Bespoke Paint Program · Established 2014
A helmet painted for one rider, by name, in a workshop outside Modena.
Fourteen base shells. One small atelier. The paint, leather trim, and monogram are chosen by you and laid by hand by Marco, Elena, and a team of fourteen.
Start a Configuration§ 01 — The Program
What "bespoke" means here, in plain language.
The Bespoke Paint Program is the workshop's signature service. Every helmet that leaves Via dei Carrozzieri 14 under this program is built to a single rider's specification — not selected from a catalogue of pre-finished colourways, not pulled from a regional warehouse.
Bespoke covers three things, and only three things: the paint, the leather trim, and a monogram. The shell, the safety certification, and the protective liner are not part of the customisation — they are non-negotiable, certified, and shared across the full Selev lineup.
You choose from fourteen base shells (three current models — Vento R, Strada, and Lupo — across the available sizes and shell widths). Within those fourteen shells, our colour library has been verified across more than 2,400 distinct combinations of base colour, accent panels, and graphic layouts. Every one of those combinations has been sprayed, cured, and inspected at least once in our workshop.
The lead time from a confirmed configuration to a delivered helmet is six weeks. This is not a marketing figure — it is the time it takes our four composite technicians and three leather artisans to lay, cure, and finish a single helmet properly. We will not shorten it, and we do not offer an express lane.
§ 02 — The Six Steps
From a first conversation to a delivered helmet.
Six steps, six weeks. The configurator is step one. The rest is handled in Modena.
-
01
Palette Consultation
You open the configurator and shortlist two or three directions — base colour, accent panels, leather tone. The workshop receives your shortlist and replies within two working days with a written reading of the combination, including any constraints specific to your chosen shell.
Day 1 — 2 -
02
Configuration Confirmation
A Selev concierge confirms the specification in writing — paint reference, leather, monogram placement, shell size — and sends a 50% deposit invoice. No paint is mixed and no leather is cut until this confirmation is signed.
Week 1 -
03
Paint Lay-Up
Your base colour is mixed in-house and laid across the shell in multiple coats. Accent panels are masked and sprayed by hand. The shell is cured at temperature in the workshop's own autoclave, on the same line used for our Formula 1-derived composite process.
Week 2 — 3 -
04
Leather Trim
The interior trim — neck roll, ear pockets, comfort liner binding — is cut and stitched by one of our three leather artisans from the agreed hide. Monogram is set at this stage, by hand, in the position confirmed in step two.
Week 3 — 4 -
05
Inspection & Sign-Off
Both safety engineers inspect the finished helmet against the original specification. ECE 22.06, DOT FMVSS 218, and — where applicable — SHARP documentation are matched to the serial number. Photographic sign-off is sent to you before dispatch.
Week 5 -
06
Delivery
The helmet ships from Modena in a hard travel case, with a signed workshop card, the full specification sheet, and the 7-year shell warranty registered to your name. The lifetime fitment adjustment program begins the day it arrives.
Week 6
Build reference № 0418 — "Oxblood / Ivory / Brass" — Vento R, size M.
§ 03 — A Named Build
One helmet, finished, on file.
The Vento R was named Cycle World's 2024 Editor's Pick. The reference build documented here is a real, shipped bespoke commission — not a concept render — recorded at the workshop in early 2023.
- Base shell
- Vento R · ECE 22.06 · DOT FMVSS 218 · SHARP 5-star
- Paint
- Oxblood base, hand-laid; ivory racing stripe, masked and sprayed; satin clear coat, cured in-house
- Leather trim
- Vegetable-tanned Tuscan hide, natural finish, hand-stitched
- Monogram
- Two-letter brass leaf, 18 mm, rear spoiler
- Lead time, this build
- 5 weeks 4 days
Every named build is kept on file at the workshop. If you begin a configuration and want to reference an existing finish as a starting point, the concierge can pull the specification sheet for you.
§ 04 — From the Workshop
"We make twelve hundred helmets in a year. That is the point of the workshop, not a limitation of it. The day we start making helmets faster than we can sign them is the day the brand stops being ours."
— Elena Vento, co-founder, in conversation with Bike EXIF, March 2022.
§ 05 — Begin
Open the configurator.
A configuration takes about fifteen minutes. We will reply within two working days with a written reading of your shortlist, and we will hold a slot in the workshop for six weeks from confirmation.