Win this Cervelo R3 lovingly painted by Chris Hall & Friends at Gun Control Custom Paint. Photo Simon Eldon.

For the second year running Chris Hall came to us for some help painting a special bike to be raffled off in aid of The Pace Centre and Movember Foundation.

Not the sorts to turn down the opportunity to help out a mate (especially if it’s in a good cause) we jumped at the chance to help.

With Chris having raised over £30k with the bike he painted here last year we knew we had to push hard if we wanted to go even bigger this year so when Chris suggested he wanted to ‘throw’ paint at this year’s bike, we couldn’t resist suggesting we get some friends involved to have a bit of fun in the process. Chris loved the idea, so we set about planning it.

Chris obviously has a lot of friends so we agreed he would get a crowd along and we’d do the rest. We set to work planning a proper party here at our workshop and the first time we’ve been able to use our new space in this way.

Chris’s mates certainly ‘showed up’ and they were generous too. So big thanks to everyone that helped. Cervelo provided the frame, Jordan at Giro Cafe stumped up for coffee and mince pies, Kalm Kitchen (our neighbours) sorted us out with their awesome stone baked pizzas on mates rates and Lucky Saint beer sent us a whole bar on wheels, with as much as their AF brew as we could drink.

We got goody bags printed and then more friends chipped in; Parcours, Shimano, Schwalbe, Brooks and Komoot all sent in quality bits to give away to guests.

But it’s not a party if it’s not on the ‘gram right, so Andrew Richardson captured the paint process for us, and Lawrence Carpenter shot more video (in his lovely style - you can subscribe to his YouTube channel here). Between them they captured the lot, even Dov Tate from Parcours toasting marshmallows on his branded skewers and all the fun of the paint process with every single guest suiting up to fire paint at Chris’s frame.

The effects on the bike were achieved over a white base applied by Sam here at Gun Control. The party-paint was a home-made concoction made with Stuart Semple’s super bright Pink and Blue water based pigments. Nice and safe, but loads of colour.

Catapults we found on a carp fishing web site to keep fingers off the bike and add to the fun. The frame was hung at an angle that would help the paint run off in a logical direction and a motor from a disco ball got it spinning. Guests were asked to fire sponges at it till it was caked.

The way we usually paint is meticulous (it takes at least 11 hours of labour to paint a frame our way) and requires a surface that lays completely flat, and when Sam preps and applies the paint that’s what we get. We then wet sand the various layers until the finish is glassy. It is all done in a controlled environment.

But, this bike was painted in the middle of a party, so there was a lot of work to be done to make it work permanently, and look good. Sam had to spend days physically removing any relief from the painted substrate with a surgical scalpel blade, one tiny bump at a time.

Once as flat as possible, Sam then applied several layers of 2k lacquer to lock it all in and preserve it for its new owner. We then had it rebuilt in the Spoon Customs workshop, from parts supplied by Chris’s sponsors. Big thanks to Shimano, Schwalbe and Parcours for their help with the build.

To win the bike head over to Chris’s fundraising pages and get involved now before the tickets run out. The competition closes on 31st January, so get in quick.

To enter visit: https://www.chrishallrides.com/107bike-raffle2021

Win a custom painted Cervelo with Chris Hall