The rat bike revolution

For a while a there has been a trend in America to ‘rat out’ cars – stripping them down to their bare essentials and encouraging them (through chemical treatment) to rust, giving them a distinct ‘unfinished’ look.

Now it seems cyclists are jumping on the  band wagon – ‘ratting’ out their bikes by stripping off the paint, and encouraging them to rust. The rusting process can be halted at any point by applying a coating of silicon spray.

There's nothing new about keeping a battered-looking bike at railways station to minimise the chance of theft. This new ratting trend is simply recognising it as an art form in its own right.