Our titanium frames open up the potential for custom anodizing finishes. This dye-free process is rather in depth, but the jist of it is that we alter the existing layer of oxidation (which titanium naturally develops) through the use of various chemicals and electricity. We build up a new oxidation layer on the surface, which is controlled to show up as a specific color based on voltage and exposure time. Light reflects from both the oxide layer and the underlying titanium at different angles and those reflections interfere with each other and combine or cancel out so that the remaining light is perceived by the human eye as color. This process is done in-house and is paired with masking and media blasting to create eye-catching pops of color against the silver of the brushed titanium frame. Anodizing can even be done in conjunction with our custom paint finishing for some of the most truly unique bikes!
Note- This customization can only be done on our Titanium Flaanimal bikes and not on the steel Flaanimal or the Traildonkey. Only certain colors are attainable through the anodizing process. Additional limitations in design exist with regards to proximity and locations of design elements.
When we receive a request for custom anodizing we walk the owner through what to expect on each step.
- Step 1: Commit to the custom design process by purchasing your frameset.
- Step 2: A discussion about what the inspiration will be and what themes the owner would like to weave into the design of the bike, as well as narrowing ideas down to what is realistically attainable through anodizing.
- Step 3: We translate those themes into digital 2d design representations. These will act as the official design guidance for our custom finishing technician.
- Step 4: We confirm pricing, design, colors, and get your approval to proceed.
- Step 5: Your frameset is handed off to our in-house anodizing team for the magic to happen. Turn around time for custom finishing is typically 3-4 weeks but can fluctuate depending on workload.
- Step 6: We assemble the final bike or ship the completed frameset to you.
A note on the design process- With decades of design experience represented in our staff, we are typically very efficient at translating design themes that customers bring to us into totally unique and resolved final designs. Because of this, we don’t typically include design time as an additional line item cost. However, there are scenarios where a requested design is extremely complicated to execute, or other times where a design is presented and the customer pivots to a significantly different design concept. In those cases, it will sometimes be necessary to add a $80/hr design time line item to the cost of the custom finish process.
If you’d like to discuss a custom anodizing project with us, please click here to get in touch.
Completed Bikes
