Most Britons with any interest in popular music will recognize the name of Keane, the synthpop group whose albums have topped charts on both sides of the Atlantic and have been voted by Q Magazine readers as among the Best British Albums ever, alongside Radiohead, The Beatles and Oasis.
As it turns out, Keane’s drummer, Richard Hughes, loves cycling, and recently contracted Sheffield’s own Field Cycles for a bespoke build. They responded as only they know how: with a superbly crafted steel frame decorated with dazzling paintwork to match.
Richard’s Twitter feed is filled with observations of the world through the eyes of a cyclist and, due to his touring schedule, he sees a fair amount of it. Like David Byrne, he’s a passionate bicycle advocate, as well as being a Human Rights activist with Amnesty International.
If that wasn’t enough, he’s also lover of photography and a collector of Nikon cameras. I’d imagine he would be pretty chuffed with the photos of his brand new road bike. They were taken by Tom Smith, Field’s designer, who creates the color schemes that make the Sheffield frames so recognisable.
The design on Richard’s frame was inspired by the cover of Keane’s third studio album, Perfect Symmetry, with a touch of digital pixel camouflage. The paintwork is a masterpiece in itself, requiring a painstaking 50-hour process of “masks, paint and patience” — no decals or transfers were utilised.
As with previous Field frames, a combination of Reynolds and Columbus tubes were used, resulting in a bike with a very respectable weight of 7.5kg. Not bad for a steel machine. Campagnolo came on board with the offer of one of the first production sets of their Super Record groupsets for 2015.
Head to the Field Cycles website for more detail photos and contact information.
