No kidding! That’s what got us into the bicycle customization game. It started with a simple question: How can we get more people to ride their bicycles? We were making bicycle frames, bicycle merchandise and all sorts of other pieces. It turned out, replacing a bicycle headset cap with a custom creation was the unlock code. It’s never been the same since.
HOW DO YOU COME UP WITH A CUSTOM HEADSET CAP DESIGN?
I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Most of our designs come to us while out on a bicycle ride. Virtuous circle, isn’t it?
Usually the custom stem cap idea comes when we’re deeper into a ride. The endorphins have been flowing. The heart rate is up. Ideas start pumping.
Oftentimes it’s musically influenced. A lyric or a tune that gets the creative juices going.
Like when a horse turns back towards the barn though, it’s time to get back to the studio ASAP and get that design out of the head and onto the digital paper.
A stop at the design station and it’s time to make a number of iterations in Illustrator. Usually it’s 3 concepts after about an hour of fussing and trying different typefaces and layouts. Designing a custom bicycle headset cap has its challenges. Like that 12mm bolt hole in the center. But what designer isn’t up to a little creative constraint?
After the design has been settled, it goes over to get photographed or mocked up on our bicycle cockpit to see how it looks. We usually stick with black or red as the first mock up to make sure the contrast shows and the new custom stem cap is ready for what we call a “first article.”
The first article is an actual laser engraved or UV printed headset cap. We may make some minor design tweaks at that point, but usually after three or four different steps before getting to the laser engraver or the UV printer, it’s pretty close to finalized.
A minute later and off comes the new creation. Replacing a bicycle headset cap is super simple and we change them more often than we change underwear here, so it’s a 15 second swap with the 5mm Allen Key and time to go take it for a ride and admire it.
It’s pretty simple. All you need is an idea. If you have ever wanted to create your own custom bicycle headset cap, head over to our custom headset cap page and download the template. Or if you want something written, check out our You Say It Best bicycle headset cap. You can write anything you want on your custom cap and we’ll get it engraved and sent to you in under 72 hours. I can’t wait to see what you custom-create for your bicycle.