It might not be Worlds, but the Olympics trigger a spate of great mountain bike graphic design. Brands want their athletes to be on bikes that match the majesty of occasion. And as one of the core mountain biking nations, Canada is no different.

Read more: Tokyo 2021 Olympic mountain biking – dates, course details, who to watch

Don;t drop it in a bush or you might not find it again

Meticulous maple leaf detailing

Norco has two riders at the Tokyo Games. Haley Smith and Peter Disera. The British Columbian mountain bike company decided to do something truly unique for its Olympic athletes, with stunning results.

Tokyo will be the first Olympic Games where Norcos are raced as part of the mountain bike event.

Haley and Peter are both on Norco Revolvers for the Tokyo Olympics. Industrial designers and graphic specialists at Norco wanted to create a truly unique look for these Olympic bikes.

The idea was to bring a truly Canadian symbol, to the frame. Literally. Norco’s design team, opted for a complicated process that saw them harvest actual maple leaves.

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Leaf it out

Skilled artists at VéloColour traced the maple leaf structure onto Haley and Peter’s Revolvers, with a technique that rendered the graphic elements in a pearl golden-green. A clear coat was added and the Revolver FS 100 and hardtail frames were boxed and shipped to Tokyo.

There is no question that Norco not only achieved a terrific design outcome but also created Olympic edition bikes true to their purpose. That gold colour detail, is not accidental.

National flag colours don’t always work on frames, due to the tube shapes. Norco’s decision to use maple leaves, in gold, is an ideal alternative and by contracting people with the correct skills, they have managed to trigger great jealousy in the Olympic bike park, with these Revolvers.