World Famous Disco Bike Party | Saddle & Handlebar Protector
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The Mission
Wow What Studio was commissioned to create a saddle to match the creative and technical might of Danielle Schön’s Disco Bike for the international Made Bike Show.
The Stats
Saddle | Kris Holm Fusion One Unicycle Saddle
Cover Materials | purple suede & two-tone holographic stingray hide
The Story
Danielle Schön, the genius behind Schön Studio in Squamish, BC, Canada wanted to build an unusual bicycle for the Made Bike Show, an annual event celebrating the craft of handmade bicycle framebuilding.
Schön is an accomplished fabricator beyond bicycles with deep and broad technical capabilities. She wanted to show these off within the canvas of a “circus bike,” a type of trick bike with more components and characteristics in common with a unicycle (vertical seat tube, direct drive crank arms, bulbous saddle with grips, etc.) than your bicycle. She intended to create the components in addition to the frame, an endangered practice at a time when most builders purchase all of their components.
She needed a saddle that would rise to the occasion & Serious Silliness of the rest of the bicycle.
The Assignment
As unicycle saddles (the appropriate saddle for a circus bike) are large and bulbous, they are a dominant feature of this style of bike.
Unfortunately for Schön and her disco-themed aspirations, these saddles tend to come only in black. She messaged us a month before the show sharing her schemes.
“I could use a plain saddle but something better would be better.”
Wow What Studio agreed to the collaboration and within days we had her chosen saddle in hand and had narrowed in on stingray leather and suede as the cover materials.
The Challenges
The challenge of this project was two-fold.
Saddle Shape & Assembly
Unicycle saddles are a very different animal than typical bicycle saddles. They are much larger and have a more complex shape to facilitate rider stability while balancing and steering. There are also hand grips in the front and rear of the saddle.
To make the project more challenging, the existing saddle cover style did not do justice (in Schön’s high standard) to the contours of the saddle so a custom pattern needed to be developed and tailored… which it was over three iterations.
Stingray & Suede
Our visually perfect materials were extremely challenging to work with
Unlike many leather materials, suede picks up stains and grease extremely easily so workspaces, machines, and hands had to be cleaned before working.
But the suede was nothing in comparison to the challenge of holographic stingray hide. Stingray leather is covered in tiny, very hard boney plates which give it its characteristic look. Unfortunately, these little boney plates break needles and threads and can shift the work under your hand as you sew along. Profoundly frustrating, I needed to take walks between tries.
We lucked out by finding two perfectly patterned and sizable hides at the beginning of the project. We were unable to locate more of the size, pattern, style, and quality, so it was very much a one-shot deal. There was no room for error.
Finishing Moves
After making and fitting three different covers of different pattern styles and appearances each more ridiculous than the last, we were able to arrive at the final fabulous product. The stingray presented further challenges towards the end as the boney plates also prevent the material from stretching consistently. Three fittings were needed to perfect the final cover for assembly.
Both Schön and Wow What logos appear etched into the polished brass back plate at Schön’s request.
With the spare saddle material we made a quilted handlebar protector to match and hand-skived purple suede tape for the grips.
Results
The Disco Bike won 1st in the People’s Choice Award at Made Bike Show 2024. While Schön’s achievements in custom components and frame clearly won the show, Wow What Studio’s saddle and handlebar protector were holographic cherries on Schön’s circus sundae.
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