Vélocolour

It’s not about a bad review, of course we never want to see that, but this is really about not understanding the carbon inspection process however much we tried to explain.
First off, much of what we do is about trust and VéloColour is among the most trusted names in the cycling industry. Like your doctor, like your auto mechanic, we tell you our findings and you can choose to believe it or not, get a second opinion or not.
The customers frame was inspected, three areas where there were paint chips also showed delaminations - or the separating of carbon layers - under the surface. Perhaps not catastrophic but it may be at some point, that we can’t say for sure.
The customer wanted an image, proof of damage but that’s not how ultra sound works. Like a radar it tells you a measurement of any single spot but to know the average speed or in our case a material thickness variation you have to be able follow the object over a given distance or surface area. The way to understand damage is the variation or change in consistency. One image doesn’t offer a full picture nor would the waveform provided be meaningful to an individual that doesn’t understand the equipment. So trust is why you come to us.
There is another “repairer” - note the quotations - that provides an image, not only is it a false image scooped from the inter webs, the information also has no meaning to a non-specialist.
$1800 for three spot carbon repairs and multiple paint touch-ups, not cheap but neither is a frame failure.
What do you have to say?

American friends making nice bikes -
We receive and received much support from many of you from our last tariff post and during this unstable time between Canada and the US in general. Surprising still are some of the comments suggesting we should move our small production to the US or simply an American supremacy outlook. As many American customers ride bikes we’ve painted, use our bags and send us clothing to be repaired so too do we own handmade American bikes and have supported American small business.
VéloColour was the first shop in Canada to start importing painting and incorporating Silca pumps into our projects when they re-emerged some years back; in support of their American focused production. Things have changed since and it was before their similar looking but made in Myanmar saddle bags were on offer but we digress…
So too were we the first Canadian company to start importing Bivo stainless bottles because we love what they’re doing and wanted to see them thrive. This to say the battle for us is less between American or Canadian small businesses and more about power structures and the corporate domination we are all drowning in.
If there is love lost today the tariffs alone are not the driver for us but American foreign policy, commitment to eradicating our stable climate and much more. Canada today is not doing so well here either…
But still we have friends, business alignments and family on the other side of the border and they are relationships we expect to maintain!
In photo - a beautiful blue David Wages from a few years back built in Wisconsin.

Is it a three colour fade or a colour shifting pearl?
After all these years we still think paint is magic.

Pinarello E-Nytro - One of One.
How many colours do you see?
We were reluctant to take this project on. We did one before, a complex but still simpler version. Not only did we know that this one would be a massive project but also that it would be a bigger and more complete picture than last time. And it was. 300 hours worth of seamless, detailed geological mapping through France.
Redrawing a flat map to wrap around these highly complex forms is a feat in itself, making it completely seamless requires some mad scientist, insane genius level thinking. Luckily we have that.
Then you still have to actually mask it for painting.
Some process and finished details.