Rythm, movement, and the quiet focus found on the road.
For Yoon Hyup, cycling began as a way to reset, a simple routine that became essential. When the pressure builds in the studio, the bike brings him back to center. Early laps in Prospect Park, long rides to Nyack, and climbs in Seoul when he is visiting home all help clear the noise. Riding reminds him to trust the process, stay grounded, and return to his work with a clear mind.
On the bike, his thoughts drop away. The road, the wind, the feeling of moving forward take over. Sometimes there is a calm that feels cinematic, other times a shared rhythm forms within a group ride. He does not chase inspiration while riding, yet it arrives naturally. Colors on asphalt, the blur of city lights, textures, shadows, and shifts in speed stay with him. In the studio, those impressions return through the brush as rhythm and motion.
Yoon Hyup sees strong parallels between riding and creating art. Both require steady effort, consistency, and belief in the next step. In the studio he works like a stage race, finishing what must be done each day, returning the next morning, and continuing forward. Cycling taught him that discipline fuels progress, and that mindset shapes his art.
The design of his S-Works Tarmac LTD comes from the feeling of moving fast through the city, both quiet and sharp, almost like a stealth form in motion. Dawn rides, night air, and streetlights stretching into a runway became the foundation. He translated that energy into color, line, and texture, first by hand, then refined in collaboration with his wife in their Brooklyn studio. Hidden elements throughout the frame reflect layers of his riding life, from moments of calm to symbols of strength and spirit that have stayed with him over time.
Working with Specialized felt natural. The SL8 was already the bike he imagined customizing long before the collaboration existed. With rhythm and direction aligned, the frame became a place where his movement and the speed of the Tarmac meet in a way that feels unmistakably his.What Yoon Hyup hopes riders feel is simple: the energy. The impulse to take the bike outside, to feel the flow, to move with intention, and above all, to ride safe. One word captures the collaboration for him: synergy, the feeling of rider and bike becoming one.