An Etsy seller takes part in the Tour de France! Sort of…

The 101st Tour de France kicked off this weekend in the English countryside – and an Etsy UK seller actually took part! Kinda…

When UK seller Brian Trevaskiss of StudioSorgo saw that the Sheffield Culture Consortium were looking to commission art projects for the Yorkshire Festival – a 100 day event to kick off the countdown to the Yorkshire Grand Départ, he couldn’t resist throwing a pedal powered printing press into the mix.

Being, in his own words, “mad about letterpress and mad about cycling” Brian couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate the Tour de France coming to Sheffield than combining his two passions in a unique and slightly madcap way – and we love it! “It’s an idea that had been growing in my mind for some time,” he explains.

Brian worked with product designers Click on the blueprint and the finished product is built from different bike parts (including bike bottom brackets, various chain rings, and a crank spider from a BMX), utilising pedal power to provide the printing pressure.

Brian’s also created a special commemorative A3 print to celebrate the 2014 race – printed on the bike press, of course – available from his Etsy shop. They come in two colours – white and ‘juane’ – and are wheel-y good (sorrynotsorry).

If you want to see the pedal-powered printing press in action, follow Brian on Twitter or visit pedalpoweredprintingpress.com.

And if you want some Tour de France memorabilia, hot off the printing press (literally), visit Brian’s Etsy shop: StudioSorgo.