It’s been the North American Handmade Bike Show this week. Sadly we’re not able to fly out there and fondle the bikes, so we’re left to rely on the official press release and images to satisfy our freak needs. What we get is a huge gallery of all the bikes, a list of the prize winners, and… that’s it. In the interests of bringing you things to make you ooh, we’ve been through and picked out the bikes that caught our eye. Hopefully in due course we’ll be able to find out some actual facts about the bikes, but for now, here are our observations.
All images courtesy of NAHBS, by Brad Quartuccio
- Instagram: brad.quartuccio
- Web: www.bradquartuccio.com
The Mountain Bikes
This is a mountain bike website, so we’ll start with the bikes we think are for riding the mountains. Some are hard to pigeonhole, and why would you want to hole a pigeon, but with flat bars, fat tyres or front suspension, these pigeons are ready for the wild.
W.H. Bradford
Built in California, this quite normal looking hardtail has been adorned with a paint job that makes us a bit scared. There’s something about it that’s rather angry-ghostbusters-monsteresque.
Alliance
This is built in Idaho, which probably explains the Mr Potato Head. It doesn’t explain the blue forks though.
Squid Bikes
Squid Bikes can be relied upon to provide a wild paint job, and this year is no different.
Mosaic
This bike won the ‘Best Mountainbike’ award at NAHBS. It was probably the best tie. Maybe the only tie.
Myth
From Durango, Colorado. We’d totally ride this. But we might get someone else to floss that yoke clean.
Marin Museum of Bicycling
Built by Frank the Welder and being auctioned off in support of Charlie Cunningham, we’ll let the eBay listing speak for itself:
Cunningham homage Medical Relief Fund Mountain Bike handbuilt by Frank the Welder – ONE OF A KIND 2019 Cunningham homage bike. Built by legendary Yeti framebuilder “Frank The Welder” Wadleton along the lines of frames by Charlie Cunningham. Steve Potts created the iconic Type II fork. The “Good Guys” group from around the world donated stellar vintage parts to the project and assembled the bike. The sale of this bike goes to benefit fallen comrade Charlie Cunningham, a legendary framebuilder and pioneer of the sport. Charlie had a nasty tumble from his bicycle in 2015. He remains in treatment for severe complications suffered during his recovery. All proceeds of the bike sale will go to Charlie.
Corvid
It’s titanium! And that rack is titanium! We don’t know where Corvid is based, but we do know that the builder is Chad Corbin, and he used to work for well known Ti builders Merlin and Dean.
Cal Poly Bike Builders Club
It’s a downhill bike! And it’s steel! Might be heavy enough to pull the hill towards it? We don’t care. It’s made by what must be the coolest after school club ever.
Last year they made a hardcore hardtail. This year they made…everything? Check out those brake levers!
Hunter
There’s a lot of something going on around those bars, but let us not get waylaid and distracted. Take your eyes to that linkage.
The Electric MTBs
In an interesting development for a land where there are far greater restrictions over where e-bikes can and can’t be ridden (which may or may not be related to the lesser restrictions on the top speeds, compared to here in the UK), a couple of e-MTBs were to be spotted.
Sycip Designs
The troubling thing here is that the fork is not quite the same orange as the frame.
Horse
If you don’t care for this bike, they also make knives. Which look lovely.
Hardcore Shoppers And Cruisers
Shopping might be just a little less horrible on one of these bikes.
Steve Potts
We should probably just stop here. This might be utility/fun perfection. Rack, knobblies, tan walls, and it just. looks. right. Take our money.
Paul Components / Retrotec / Sierre Nevada
But wait! This one is lovely too! And it has BEER on it! And lots of green bits. And it’s good beer. Oh heck. Maybe slightly less practical than the Steve Potts, but it’s more lickable than a popsicle.
Oddity
This is another pretty knobbly cruise me casually around town bike, but it’s the back that gets us flushed. Check out that coaster hub with cooling fins.
Bring On The Misfits
Defying logic and labels, bend your eyes round these.
Black Sheep
If the above doesn’t do it for you (and if it does, we’d like to know quite what it does for you), there’s a slightly more easy on the eye flat bar creation too.
Retrotec
Since Retrotec had a hand in some of the glories above, they probably won’t mind us expressing a touch of dismay here.
Bicycle Pubes
Built by UK builder Dear Susan, this is what happens if you let the internet design a bike. Anyone who has ever sat on a voluntary committee will likely recognise the number of cooks that this broth represents. Whatever is in the soup, we want some.
Lots of people chipped in to make this bike happen, giving money, tubes, components, and possibly brownies.
Good grief. Our eyes are tired. Do you have a favourite? One you’d like to see smelted down sharpish? Or are you thinking ‘I could do that…’? Maybe you’ve already done that – send us a photo of your creation for us to check out!
If you fancy a bit more handbuilt glory, check out our interview with Monē Bikes, formerly of Black Sheep, or how about our own Chipps’ handbuilt ‘Performance Pub Bike’ or Wil’s Bamboo Bastard?
Hello, Alliance, it’s Schwinn here….yes, Straight 8, Home grown, that Schwinn. Nice paint job you’ve got there…
This explains the blue forks,
http://bonustomato.com/sites/default/files/styles/portfolio/public/HG%20model%20pages/1998_homegrown_factory_xtr.jpg?itok=XudpT1fJ
The forks are takes on the original SIDS
Oh, my eyes. I can never unsee some of those bicycles.
It doesn’t explain the original blue forks! My eyes!
Did anyone there see anything of the new Onyx Racing hubs? I’d really like to see some details on those.
It’s ‘Good Guyz’ not “Good Guys”.
I spent the weekend at NAHBS in the Marin Museum of Bicycling / Mountain Bike Fall of Fame booth, along with the “Frank the Welder” (real name Frank Wadelton) Cunningham tribute bike shown above.
I only get to the hand made show when it is in California, since it is held in rotating locations in order to give local builders a chance to display. My value to the museum seems to be ownership of a big pickup truck, which Joe Breeze and I used to bring the exhibit, and the ability to stand and talk bikes for three days.
This is the greatest bike show EVER, since no one is trying to push a sales program on you. Nothing but cool bikes and people who are passionate about them. Also, a hundred of my closest personal friends in the same building, and no subject of conversation other than bikes. There were actually two college bike engineering clubs. University of Iowa was also there.
Yeti founder John Parker and I took over a vacant booth, two chairs and a table with my book on it, and we were our own exhibit. After my visit to the STW offices last fall, i thought someone from the magazine might stop by, but nooooo.
@repackrider Hey Charlie, I’d love nothing more than to get to NAHBS myself, but instead I have to settle for eagerly awaiting the press release photos. Maybe one year I’ll find a way to justify getting there – and don’t worry, if I get within range I’ll be sure to drop you a line!