{"id":631065,"date":"2026-09-21T04:12:43","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T04:12:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/631065\/"},"modified":"2026-09-21T04:12:43","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T04:12:43","slug":"his-carbon-santa-cruz-hightower-frame-is-rusty-by-design","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/631065\/","title":{"rendered":"His carbon Santa Cruz Hightower frame is rusty \u2014 by design"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Photos provided by Jan Sazavsky. <\/p>\n

Like most kids, I had a bad habit of leaving my bike outside in the rain. \u201cI\u2019ll put my bike in the garage later,\u201d I told myself. Inevitably, it would sit for days, and then I\u2019d wonder why my drivetrain and pedals were covered in rust. Jan Sazavsky doesn\u2019t wonder why his bike is rusty \u2014 in fact, he worked hard to make it that way.<\/p>\n

I spotted Sazavsky\u2019s patina\u2019d Santa Cruz Tallboy on Instagram<\/a> a year ago and recently connected with him over email to learn about the project.<\/p>\n

\u201cI needed a longer travel, more solid bike for local trails and bike parks as my skills got a little better recently,\u201d he said. \u201cI didn\u00b4t want to spend too much, so I checked local used bike servers and this lime green Santa Hightower LT 2019 came out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>An example of Sazavsky\u2019s auto and bike designs. <\/p>\n

That\u2019s right \u2014 this carbon-fiber Hightower frame used to be lime green. Sazavsky is into automotive styling and tuning, and he\u2019s fond of the ratrod\/patina style for its look and feel. For the Hightower bike, which he dubbed Satan Rust, he removed the frame protection and decals, applied degreaser, and sanded down the parts and frame with 400-grit sandpaper before applying a special type of paint.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was the first time I used paint that works based on genuine rust \/ oxidation process,\u201d he said. \u201cI actually intentionally wanted it to look neglected and the patina to be continuous, so I didn\u00b4t even separate the frame and the fork, nor the seatpost or handlebars. I just removed wheels, cranks and the rear triangle since I wanted to check the linkage bearings.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Close-up<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"Close-up<\/a><\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

Looking at the photos, it\u2019s clear that Sazavsky didn\u2019t miss a single detail. You can see cracks around the cable ports beside the headtube, which itself sports a scuffed-up Santa Cruz headbadge. The fork lowers, and even the brake calipers and crankset get the full rust treatment. The chain is one of the only parts of the bike that\u2019s rust-free, which is ironic because it\u2019s usually the first thing to rust on a bike left in the rain.<\/p>\n

I was surprised how quickly Sazavsky was able to complete the bike. \u201cIt didn\u00b4t take more than two working days maybe,\u201d he said. \u201cThe energy spent was low and the fun-to-effort ratio was very high.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>It\u2019s all about the details.<\/p>\n

A Cannondale Ratrod <\/p>\n

Sazavsky is a designer living in Prague, Czechia, where he rides both mountain and gravel bikes regularly. \u201cI was always into bikes since I was a kid, and perhaps more into working on and tuning them than actually riding them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In addition to the Satan Rust, Sazavsky designed a Cannondale Ratrod for his wife. He tells me he\u2019s particularly fond of the brand.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI still think they were one of the most innovative companies in the bicycle industry, and even if their solutions were not always reliable, the ideas were brilliant,\u201d he said. \u201cThose\u00a0\u201990s aluminium frames\u00a0handmade in USA, Hollogram cranks, the Lefty and\u00a0Headshok, damn.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Close-up<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Close-up<\/a><\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Close-up<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s clear that Sazavsky enjoys what he does, and he\u2019s damn good at it. So I assumed others would be banging down his door, asking him to rustify and ratify their bikes too.<\/p>\n

\u201cHas anyone asked you to do a custom bike finish for them?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot yet :),\u201d he replied.<\/p>\n

Keep up with the latest mountain bike news by adding Singletracks as a preferred source<\/a> on Google.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

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