A PHOTO STORY

Every bike made in the You by Festka category tells a story. And it is not only the stories that vary but also the ways the clients tell them to us and we reflect and reproduce them - sometimes in-house, sometimes in collaboration with artists.

The story told by the bicycle we christened ISO goes back a long way. We are grateful to the client for giving us complete freedom regarding how we approach the topic of his choice which was photography. What other topic could we expect from the heir of Germany’s largest photo printing firm whose history goes back more than a century? 

Given the fact that our art director Tom Hnida is a great lover of photography and a keen lensman himself, there was never any doubt who will pick up the challenge. Tom’s initial idea was to base the scheme around the use of photosensitive paints that would reveal various layers of the design depending on the light conditions. However, tests showed that the range of photosensitivity of the paints was not sufficient for such an ambitious concept.

The next idea was to work with film grain as the main motif for the scheme and keep photosensitivity as its minor feature. Strips with a graded granularity that the first version was based on ended up on the seat tube only giving way to a flowing gradient of thickening grain on the top and down tubes and the fork.

As soon as the client approved the overall scheme Tom started to add further details. The strips on the seat tube got inscribed with ISO values from 100 to 1000. The digits are painted in a photosensitive paint and they show only in very bright light. The same paint was used for the Festka logo on the head tube. Further details reference the family business of the client. The stem features a column of significant years in the history of the company and the down tube bears the names of its founders. In addition to these deeply personal details, Tom added a little bit of colour by making the Festka logo on the fork and the name of the bike on the seat stay red and putting a red dot symbolising the focus light of a modern camera on the stem.

The bike is built with a choice selection of components. 

Model: Festka Scalatore
Groupset: Shimano Dura Ace Di2 12 speed
Chainrings: Carbon Ti
Cranks: SRM Power
Cockpit: Darimo Nexum combobar, Darimo T1 Loop seatpost
Saddle: Selle Italia SLR Boost Kit Carbonio
Wheels: Enve SES 2.3

Don’t hesitate to get in touch if you’re dreaming of a very special bike. We will help you develop your ideas or suggest our own ones to you. Let’s just start the conversation. 

WHAT WILL YOUR STORY BE?