Quick note: Sorry for not having a famous Friday post up. I'll make it up to you I promise. All the bike porn I've been looking at coupled with sickness has made my motivation for all but the shear necessities in life almost nil. But here is a freshly baked new post for you. Thanks for waiting!
Well it is that time again. That time of year when all of us bike geeks need to draw the curtains and grab some tissues. Lock the door and warm up the computer. Because the North American Hand built Bicycle Show (NAHBS) has once again come to fruition. And once again I wanted to grab a hand full of bikes and design ideas to talk about.
This year seems to be the year of the go-anywhere road bike with big tires and clearance for fenders. The kind you would want to take on a gravel road or a smooth piece of single track. Along with monochromatic color schemes with hints of stainless steal. It's also a fairly big comeback of a fillet brazed joint versus sculpted lugs. And as per usual there is also a phenomenal amount brilliant custom solutions to custom problems. All in all a pretty bang up year!
So ease the seat back and get comfortable. Here we go.
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| This bike from MAP is probably the heaviest and simultaneously the coolest bike in my opinion. |
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| The awesome custom fenders and the disc brakes glide between retro and modern flawlessly. |
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| These integrated fender mounts and bolts to allow the replacement of a belt drive on this Shamrock Cycle are great examples of custom solutions to custom problems. |
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| As well as a U-lock holder and a beautiful "tiger" maple insert on the rear rack. |
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| The internal cable routing on this bike made it look exceptionally clean. If it weren't for the lime green paint job this would probably been my favorite... |
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| Portland's own Ira Ryan had some particularly sweet bikes at this years show. One of them with the nicest trailer I've ever seen. You know it's a custom job when it has waxed canvas and leather. |
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| And you can't forget about Chris King hubs. Gotta have those... |
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| This replica of an 1888 Whippet by Paul Brodie deserves an award for the most work put into a single machine category. |
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| Here is a classic example of a go-anywhere bike. Although I would think them a fool if the owner took this on a gravel decent. |
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The thing that gets me about Eriksen's titanium work are the welds... They look like a role of dimes on their sides. Just beautiful.
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| It's probably because my better half and I are going to be purchasing a tandem soon. But this Cyfac carbon tandem with the Enve wheels made me have an accident in my pants. |
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| This stainless steel Dave Wages randonneur bike is something I wouldn't kick out of bed for eating crackers. Di2, generator front hub and pretty polish everywhere. |
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This Cielo is classic and beautiful. |
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| 29'ers are sooooo 2011. 36'ers are whats in now. |
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| Anyone feel like riding an 11 lbs steel bike? I would but I'm afraid of what Rob English would do to me after I took it off some sweet jumps. |
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| I'll give you one guess on what type of bike this awesome head badge is on... |
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| This is another necessity is the mother of invention kind of things. A hydraulic splitter for a Sycip utility bike. Very slick. |
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| Can I have this for next cross season please? Please!? |
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| This paint design is on a rigid mountain bike by Independent Fabrication. I somehow doubt this will ever see any real hard trail use. Just sayin'.... |
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| Cherubim brought this track concept bike to the show. |
That's it! I can't take anymore. My hands are chapped. The computer screen is starting to look all blurry. And my ass fell asleep long ago.
I hope you all enjoyed looking at this together. I know it feels kinda dirty. But don't worry. A couple showers, some good scrubbing and you'll be right as rain.
Thanks for reading!
Rubber side down,
Big E
Can we do it again soon?
ReplyDeleteMartin, anytime... ;)
DeleteLooks like people have some pretty cool ideas for bicycle design. I currently ride a folding bike that I'm really happy with - anyone at NAHBS doing anything with folders?
ReplyDeleteHey Chris,
DeleteTo answer your question. Yes and no. Brompton has had a booth at the last couple shows. So yes there are some folders present. But to get a folding bike out to the market takes some serious R&D. So you generally won't see the smaller custom shops take that challenge on. Now just wait and see. There will be a bunch pop out of the wood work and call me a liar... Thanks for reading!