Written by: Joe Button | 10th Nov 2011
Since we're in the business of online customization, we get really excited when we find cool brands out there doing the same thing, letting people express themselves by giving them the power of design.
Bikes, as we all know, have in recent years become one of the must-have accessories of hipsters and fashionistas alike. As Refinery 29 put it very accurately in their step-by-step guide on how to get snapped by The Sartorialist - "Add Vintage Bike".
Now we know people are divided in their opinion of fixed gear bikes ("What is the point of a bike if you can't shift gears!!" vs "Me + my fixie + messenger bag are infinitely cooler than you + your car"), but we just wanted to mention that whatever your opinion is of fixies, these custom built ones that you can get online look pretty damn awesome!
Republic Bikes is an online bike company based in Florida that allows customers to design their own fixies and dutch bikes. Their most popular model is a fixie called The Aristotle and you can customize the color of everything from the bike's frame to the chains and watch the 3D model on the site change in front of your eyes. The company has just recently fitted Google with a fleet of bikes in the company's signature yellow, green, red and blue complete with basket for Google employees to ride around the Googleplex in Mountain View, California.
The Google Bike
The Aristotle
Mojo Bikes, based in Melbourne, does a similar thing where the brand is focused on letting customers build a bike that represents their personality. They have four types of bikes to choose from with The Urban (the fixie) being the most popular.
We're not here to change your mind about fixies but the next time you see a flamboyant fixie chained to a pole and wonder where anyone is supposed to get anything remotely close to that...you'll know that it's owner probably designed it themselves.
The Urban
Images via Republic Bikes & Mojo Bikes
