Bumps, scrapes, and scratches are an inevitability of bike ownership. Rather than mourn them, inspired by the Japanese practice of kintsugi, Velo Orange suggests they should be celebrated as a mark of a bike's past through its newly distributed product, Goldfinger.
Goldfinger is a metallic paint-like compound originally manufactured for the art world by UK-based company Daler-Rowney. It’s designed to fill scrapes and scratches with a gold or silver finish, highlighting rather than concealing them.
The process is similar to kintsugi – or 'golden joinery' – the Japanese craft of repairing broken pottery with lacquer mixed with powdered gold, silver or platinum. It’s celebrated as a craft that highlights wear, rather than hiding it.
Velo Orange co-owner Igor Shteynbuk explains the idea came through a friend of the brand, Shane Sellers – a ceramics professor and fellow dedicated bike nerd.
Sellers is also an ambassador for the Philly Bike Expo and previously collaborated with Velo Orange on the amazing Yakimono Neutrino project.
Sellers uses Goldfinger in his restoration work, applying it to everything from lamps and picture frames to bike frames.
Shteynbuk says Goldfinger’s consistency is like “toothpaste mixed with grout”. Once applied, it cures and sets quickly, and in his experience, it stands up to the rigours of daily cycling: “I’ve had it on my bike for the whole season, through rain and everything, and I haven’t noticed any washing off.”
Even if it does fade eventually, reapplying takes “30 seconds” and keeps the finish looking fresh.
Shteynbuk says the Goldfinger reframes wear and tear on a bike: “Every scratch tells a story… embrace that history instead of hiding it.”
I’m all for this. While bikes, including paint and broken frames, are far more repairable than many realise, refinishing a whole bike is a specialist process.
This is a fun way of providing practical protection to a bike, particularly corrosion-prone steel bikes, while making something truly your own.
