Indianapolis’ Shamrock Cycles have been favorites of mine since they first debuted their quick-release rack system two years ago in Austin. The prize of their booth was this candy red and chrome cross bike. Clean routing, tight lines and plentiful clearances make this one mean, lean, Irish racing machine. Be on the look out for this bike tearing through the mud next season in Indy’s local cross races. I can’t help but think that it’ll look even better scratched up and covered in mud.
Fat bikes were out in full force this year at NAHBS but few had the lines and attitudes of Black Sheep. I remember seeing them their first year and asking myself “who would ever want to really ride that thing?”. Turns out, fat bikes have an incredible, cult-like following and people love the creative, sexy lines of the Black Sheep fleet. Even I was amazed at how much fun it was to just ride in circles around the vacant space at the convention center. Titanium, fat and sexy. Who could ask for more?
Andy Hampsten’s legacy is one that needs no introduction. Hampsten Cycles, however might. Columbus MAX is his first love and for the most part, all Hampstens are made from this legendary tubeset. My favorite piece at his booth was this 7-Eleven tribute track. It’s a beaut!
Themed bikes are usually hit or miss but this Groovy Cycleworks, along with the Peacock Groove I just posted were some of my favorites. With the forthcoming zombie apocalypse, it should be no surprise that a zombie bike would rear its ugly head. But this bike is far from ugly. In fact, it probably had one of the most complex finish in the show. It’s not paint, or anodizing, it’s a masked, ceramic finish. First the bike was polished, then masked off and coated with Cerakote (I love that it’s a gun coat on a zombie bike). It’s incredibly complex and there’s practically an episode of the Walking Dead illustrated throughout the bike. The dead, I mean, end result is just groovvvvy!
I’m alive and well, but as you can tell, this year’s NAHBS coverage is being throttled a little bit. I spent a lot of time just talking to people and shooting the bikes that I truly liked, rather than scrambling around trying to get every single booth. One of those bikes was the Peacock Groove Voltron track.
I really admire Erik Noren. His work has personality and he’s the only builder I like to shoot pictured with his frames. Year after year, Erik’s themed track bikes draw polarizing opinions. You either love it or you hate it but who can hate Voltron? Also, a side note. These photos were taken yesterday, before Denver was covered with a blanket of snow. See more in the Gallery!
Ira Ryan and Tony Pereira‘s new framebuilding company, Breadwinner unveiled their full range at the 2013 NAHBS. While Ira and Tony’s own speciality approach to frame building is still present, the branding and choice paint selection unify the brand into one of the most impressive offerings I saw today. Some details from previous projects returned with new life and with a breathe of confidence, the two Portland builders have a very promising future ahead of them.
Chris Bishop‘s 2012 raw track bike returned for 2013 with a fresh coat of paint and a new, Italian component group. The razor sharp blue wet paint was supplied by Fresh Frame. The vintage Cinelli and Campagnolo components were drilled, shaped and milled by Drillium Revival. Bottom line is, this bike has sass and class (you either love or hate that tag line, don’t you?).
Little details like the etched Bishop logo on the fork crown and chainstays make this build for me…
Nao from Tomii Cycles won’t be at NAHBS this year but that doesn’t mean his work isn’t worthy of the show. His Flickr has been exploding with great photos of even the simplest things like fork ends. Check out more photos at the Tomii Flickr.
Custom, bent titanium chain guard for a titanium singlespeed porteur? That sounds like a show bike if you ask me. Surely, Firefly will be there, right? Nope. Not going to NAHBS. But that’s because they deliver everything from the elegant, modern road to quirky customer requests and document each one like it is a show bike. While the gang won’t be at NAHBS this year, they are moving into new digs in March. Best of luck guys!
If you carve it, they will come (for orders). JP Weigle is a master at what he does. His 650B randonneur conversions and his own frames rival even the top vintage French framebuilders. If he can carve something, he will. It doesn’t matter if it’s his own con denti pedals, or drillium dropout faces, the man will find some way to leave his mark on metal. Like many builders today, JP Weigle documents his work on his Flickr.
I don’t know what sparked this post, I guess I just wanted to make a point that not every framebuilder can make it out to NAHBS but that doesn’t mean they’re not capable of producing show-quality work.
Here’s a little teaser of what to expect from the Stanridge Speed team at Red Hook Crit this year. I’m sure you’re wondering why there are magnets all over the skinsuit but you’ll have to wait for the story… Let’s just say Death Spray Custom went all out with this one and Endo‘s delivering the goods.
Here’s something unrelated to bikes but related to frame builders. I shot some photos last week of Ian from Icarus Frame‘s recently completed Triumph moto for Megadelux. His interview is now live on their site, so head over and check it out! Usually, I sway from moto content but a lot of people expressed interest in seeing more shots of this beast when I posted my Recent Roll photos earlier this month.
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