Bike Check: Christian’s Parallax
Whenever I shoot film in Paris, I always end up with a grainy, dirty style for some reason. It’s probably why I only shoot black and white while in the French capital, but I had to make an exception this time. On top of that, the grungy vibe is a perfect fit for today’s bike. You’ve seen it online over its six years of evolution, and hopefully it’s far from over.
Today we’re looking at Christian’s (aka. @skrills on Instagram) Mash Parallax and how this bike became the dream beater for many of us.
A few months back, Christian texted me this: “Hey I’ll be in Paris in two weeks, you wanna hang out?”. Kind of a short notice for someone arriving from the other side of the globe, but isn’t that the chillest way to announce that you’re arriving to shred and have a good time.
I think Christian and I have followed each other for a while, and I always wanted to meet the guy. At a time when the Parallax was a dream bike for many people, this man painted his with a spray can, some dreams, and a totally “ain’t care” style.
Used as a daily, abused as a street missile, stolen, recovered, this thing went through all the beater/rat-bike checkpoints.
The build in itself is fairly simple, with some Ritchey gear upfront for the cockpit area. At the back, we have a Thomson seatpost with a stripped Selle Italia SLR. The drivetrain here is also a classic, with a Sugino 75 crank, an AARN chainring, a 17T cog and some classic Time Atac pedals.
The wheels are something special though from the people over at Ocean Infinite: a sweet pair of 60mm carbon rims, laced to some Mack WCS pink hubs. A serious piece of bling on an otherwise absolutely trashed bike.
There are so many details I could go over to prove to you how actually no giving a shit is probably the best way to ride. Every sticker has its story and to every problem it's an easy solution.
Detailed Parts List
Frameset
Custom Painted Parallax
Chainring and Cog AARN 47t, 17t Cog
Crank Sugino 75 165mm
Seatpost and Saddle
Thomson Elite, Stripped SLR
Stem and Handlebar
Ritchey 130mm
Ritchey Biomax
Wheels Ocean Infinite laced to Mack WCS
Tires Gatorskin Black Edition 25c
No bottle mount? Not a problem, let me just use two pipe collars and we’re all good! No bearing cap? Better just slam that stem. Everything has its story; wondering about the weird paint spot under the seat post? Here is his answer: “I was bored, and I had black paint and a brush… and that came out of my little artsy session...”
This bike is definitely part of the Parallax obsession that has been dominating our culture since the arrival of that frame. I'd also like to add that shredding a frame this hard is not easy for everybody. I totally respect the clean aesthetic, but holy cow, this is so much more my jam.
Paint Job = 20% paint chips + 20% stickers + 50% street magic + 10% actual paint
🎞: Expired Fuji Xtra 800
📷: Nikon F100
