Bikes to me, so I wanted to work that atmosphere into the paint.

It’s a pretty subtle detail, but I actually painted the veins on every single leaf one by one.

From there it was a lot of masking and painting. There are also areas that look slightly dirty or worn.

That was intentional. The bag I used as a reference has been used heavily over the years, so I added some aging to the paint to recreate that feeling.

The ALUMAX is also mainly painted in solid colors, with gold leaf used only for the COOK logo.

Both of these custom-painted frames will be available in-store and through the online store.

If the size and color work for you, I’d love for you to check them out in person.

Available Friday, November 6 from 12:00 PM at BLUE LUG Kamiuma.
Online sales begin the same day at 7:00 PM.

Thank you!

We’re also selling a few special bags made for BESPOKED.

These include the TRUNK and MESSENGER BAG, and they’ll be available exclusively through the online store.

If you missed them at the event, this is your chance.

Lastly, BESPOKED reminded me all over again just how special handmade things can be.
We live in a time where AI and computers continue to develop incredibly quickly.

So being in a space where you could see both the person making something and the thing they made at the same time felt especially meaningful.

Seeing so many bicycles lined up, each carrying the warmth and personality that comes from being made by hand, was honestly overwhelming in the best way.

It gave me a lot of inspiration. Even the bags, frames, and paintwork that we casually handle every day at BLUE LUG are all made one by one by real people.

Hopefully this event can also be an opportunity to look at those products again and appreciate the work behind them.

See you next time～!