Specifications: Barris Edition Nirve Cruisers Single speed, coaster brake. Welded Kickstand. Nirve Embossed double spring saddle. Aluminum wheels w/stainless steel spokes. Forged steel crank. Vintage-style grips. Nirve Semi-slick 26'' tires. Skirted rear fender with turned aluminum graphics.. Price: $349.99 (plus $50.00 S&H) Currently in stock, available through dealers, or on-line/phone from Nirve. |
From our earlier coverage of the Barris body of bicycle work, most people would assume that the new Nirve cruisers are George Barris' first adult-scale bikes.That was my thinking as well, until I encountered this 27"-wheeled bike during my regular eBay prowling a year or so back. I immediately got in touch with the seller, requesting more photos. . The bike is obviously from the late-'60s/early '70s. During that period, kids rode musclebikes, and adults rode 10-speed "lightweight" European-racer-style road bikes or 3-speed English-style "Roadsters". Both generally rolled on 27" skinny tires. . While working within the conventions of these "adult"styles, in his typical fashion, George Barris gave it his own radical kustom-style spin, while mixing-and-matching useful features of both styles. It has a frame which is "lightweight" through the use of "hot-rod" architecture and detailing, while combining that with what appears to be an un-fussy 3-speed Sturmey-Archer hub on the rear, rather than the extremely fussy 10-speed derailleur shifting arrangement which was rather alien to American bikers of the time. Rather than the silly and dangerous "drop bars" which were virtually compulsory for the "Tour de France-manque" aesthetic in force at the time, Mr.Barris gave it sensible "English Roadster"-style handlebars, allowing the rider a comfortable upright posture. And then he followed through on its kustom style by specifying a kandy lime-green metallic paint job. Lovely, eh? . When I discussed this bike with its owner, a guy named Ron, I told him that not only had I never seen this model, I'd never even heard of it, and that there was nothing in the Barris bicycle archives about it. Shortly thereafter, it was withdrawn from its eBay listing. Presumably, Ron still has it safely tucked away, where it sits steadily increasing in value. JimW. 8/05/05 |
I just had to go back to Nirve.com to verify that my memory of the pricing on those bikes was correct. With $50 for shipping and handling added on, the things are still only 400 bucks! I find that to be astoundingly cheap for what goes into them, not to mention the name that's on them. Having studied your Chupacabra personal chopper at length, I know what a fiend for detail you are. And everybody knows that George Barris pretty much invented insane detailing. So I think it's fairly safe to assume that those decals probably aren't the only examples of near-pathological detailing on these bikes. |
By this time, our readers are familiar with the bicycle creations of George Barris "King of the Kustomizers". Curiously, until our multi-part feature on his bicycle work of a few years ago, most people were totally unaware of his many brilliant designs for the Stelber/Iverson Bicycle Company of NYC, beginning in the mid-'60s. To the best of our knowledge, Mr.Barris was the only superstar kustomizer associated with any bicycle manufacturer, which makes the prior relative anonymity of his relationship with Iverson especially inexplicable. Happily, mostly as a result of our features on the subject, when you see an Iverson Dragstripper or whatever in an eBay listing nowadays, the Barris name is the biggest selling point, and rightly so. In spite of our natural modesty, I can state that we were pretty much responsible for today's skyrocketing values on the surviving Barris/Iverson musclebikes and their associated components. The year 2005 has added yet another landmark to bicycle history, as it sees the release of a pair of new bicycles proudly wearing the Barris marque again. The Barris Dart and Flames are Special Edition collaborations between Mr.Barris and our old friend Aaron Bethlenfalvy, Design Director of Nirve Sports. I find this especially sweet, as I suggested it to Aaron, and put him in touch with Mr.Barris. No one could have been happier than me, when it actually happened. In honor of this occasion, it seemed vital that we interview George Barris, our most prestigious interview subject ever, for a second time, and Aaron B, our most entertaining interview subject ever, for maybe the fourth or fifth. Jim Wilson |
By this time, our readers are familiar with the bicycle creations of George Barris "King of the Kustomizers". Curiously, until our multi-part feature on his bicycle work of a few years ago, most people were totally unaware of his many brilliant designs for the Stelber/Iverson Bicycle Company of NYC, beginning in the mid-'60s. To the best of our knowledge, Mr.Barris was the only superstar kustomizer associated with any bicycle manufacturer, which makes the prior relative anonymity of his relationship with Iverson especially inexplicable. Happily, mostly as a result of our features on the subject, when you see an Iverson Dragstripper or whatever in an eBay listing nowadays, the Barris name is the biggest selling point, and rightly so. In spite of our natural modesty, I can state that we were pretty much responsible for today's skyrocketing values on the surviving Barris/Iverson musclebikes and their associated components. The year 2005 has added yet another landmark to bicycle history, as it sees the release of a pair of new bicycles proudly wearing the Barris marque again. The Barris Dart and Flames are Special Edition collaborations between Mr.Barris and our old friend Aaron Bethlenfalvy, Design Director of Nirve Sports. I find this especially sweet, as I suggested it to Aaron, and put him in touch with Mr.Barris. No one could have been happier than me, when it actually happened. In honor of this occasion, it seemed vital that we interview George Barris, our most prestigious interview subject ever, for a second time, and Aaron B, our most entertaining interview subject ever, for maybe the fourth or fifth. Jim Wilson |
BRK: Let's start with you, Aaron. As you know, I've worshipped George Barris most of my life, and while you're considerably younger than I, I know that you're pretty much as steeped in kustom kulture as I am. How cool was it to actually work with the man on this project? . Aaron: Jim, it is nearly impossible to find words expressive enough! Like you, I've worshiped Mr. Barris most my life for the work he's done on so many of Hollywood's memorable movie cars and kustoms, alike. After having worked closely with him, I can truthfully say that he is, simply put, a genius. I have never met anyone with a fraction of Mr. Barris' creativity, let alone his ability to combine it with his keen business sense. His attitude is always positive. His energy is always high. He is a living legend and 100% of the time that I left his presence I honestly felt that I was not worthy to stand before him. My interaction with him will undoubtedly be stories I pass on to my grandchildren. . BRK: We sound amazingly like those doofuses in the "Wayne's World" bits, on Saturday Night Live: "We're sooo unworthy!!!" But that's always my reaction, too. Probably because it's true, at least in my case. . Since it's been at least thirty years, to the best of my knowledge, since Mr. Barris has tackled a bicycle project, I'd thought it conceivable that he might be interested in giving that medium another shot. Maybe he could give us his take on it. How about it, Mr. Barris, has this project been fun for you? . GeorgeB: I have always enjoyed bikes and of course, reminiscent to the pioneer days, ala Stelber, Iverson and AMF; they have always kept me interested . BRK:: We at BikeRod&Kustom call the period when you were doing your previous commercial bike work "The Golden Age of Kustom Biking". At that time, it was pretty much a youth activity. Now we seem to be entering the Second Golden Age, with adults in the vanguard, and youth following. Before, it was pretty much confined to American soil; but now it's worldwide, particularly in Europe, but catching on in most other continents. Do you find it gratifying that a movement you're pretty much responsible for is so universal now? . GeorgeB: Yes, especially now that the trend is back to enjoying biking, street - cruising and comfort - not the BMX - racing, etc. . The comfort biking for adults is more important and fun, plus ideas for the frames, choppers, color and graphics quality. More so the engineering, design and affordability for a super-qualified bike. . BRK: Aaron, the frame that these bikes are based upon is your Nirve "Galaxie", which seems to be the basis for your other Special Edition cruisers. Somehow, I doubt that the Hello Kitty, Pink Panther, or Paul Frank people were involved to the same extent with those, as George Barris was with the ones with his name on them. Could you tell us about the process by which these bikes were realized, from the original go-ahead for the deal? . AaronB: The development process started with Nirve providing Mr. Barris with a couple of our "in line" bikes to get his creative juices flowing (as if they're ever not flowing, right?). Mr. Barris then took one of our bikes and customized it into the first "Darts" prototype for the Interbike 2004 tradeshow. I took the feedback dealers gave us at the show and my knowledge of our manufacturing constraints, made a few small color/graphic modifications and proposed them to Mr. Barris. As with any great creative type, Mr. Barris welcomed the feedback and agreed to all the proposed refinements. That put the "Darts" model in the bag. |
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We knew we wanted to have a series of bikes in the Barris/Nirve line and after numerous discussions with Mr. Barris, we had a solid idea for the classic Kustom look and feel we were after. I developed three more Barris/Nirve concepts and proposed them to Mr. Barris. He loved them all! Of the three, we chose to develop the "Flames" model to be paired with the "Darts". Mr. Barris suggested some small tweaks to the details and then gave his official stamp of approval. . What of those other two concepts you ask??? You'll see um' next year and I guarantee that they will knock the sox off of every Kustom Kar enthusiast as they pay homage to some of Mr. Barris' infamous early work. |
BRK: When you told me that the Barris/Nirve collaboration was actually going to happen, I sort of assumed that the basis would be the new chopper frame. Your "Chupacabra" shows what excellent potential it has as a basis for kustomizing. Your cruiser frame is also, obviously, an excellent basis, as can be seen in the photos on this page, but still, I was very intrigued by the possibility of a George Barris version of the chopper. Are the cruisers all there are going to be, or is there the possibility of a chopper? |
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Barris "Darts" Concept Drawing |
Barris "Flames" Concept Drawing |
AaronB: We left the frame platform completely up to Mr. Barris. I think he was drawn to the Nirve "Galaxie" frame because its styling hues manifested from products of years past. He also liked the price points we would be able to achieve with the "Galaxie" platform as opposed to the chopper platform. I wouldn't rule out the potential of a chopper-framed Barris/Nirve bike in the future, however. We're only in the infancy of our relationship so it's too hard to predict where it may go. I agree with you, by the way, Jim a chopper platform would lend itself to some insane, over the top, Barris touches |
BRK: The Galaxie is a nice classic-themed platform, and the price would make a difference in the number of units you could expect to sell in a reasonable amount of time, I'm sure. Your usual special edition bikes are done on a limited production basis, as I recall- maybe 200 units? Does that apply to the Barris bikes as well? . AaronB: Actually, Jim, all of the Nirves are limited production handmade cruisers. We are the only cruiser company, to my knowledge, which refreshes our line seasonally rather than annually. Even models that are hot sellers get retired to keep their cachet high. The Barris bikes will not be an exception to our policy. These first two Barris bikes will be offered for a limited time only and will be phased out as new Barris bikes are introduced. |
BRK: Mr. Barris, since BikeRod&Kustom is the de facto on-line archive of Barris bicycle information, I run periodic searches of the web, like the one above, using the terms "Barris" and "Bicycle", seeking new information and images to add to our database. In a recent Google session, I ran into a news item that's pretty interesting, in the Hartford (Connecticut) Courant: "It seems that Jim Barnard, proprietor of The New England Musclebike Museum paid $1,876- the most he's ever paid for a bike,for a green Iverson Dragger(?),designed by George Barris, for his collection". I know you didn't bother the first time around, but knowing now that having the Barris name on a bicycle automatically makes it a better investment than most stocks, bonds or diamonds, are you tempted to squirrel some of these new ones away somewhere in their original packaging? Aaron's not nearly so well known as you, and some of his earlier bikes have already doubled in value. It helps that they're very cool bikes, of course, but so are yours, in spades. GeorgeB: The bike industry is like all other interesting industries that cover collectibles. This covers bikes, toys, coins, art, photos, etc. |
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BRK: Aaron, you're taking an interesting marketing approach-. kind of a Franklin Mint sort of deal, except the thing you buy isn't an otherwise-worthless piece of kitsch; and it's actually pretty much a sure thing that it'll actually appreciate in value, like Jim Barnard's $1, 876 Barris Iverson musclebike, which cost maybe $150 when it was new. Too bad bicycles in the box take up a lot more room than Norman Rockwell plates, eh? And me without an attic. . So, this relationship is an open-ended collaboration? The mind bloody boggles! |
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We've got into what's involved in the production of Nirve cruisers before, but every new one I see seems to raise more questions of that sort, in my curiosity. This "Darts" model is an example of that. This one has a very involved paint scheme, with extremely intricate multiple color areas separated by striping. I've never seen any production bike with that complicated a paint job. How the hell do you do that on a production basis? |
AaronB: You have no idea how excited I am that you noticed the complexity, Jim. I can honestly say that getting these Barris bikes into production was by far the most difficult task I've faced. After numerous attempts at sample bikes we finally came to a solution that would work in production. . . once a month at the stroke of Midnight magic fairies emerge from the dense, musky mainland China fog perched upon their fully Kustomized Barris Chariots and sprinkle a special blend of Nirve/Barris magic on each and every frame. . |
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All kidding aside, the graphics on both bikes are a very complex set of layered decals which, when applied, appear to be one solid paint transition. The decals are HUGE. So large, in fact, we maxed out the maximum size available from the decal maker. Their size also created HUGE problems in production during decal application on the assembly line. Special application techniques were designed to overcome the issues. . |
BRK: I find the pixie-dust scenario almost as believable as the decal one, but I'll take your word on it. But the red part's still paint, right? Or are those welds connecting the head tube to the top and down tubes in the close-up just an incredibly realistic-looking graphic image of a weld bead with kandy red metalflake paint on top of it? . Regarding the term "decal", I trust you aren't talking about the traditional water-slide type, are you? That was usually multiple silk-screened impressions in different colors, applied to a water-soluble coating on paper. This must be some totally different technology. Can you tell us sort of how this works, in small words? |
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AaronB: Yes, actually, they are your standard water-slide-type decal. Here's how it works. .. First the frame is painted, then masked and the front half of the bike is painted its compliment color. In the case of both Barris bikes this paint transition happens approximately two inches behind the head tube on the top tube and down tube. The masking is removed and the mask line is lightly sanded to remove any hard edge which might be visible. Next the decals are applied by the nimble fingers of cute Asian women who masterfully position them within millimeters of our |
specified instruction. Both Barris bikes get a number of decals placed over the paint transition, which hide the hard line of the paint mask and create the illusion that the graphics are hand painted just as Mr. Barris would have done in his own shop. Finally, the frame gets a liberal coating of clear coat. . Now, anyone who has ever made a model knows what a pain in the ass water-slide decals can be. Multiply that ass pain by 100 and you'll have an idea of how difficult the Barris bikes are to create! |
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BRK: Oh man! That's incredible that there isn't an easier way to do that. I always sucked at putting decals on models. In many ways, I'm much more capable and skilled than I was as a model-building kid, but I'm hardly any better at applying decals now than I was back then. For the trophies we did for the recent Abita Meet, I decided to make decals for the graphics. Making them is easy enough, and I just had to slide 3" triangular decals onto matching pieces of polished aluminum. Fortunately, I made quite a few extra decals, because I screwed every one of them up, at least once. And you're talking about really big weird-shaped ones, which are much more difficult to get right. I'm truly impressed by the talents of your cute Asian babes. |
I just had to go back to Nirve.com to verify that my memory of the pricing on those bikes was correct. With $50 for shipping and handling added on, the things are still only 400 bucks! I find that to be astoundingly cheap for what goes into them, not to mention the name that's on them. Having studied your Chupacabra personal chopper at length, I know what a fiend for detail you are. And everybody knows that George Barris pretty much invented insane detailing. So I think it's fairly safe to assume that those decals probably aren't the only examples of near-pathological detailing on these bikes. |
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BRK: As I mentioned before, Mr.Barris, the kustom bike movement is on the verge of becoming even bigger, the second time around. Already, kustom components are becoming a very viable business, with serious and smart money getting into it. Aaron can back me when I say that one of the biggest needs is generally-affordable cast-alloy kustom-style bike wheels. Since you already invented them, in the '60s, I'd think that it would be fairly simple for you to re-invent them in larger sizes. I can pretty much guarantee that a George Barris line of cast-alloy bike wheels, at a reasonable price would sell like hot cakes. I'd really love to see that and a wide variety of other kustom-style parts come out of this collaboration between you, Aaron and Nirve. . GeorgeB: Since, I was the first one to have a design patent for my bicycle Mag wheels, also BMX designs, various other designs, Evel Knievel bike, etc. It's very comforting to me to know that I was able to be in on the pioneering era for all kinds of bicycles and FUN for all. |
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PostScript: A Previously-Missing Piece Of Barris Bike History |
From our earlier coverage of the Barris body of bicycle work, most people would assume that the new Nirve cruisers are George Barris' first adult-scale bikes.That was my thinking as well, until I encountered this 27"-wheeled bike during my regular eBay prowling a year or so back. I immediately got in touch with the seller, requesting more photos. . The bike is obviously from the late-'60s/early '70s. During that period, kids rode musclebikes, and adults rode 10-speed "lightweight" European-racer-style road bikes or 3-speed English-style "Roadsters". Both generally rolled on 27" skinny tires. . While working within the conventions of these "adult"styles, in his typical fashion, George Barris gave it his own radical kustom-style spin, while mixing-and-matching useful features of both styles. It has a frame which is "lightweight" through the use of "hot-rod" architecture and detailing, while combining that with what appears to be an un-fussy 3-speed Sturmey-Archer hub on the rear, rather than the extremely fussy 10-speed derailleur shifting arrangement which was rather alien to American bikers of the time. Rather than the silly and dangerous "drop bars" which were virtually compulsory for the "Tour de France-manque" aesthetic in force at the time, Mr.Barris gave it sensible "English Roadster"-style handlebars, allowing the rider a comfortable upright posture. And then he followed through on its kustom style by specifying a kandy lime-green metallic paint job. Lovely, eh? . When I discussed this bike with its owner, a guy named Ron, I told him that not only had I never seen this model, I'd never even heard of it, and that there was nothing in the Barris bicycle archives about it. Shortly thereafter, it was withdrawn from its eBay listing. Presumably, Ron still has it safely tucked away, where it sits steadily increasing in value. JimW. 8/05/05 |
Specifications: Barris Edition Nirve Cruisers Single speed, coaster brake. Welded Kickstand. Nirve Embossed double spring saddle. Aluminum wheels w/stainless steel spokes. Forged steel crank. Vintage-style grips. Nirve Semi-slick 26'' tires. Skirted rear fender with turned aluminum graphics.. Price: $349.99 (plus $50.00 S&H) Currently in stock, available through dealers, or on-line/phone from Nirve. |
BRK: Gentlemen, I'd like to thank you very much for finding time in your busy schedules to work this interview in. And on behalf of our audience, I'd like to thank you for making it possible for people having the opportunity to possess a mint-condition Barris bicycle for much less than the price of a decent used car. I'm sure lots of us will be availing ourselves of that opportunity, now and in the future. |
