Planned as a wedding gift for Mark Cavendish and his wife Peta, from his Director Sportif, Brian Holm, the Paul Smith Bullitt was a celebration of British and Danish friendships and relationships. Paul Smith was a very good cyclist in his youth, in fact there was talk that he would become a professional road racer at some point, so his passion and credentials in cycling are undisputed. Paul was brought on board to design this incredible Bullitt and threw all his energy and effort into realising a truly unique cargo bike.
We later learnt that Paul Smith receives around three hundred requests daily, asking to work with him on co-branding projects. It goes without saying we felt incredibly honoured and lucky to have had the opportunity to create a Bullitt with him.
There were clearly parallels in his brand ethics and personality, with us at Larry vs Harry, and Paul's good humour and charming personality shone through during the design process.
Harry ended up flying to London to build the Paul Smith Bullitt and spent the day in the designer's offices, which were an incredible homage to design through the ages. The office was positively dripping in design classics, art and bike paraphernalia....from old track bikes and vintage cycle clothing to team racebikes and a Pinarello donated by the recent road cycling world champion (yep, in 2012 that was the soon to be married Mark Cavendish). By measuring the stem and saddle hight on this bike, we were able to ensure the correct saddle to bar drop.
In a testament to the collaborative process of the project, it was discovered at some stage during the build that a headset was missing, so the London based messenger company Control, who also used the Bullitt for their deliveries, went off on a hunt for one with the relevant dimensions and anodising. Meanwhile Sir Paul was on the phone for some hours, using his contacts in the cycling world, to get the precious missing parts. Together they came through for us and ensured that the gift could be finished and delivered on schedule.
The fully built bike looked absolutely stunning and had a few nifty details to set it apart from regular Bullitts. Polished dropouts and kickstand and a painted to match steerer arm, grinded and moulded fittings along with a bucket list of funky components.
We loved the process of this collaboration with Paul Smith and of how different people have their interpretations of the Bullitt. This has always fascinated us and continues to make us buzz. The contributions and submissions people make, for example to the Bullitt Universal Owners Club, is another great case of custom Bullitts coming to fruition and it is even better seeing how people end up using their cargo bikes.
