Small Batch: The Original Tom

I plan on doing a small run of Toms on Grey American Apparel Track Shirt. This run is different than the standard Tom shirt in that it will not have the "Bike Jerks" talking bubble coming from the riders mouth. The shirt will be printed exactly as it was for the Spoke of Luck bike shop that B.Ridget's Dad owned nearly 30 years ago.

I'm sure most of you readers are familiar with the design and origin by now, but in case you aren't: B.Ridget's father owned Spoke of Luck bikeshop in St. Paul at 1038 Front Ave during the late 70's and early 80's. They sold Peugeut, Kabuki, Astra, and if memory serves correct Bridgestone. Among other things he was a talented wheel builder and artist. A few year's back he found an old transparency that he had used during those days to create a screen and t-shirt for the shop. If you look at the lower left of the back wheel under the motion lines you can just make out the initials SOL which stands for Spoke of Luck. To create the design he cut the two wheels out of red film, glued them to the transparency then hand drew the rider's body.



B.Ridge and I then used the transparency to make a screen of our own and with the addition of the talking bubble it became one of the first Bike Jerks designs and the second oldest one that I still actively use. In fact it's likely that this is the second design to ever bear the "Bike Jerks" marque after the GMS Dog.



I am very proud and excited to offer for the first time the original version of the design as Tom intended it. If you would like one of these special shirts please send me an email to jeff at bike jerks letting me know the size, qt, and gender (it's rare that I get to offer ladies shirts) of the shirts that you would like. The price is $22 plus shipping. Know that if you send me an email I will consider it an order and will purchase a blank to print for you. Don't fuck me over. I'm excited to do this small run and if it's successful hopefully do more of this type of thing in the future. I will be accepting emails until Friday at 3pm. This is being intentionally kept a small run for those of you out there who are into it.

Oh yeah, and I know this is a longshot but if any of you old timers have any recollection or stories about the shop please leave it in the comments. It's family history and I have yet to meet anyone who remembers it outside of being introduced to them by the family.