Speedway, In.—The Greater Richmond Convention Center in the historic city of Richmond, Va. will host the 2010 North American Handmade Bicycle Show (NAHBS) when the world’s number one custom bicycle show moves to the east coast next February 26-28.

Booth registration for the show will start immediately for the 2009 exhibitors, who will be contacted by email. Open registration will start June 15, and will be accessible through the event website www.handmadebicycleshow.com.

Show founder and director, Don Walker, said “I researched all the way along the east coast and Richmond came up as the strongest candidate, all criteria considered. I then put forward three candidates to a vote among this year’s exhibitors, and Richmond was the clear winner. I looked at some of the largest cities as well, and while these cities might have great cycling culture, their prices are out of range for the vast majority of my exhibitors.”

Jack Berry, president and CEO of the Richmond Metropolitan Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, commended the decision. “The timing’s perfect! Cycling is really becoming more and more popular in this region. Being a cyclist myself, personally I’m thrilled! This is huge for Richmond and the Mid-Atlantic.”

Champe Burnley, president of the Richmond Area Bicycling Association, also sees this as a good time for NAHBS to come to Richmond. “Richmond is a cycling hub with a great history. We have a strong cycling community with great facilities, which helps draw a major international show like NAHBS.  We really want Richmond to be a world class cycling city. For officials and the business community, our efforts are now starting to realize a return. Officials here are really beginning to get cycling and its benefits to the community.  NAHBS could not have chosen a better time to come.  This marks a cycling renaissance for the Richmond area.”

NAHBS will occupy the 46,000 sq. ft show hall D in the convention center. This has space for over 200 10’x10’ booths, and Walker expects to fill it.

Richmond is located within a day’s drive of half the U.S. population, and within cycling distance of the nation’s second largest cycling club (Potomac Pedalers). Only 90 minutes by car from Washington, DC, Richmond is served by Amtrak as well, with a station about a mile from the proposed host hotel. Richmond International Airport is approximately 15 minutes by car from the convention center.

The state of Virginia actively promotes bicycling and related activities, and has designated various special routes for the purpose. United States Bicycle Routes 1 and 5 meet in the city of Richmond, and the city is known to have a strong cycling culture, ranging from racing to tourists and fixed-gear riders.

Located in the middle of the Eastern Seaboard, Richmond becomes the fifth city to host the NAHBS in the show’s six-year history. Houston, Texas was first, and then two years in San Jose, California, followed by Portland, Oregon, and in 2009 Indianapolis.

About NAHBS

The North American Handmade Bicycle Show moves from city to city each year. It is scheduled for February 26 – 28, 2010, at the Greater Richmond Convention Center. The show is dedicated to showcasing the talents of individuals around the world whose art form is the bicycle. It aims to be a meeting point–online and in person–for frame builders and consumers looking for custom-made bikes, for the sharing of ideas, and promotion of a special industry with a rich history. Since its first year in 2005, NAHBS has grown from a show with 23 exhibitors and 200 attendees to 150 exhibitors and 7200 attendees. For more information, see http://www.handmadebicycleshow.com.

source: Paul Skilbeck

source: Paul Skilbeck - O2SM

2009 NORTH AMERICAN HANDMADE BICYCLE SHOW
AWARDS WINNERS FOCUS

Indianapolis — A crowd of 1728 on the final day of the North American Handmade Bicycle Show resulted in an total of 6,428 attendees over three days of what many exhibitors described as ‘the best NAHBS yet.’

As in past years, the show culminated with the awards for the best bicycles at the show. This time for the first time, an awards jury made all selections but two: President’s and People’s choices. The jurors were Dale Brown, Steve Hampsten, Doug Brooks, Mike Barrie, and James Huang.

And the winners are….

Best Road Bike
About nine years ago Roland Della Santa purchased the last 23 sets of Nervex lugs from Geoff Butler Cycles in London, intending to save them for a special project. This project became a limited edition set of 20 bicycles to celebrate his 40th anniversary of frame building. Using old Columbus tubes and offering only three braze-ons (and one waterbottle cage) Della Santa created an Eddy Merckx period piece that the awards jury simply could not resist.

Best Off-Road Bike
Curt Goodrich has always wanted to outfit a cyclocross team, and that that was the inspiration for the bright blue machine on display the weekend of the show. Goodrich started out as an apprentice, and then built bicycles on contract for Rivendell, and began focusing solely on his own creations in 2008. He worked to incorporate classic features like a level top tube on the bike he brought for display, as well as modern features like carbon forks, and a striking blue paint scheme.

Best Track Bike
Shin-Ichi Konno is continuing a family business that has made Cherubim one of the most respected handmade bicycle brands in Japan and a builder for keirin racers there. According to Shin-Ichi, the current design of track/keirin racing frames has been in place since the 1960s. The award-winning Cherubim Pista is made with due respect to the long tradition of track bicycle frame building.

Best Tandem Bike
“I want a lugged tandem, what can you do?” This request from a customer led Stephen Bilenky to create the tandem that won the NAHBS Award. The customer was interested in a tandem with a classic European look and sent him some lugs from Rivendell, who does not make tandem frames. Several parts needed to be made from scratch, since fabricated lugs for tandems do not exist. To create a classic looking headtube, a bi-laminate piece was created as a substitute for one of the lug. The blades on the fork are original Jack Taylor’s from the 1960s, so a fork crown had to be fabricated too.

Best Titanium Bike
Kent Eriksen featured numerous bicycle frames made of titanium at the show. Eriksen, who originally invented the softail mountain bike suspension, always wanted to incorporate titanium with that feature because of the metal’s durability. “It’ll last for generations,” he said, of the more modern bicycle he brought to Indianapolis, adding that titanium makes for an incredibly rideable bike. Eriksen added that titanium is also “green” in that it doesn’t require painting and so leaves less of a carbon footprint in its production.

Best Carbon Bike
Nine months of work went into the design of the prototype carbon fiber bike by Independent Fabrication. The crown-themed lugs, which were made with the assistance of Edge, arrived at the IF workshop on Thursday a week before the show, and everything fitted together first time around. For Independent Fabrication, this is a learning journey into a new material as the company continues to expand its knowledge base.

Best Lugged Bike
David Ellis Wages of Ellis Cycles in Waterford, Wisconsin, takes his inspiration from classic bicycles of the early 1980s. Bicycles with intricate lug work and chrome forks and chain stays were the ones with which he first became familiar when he started riding, so, to him, in a way, those features still define classic bicycles. “…kind of the bike I always wanted to have,” Wages said of one of the fine machines he brought with him to the 2009 NAHBS in Indianapolis. Wages incorporates a modern aesthetic with the classic craftsmanship of lug work in his cycles, adding that using lugwork allows for more artistic detail.

Best TIG Welded Bike
Black, red and white is Carl Strong’s favorite color scheme for a bicycle, and that’s what he chose for this all-business road stage racer. The bike is also made to fit Strong, a precaution he says he took in case he couldn’t sell it. Much of the thinking centered on a new Chris King head inset head tube, which provides a large surface area to connect tubes to, as well as a low stack height, which enhances the aesthetic. With a liquid paintjob by Spectrum Powderworks, the headtube of this titanium frame is left as clearcoat to show of the fine welding of this show display bike, which is a prototype for further models.

Best Fillet Brazed Bike
Mark Nobilette designed this bicycle to be “the anti-Herve.” He wanted to create a non-traditional touring frame, capable of carrying a full-load, “without compromising it.” Various parts of the frame deviate from the traditional—a wishbone-shaped seat binder, double-bend chain stays, a threadless steerer tube, and fillet brazed joints instead of lugs. The racks, which Nobilette made himself, were powder-coated black instead of the traditional chrome.

Best City Bike
Mitch Pryor of Portland, Oregon’s M.A.P. cycles built a beautiful city bike for a customer in Colorado who wanted a commuter cycle. The bike, of a timeless style, is done in a cream color with cork accents and a Brooks saddle. Pryor used selections of Reynolds tubing for its construction and took inspiration from the drawings of French artist Daniel Rebour for the commission. “It’s cute,” said one observer. “I’ve heard that a lot,” replied Pryor.

Best Paint Job
Toronto painter, Noah Rosen works closely with Mike Barrie, father of the Canadian pro road rider, and a former builder for Mariposa. Barrie wanted Rosen to restore his old 1951 Cinelli to something closely resembling its original condition. They had to go by black and white photos, but Barrie was confident the paint color was a close match. One of the main challenges, says Rosen, was matching the proportions on the seat tube bands. Getting clean lug edges on a 60-year old bike took a lot of work, since the metal had roughened over the years. Rosen put some 20 hours into the restoration job.

People’s Choice
Naked Bicycles from British Columbia once again won the heart of the NAHBS crowd. Wooden components are used for the seat post, hand grips and pedals, and the frame features particular curves that builder Sam Whittingham states he has a liking for. Bicycles should be more feminine as it softens their lines, he says. The Mountain bike uses the 29” wheel, which Whittingham says is well suited to the BC riding conditions.

President’s Choice
Shin-Ichi Konno is continuing a family business that has made Cherubim one of the most respected handmade bicycle brands in Japan and a builder for keirin racers there. According to Shin-Ichi, the current design of track/keirin racing frames has been in place since the 1960s. The award-winning Cherubim Pista is made with due respect to the long tradition of track bicycle frame building.

Best of Show
Dan Polito of Cicli Polito credits former frame builder Norm Taylor with the inspiration for the Jack Taylor tribute bicycle he brought to the 2009 NAHBS. Polito, who sees making one’s own bicycle as the mark of a true cyclist, honored Taylor, who passed away recently, by including elements in this particular bicycle of original grass-track racing bicycles. Laura Long, an associate of Polito’s since the shop opened, pointed out cyclists used to compete on horse fields, which explains the wider tires.

Thanks to Kimberly Hunt and Naomi Sczczesiul for assisting with reportage.

source: Paul Skilbeck, o2sm

A crowd just over 3,000 filled the show halls one day two, as cyclists from all over the USA turned out in droves to the world’s finest exhibition of handmade bicycles.

Below is a sampling of what show-goers saw there today. The show blog and more pictures are available at nahbshow.blogspot.com

Readers receiving this in text format will see images as clickable links.

Please contact media director Paul Skilbeck with any questions.
Tel. 415-516-1444
pskilbeck@o2sm.com

A Healthy Mix

By Christopher Newgent
To anyone who has ridden in Indianapolis before NAHBS rolled into town, it’s obvious that thousands of people who love bikes have converged on the city. They are everywhere, small packs of cyclists passing through the Indy traffic. And, they are from everywhere.
Indianapolis has long been known as the crossroads of the United States, and if evidence is needed, a cross-section of this year’s NAHBS attendees should do the trick. Cyclists have come in from cities all across the United States, even all across the globe. There are people in town from Lansing, Nashville, Chicago, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Detroit, San Francisco, and the list stretches beyond to Toronto, Vancouver, and even Tokyo.
“It was a simple drive,” says one show-goer. “Indy is simple to access by car, and those who would have flown to Portland have still flown to Indy.”
With two-thirds of the United States within one day’s drive, attendance has been record-setting, and positively eclectic. There are cyclists from across the spectrums, from urban single-speeders to pannier-laden commuters to carbon-gazing roadies. And Indy has presented something for all of them, whether the shenanigans of the ArtBike! party, or the simple nightlife and restaurants of downtown. NAHBS this year has truly been all things to all people, and Indy hasn’t just simply welcomed NAHBS, but facilitated it to the point of embracing it.

Anderson’s Kool Kid’s Cruiser

By Mike Marley
Many here at NAHBS fondly remember their first bicycle. Imagine those memories if your first bike was the child-size cruiser displayed in Keith Anderson’s booth. A Lafayette, IN native now in Grant’s Pass, OR, Anderson describes himself as primarily a painter these days. He has painted at least eight bikes at the show, including the remarkable Candy Stripe bike for Peacock Groove, and is presenting a seminar on The Wonderful World of Color Graphics. Once it had come to him, the cruiser idea and grew to be nearly an obsession, something he said he just had to do.
The father of three young sons, Anderson said the bike contains elements inspired by each of his boys. The seat tube is a piece of steel aircraft foil, cut out to accommodate a rear wheel tucked in “aero” style. The bike sports disc brakes and painted-to-match rims laced to Phil Woods hubs. The metallic red spoke nipples match the disc brake mechanism, brake lever brackets and headset.
The bike’s most distinctive element is the fantastic pair of wooden fenders Anderson created. Made of padouk and wenge wood and inlayed with paua shell abalone, the curved fenders are fully functional, says Anderson.. “I hate flat wooden fenders, they just don’t work.”
No kid’s cruiser is complete without a spoke card to make a little noise, and Anderson’s is one of a kind. Actually it’s three of a kind; three playing card sized sheets of carbon fiber are permanently mounted under the left chainstay. “They’re tuned for sound,” Anderson said.
In order to keep the peace at home, Anderson hopes to sell the bicycle at the show so the boys won’t have a chance to fight over it. Some lucky kid is going to have fond memories of this bike for many years after he outgrows it.

Bike Art by KirkLee

By Robert Annis
Most of the bikes at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show are works of art, but KirkLee Bicycles’ latest creation was inspired by artwork.
When Florida veterinarian and triathlete Rachel Gross contacted the custom bike builder to create for her a new road bike, she decided to take the opportunity to pay tribute to her mother, an artist suffering from Alzheimer’s. When it came time to paint the bike, Gross asked the company to recreate one of her mother’s abstract paintings.
Building the custom carbon-fiber frame took KirkLee co-owner Brad Cason about 60 hours, but painting it was an even more time consuming. To mimic the look of the inspiration artwork, a canvas texture was painted onto the joints, followed by several layers inspired by the original art. All of the paint was applied by hand with a brush.
“When you spray paint on, you can’t get the same texture as you would a painting,” Cason said. “We wanted the texture, chunkiness of the painting to translate to the bike. We used a softer brush to create the brushstrokes, then knocked the top edges off and finished it off with a clear coat.”
In all, it took 200 hours to recreate the inspirational artwork, compared to the typical 8-10 hours.
Cason admitted he was a bit jealous when the paint job began stealing some of the thunder from the bike, but said both he and his client are thrilled with the way the bike turned out.
When it was time to deliver the bike, I told her, ‘the good news is your bike came out beautiful. The bad news is you’re going to want to keep your old bike,’” Cason said.
Cason was reluctant to say how much Gross paid for the bike, but estimated a similar bike would cost a new client in excess of $10,000.

Tubemakers’ View

Customers of the framebuilders at this year’s NAHBS will be interested to know that these artisans are customers, too. Just as builders work one on one with individuals to create made to measure bicycles, the companies who supply them with their most basic raw material, the tubes, work closely with individual framebuilders to meet the precise demands of the craft.
Fabrizio Aghito, VP of Gruppo, the parent company of Columbus is at his 5th NAHBS. Makers of Spirit, Life, Zona and XCR, the first seemless stainless tubeset, he emphasized Columbus’ ongoing research in materials and tooling as being vital to their flexibility in customer relations. Distributed in the US by Nova Cycle Supply, they also sell direct.
Among Columbus’ most satisfied customers is Richard Sachs, who along with Dario Pegoretti, commissioned a tubeset they call PegoRichie. Made to meet the high standards of these two master craftsmen, Sachs said he and Dario worked for 16 months with Columbus to bring the tubeset to production. Available in three different versions, Sachs uses PegoRichie exclusively.
Another builder with a close relationship with a tube maker is David Kirk of Kirk Frameworks. He works with Reynolds on custom alloys and tube shapes. His JK Special models use a different Reynolds or True Temper product for each tube area, matching the properties of the tube to the function and effect he wants to achieve for a particular customer. Kirk appreciates these supplier’s responsiveness to his (and therefore, his customer’s) needs, as well as his ability to order in smaller quantities, such as the fifty pairs of chainstays he orders from Reynolds each year.
Just as the customer of an NAHBS framebuilder demands the highest quality materials and craftsmanship, along with individual attention, so these builders demand the same from their tube suppliers.

Clothing from Japan

A personal view by Rita Romeu
Having returned from a trip to Japan a few weeks ago, my outlook on everything has been a bit “Japan-centric.” Going through the exhibit hall at NABHS has been no exception. I was immediately drawn to the CCP booth, but certainly, I was not the only one. Their unique line of clothing is practical, stylish, fun, and attracting a lot of attention from the crowd.
I spoke to Aaron Terruli, the Company’s translator and sales rep. (He is originally from New York, but has lived in Japan for the past 14 years). CCP (Cycling Clothing Products) is located in Toyko. I met two of their designers – Masayoshi Sato, and Tsutomu Kijima. Mr. Kijima has been making clothes for 35 years. His goal is to make everyday clothing for riders that is both functional and aesthetically pleasing. One of the main observations I made about cyclists while in Japan is that they are very practical. I saw business women riding to work in their dresses and high heels; grandmothers riding through the city holding an umbrella with two grandchildren on the bike. CCP’s line of clothes is a refreshing break from the spandex culture I am used to in New Jersey. I bought my self a nice micro-fleece winter shirt with a hood and collar that can cover your mouth and nose. (The guys are referring to it as a ninja suit; I think of it more as a riding burkha). All of CCPs clothes are made in limited editions of 200 per style. They constantly refine their designs. They do most of their sales on line and everything sells out fast.
CCP’s booth also has a few bicycles on display that are made by Hioki Kitajima, of Punch Cycles, a friend and associate of CCP. He made the bikes on spec for CCP for NAHBS. The goal was to come up with a mixed retro/modern look to reflect the lifestyles of the riders in the Company. A really cool accessory hung over one of the bikes was the handmade messenger bag made out of flattened tubulars. Everyone was gawking at that, but unfortunately it is not for sale.
One of the sales reps that I talked to, Junichi Chiba, is a former Keirin racer. I was in awe when I went to watch the races in Kyoto last month. He no longer does Keirin because it is a difficult lifestyle, but now does 50k road races which are gaining in popularity. They are called “mix-up.” These races involve individual riders, no teams, and have anywhere from 100 to 150 people participating.
The Japanese influence at NAHBS seems to be growing each year. It’s a welcome addition.

source: Paul Skilbeck, o2sm

source: Paul Skilbeck

source: NAHBS Press Office

SPEEDWAY, Indiana-The North American Handmade Bicycle Show (NAHBS), the world’s largest handmade bicycle show, is moving to form alliances with regional handmade bicycle shows that have appeared in the wake of the pioneering work of NAHBS, which created consumer/industry shows in the handmade sector back in 2005.

“For me it’s about promoting the category,” says Don Walker, the founder and director of the NAHBS. “The reflex action might be to see these shows as competition, and oppose them, but I don’t see it that way. I am secure about the position of NAHBS as the leader. This is a close-knit part of the cycling industry and I see all of these shows working together to gain maximum promotion for the handmade brand as whole.”

As an initial gesture, Walker has contacted organizers of regional shows in San Diego, California; Portland, Oregon; and Denver, Colorado, to discuss position in the calendar as well as the offer of reciprocal web links.

The optimum scenario is to have several static regional shows that work in harmony with a higher-level national show that tours the country. In the years that the national show is elsewhere, the regional show maintains local interest and awareness, and every few years, when the NAHBS visits a region, it is seen as a special event.

The reason this should work is two-fold. First, entry into the NAHBS is by invitation only, restricting places to the more experienced builders and those that have already exhibited. Thus the NAHBS will continue to present the cream of the cream in frame building. Entry to the regional shows is more open, which gives newer builders an opportunity to gain public exposure. Second, many of the smaller builders cannot afford
to travel across the continent to exhibit at NAHBS, so a regional show better suits their budgets.

“I learned something from watching the mountain biking scene in the US, which developed a top-heavy approach very early, but ultimately that may not have been optimum for the long-term development of that industry. I think this plan is a step forward
from that, because it includes more locally-connected, grassroots, kind of shows, and then the high-flying superstar show which people in each region only get to see every five or six years.” says Walker.

Thus far the San Diego show has expressed support for Walker’s national vision. “I had a good conversation with Brian Baylis (marketing director of the San Diego show), and we are working together. I want his show to be successful, and he wants NAHBS to continue to grow, because he can see that while there is some overlap, our shows serve different needs as well, and if we all work together the whole handmade category wins,” Walker explained.

The North American Handmade Bicycle Show moves from city to city each year. It is scheduled for February 27 – March 1, 2009, at the Indianapolis Convention Center. The show is dedicated to showcasing the talents of individuals around the world whose art
form is the bicycle. It aims to be a meeting point – online and in person – for frame builders and consumers looking for custom-made bikes, for the sharing of ideas, and promotion of a special industry with a rich history. NAHBS has grown from a show with 23 exhibitors and 700 attendees in 2005, to 150+ exhibitors and more than 7,000 attendees in 2008. For more information, see http://www.handmadebicycleshow.com.

source: Paul Skilbeck