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Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Polishing NAHBS: Showcasing The Craft of Building Bikes



The North American Handmade Bike Show (NAHBS) will be getting underway this weekend in Sacramento, California. NAHBS is the world's number one craft bike show, featuring 171exhibitors who are leaders in both the craft and innovation of hand built bicycle manufacturing.

Crafting a tool by hand results in the innovation and attention to detail that is often cut from mass production. Each bike is unique to its build and the philosophies that each builder brings to their craft. Building a bike from the bottom up is part sculpture and part old-school workmanship. Some real beautiful and amazing machines.


This year will feature some of the usual suspects in Richard Sachs, Moots, Zanconato, Independent Fabrications, Chris King and a whole host of established builders.


Vibe Cycles will be showing off its innovative designs using bamboo tubing. We have seen some straight tubes used in Calfee bikes.


Some new faces will be bringing their own ideas to NAHBS this year. Bekes Wooden Bicycles, Moth Attack, Muse Cycles, Appleman Bicycles and many others.


From the press release:

According to NAHBS tradition, bicycle rides will take place on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Both are sponsored and fueled by Clif Bar and Company. Saturday's ride is organized by deVere's Irish Pub and starts from there at 8:30. This is a 14 miler to the US Bicycle Hall of Fame in Davis. Cyclists can ride back or catch Amtrak.
Sunday's ride is Sheila Moon's Mimosa ride, a leisurely 7-miler that stops at Revolution Wines for mimosas and other refreshments. This one departs from outside the NAHBS show hall, 9 a.m. Sunday morning.
Full information on the NAHBS rides will be available athttp://2012.handmadebicycleshow.com/2012-show/diary/






The show will run between March 2nd and March 4th. The awards will be announced at 1:00pm with the awarding party to follow.


*photos above are credited to markdawsonstudio.com*

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Although many of the exhibitors are small, one-man operations or at least very small operations, it is easy to consider them to be merely niche players.

Then I am reminded of the Seven Odonata, which sparked the innovative use of mixed material frame manufacture by bonding carbon fiber to titanium.

By the mid-2000s, many of the largest manufacturers were selling bikes made of mixed materials.

At NAHBS you just never know what will show up.

Seven Odonata

Seven 622 SLX