When Paul and Melanie began the process of customizing Melanie’s bike, they took it to a level far beyond the average enthusiast.
It’s hard to walk by this bike without doing a double-take. Yes the adjustment knob is also custom painted to match.
As Paul explains:
Initially we were going to save money by painting an older frame with a serious non-structural dent. Once the paint was done, I knew I could not do a regular build. I have seen a lot of builds people (including myself) refer to as custom. In actuality, they are putting COTS (commercial off the shelf) equipment on a frame that thousands of people have. At most you see custom paint jobs with matched anodizing. Well, this is custom.
Derby rims are laced to pink White Industries hubs with silver and black bladed Sapim spokes and of course Pink alloy spoke nipples.
Highlights of the build include the Rockshox Reba fork custom painted to match the frame, with the RP23 and fork custom tuned for Melanie.
I didn’t even know Maxxis made the Ardent in a skinwall variation!
The FSA carbon cranks were sanded to remove heel scuff, then painted matte clear, while the bash guard was painted matte black. The carbon linkage and headset spacers glitterized as well. Paint was removed from the carbon linkage to expose carbon then painted matte clear. All the shock mounting hardware matches in pink as well.
Ergon saddle in pink.
A pink Ergon saddle and grips tie it all together.
Melanie Norris poses with her custom Pivot 429 at the recent Take a Kid Mountain Biking day event at Cascade Locks.
And one more look at this thing:
Melanie’s customized Pivot 429 trail bike.
