Back in the early 1990s there was the now largely forgotten Los Angeles one-hit wonder alternative band School of Fish, which in its one-hit “Three Strange Days” offered the lyric: “And Johnny Clueless was there, With his simulated wood grain.”
Well, Rob Pollock of New Zealand is no Johnny Clueless, and he probably never heard of the song nor the band. But he’s spent his life painting faux wood finishes on various things, a process he calls “woodgraining,” which is now taking to bike frames after customizing his son’s bike. Those looking for a wood-esque bike can send their frames to Rob’s Woodgrain Bike Frames, where Pollock paints them individually over seven to 10 days.
The process, which can run about $1500 US, involves stripping the old paint, where he sprays a light colored base, and then uses a multi-step process to hand brush the actual one-of-a-kind woodgrain pattern in darker colors. Clear coat is added, along with a protective epoxy coating. The result is a bike that looks like wood.
(Video of the woodgraining process after the jump)