NAHBS Takeaways

[Lifelover]

There are some amazing builders out there.

Ti is anything but dead!

Vanilla Workshop is (and deserves to be) the undisputed King of NAHBS.

Black Sheep Kicks Ass. Assuming they ride ½ as good as they look, they are my dream bike builder.

Belts are here to stay and maybe the future.

Dave Kirk is a lucky man. I hope he deserves her.

Seeing them in person might make all the difference in the world for Dario’s Graffiti Bikes. The stuff he had at the show was beautiful.

ATMO was the only one that races with enough intensity that I thought a picture of him was Lance.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4019/4402628260_61613fe0f7_s.jpg

Don Walker is the Fn King of one trick ponies. I Truly mean that as a compliment. His track bikes are steaming hot. I know nothing of the track circuit, but I suspect his bikes are considered the Crème de la Crème.

Independent Fabrication has a great vibe as a company and presented the best variety of bikes.

Eric with Peacock Groove “Get’s it”.

The Black and Polished Ellis was amazing.

Taking good pictures of Bikes is Hard.

I want to ride Bamboo!

Richmond was a great venue.

K.Bedford had a great Ti Mountain Bike! Diversity rules!

If you want a bike to go fast, Serotta should be your first choice.

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . may already be showing a bit of strain from the show! . . . :p

BBD

[PBWrench]

OK, I'm drooling . . .

[Louis]

Eric with Peacock Groove “Get’s it”.

Even for disc wheels? :p

[shiftyfixedgear]

I like the new NiteRider light attachment on the gray Kirk.

LEDs just keep getting better and better.

[BumbleBeeDave]

Even for disc wheels? :p

CARE-ful! . . . :rolleyes:

BBD

[JeffS]

K.Bedford had a great Ti Mountain Bike! Diversity rules!.


Agreed. That is one of the handful of bikes that I would have taken home as-is. Assuming it was my size of course.

[oldmill]

For me the most interesting and beautifully-crafted (among many at the show that fit that description) was Cykelmageren from Copenhagen. That guy seemed to make just about every component on the bike, and it was all clean, precise and cleverly thought-out. I wish his Web site worked.

[bheight1]

Seeing Llewellyn up close and in person--wow, stunning bikes! New Peg model (Day Is Done) with oversized lugs/new dropouts beautiful--and the Giro painted bike pretty cool too--although Menchov?. Agreed, Vanilla has the coolest booth. Bilenky and Spectrum the most workmanlike--I thought they were going to size and repair bikes! Special shout out to Scott Hock from Serotta--answering EVERY single question I had and giving me his utmost attention. Much eye candy and nuggets of component info to list.

[Volant]

I wish I was there (work-related change of plans). So, please keep the posts coming! Thanks.

[Lifelover]

The Zanc cut away frame was really cool. It is amazing how thin those tubes were.

[Ligero]

The Zanc cut away frame was really cool. It is amazing how thin those tubes were.

That was a very cool!

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2711/4391858694_1145b6cbea_b.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4065/4391091041_19827a6f3d_b.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2757/4391860578_cb963ecef1_b.jpg

[rnhood]

Whew! Those are excellent pictures - and of a great looking frame.

[rounder]

For me, the show had it all. The bikes were beautiful, but they also had tubing, wheels and components. My favorite part was being able to meet the builders. They were not rock star ego guys. These were people who loved bikes and had talent. One guy (do not remember his name) was displaying bikes for Dave Ellis. He showed me pictures of the award winning bike from last year. It was a blue D. Ellis bike. He told me that Dave gave it to him for all the work he had done on his website. It was great meeting Karen Kirk (Dave was talking to someone else). We got to discuss public transportation and the environment. It was also great meeting Kelly, Smiley and ahneidaride. I also got to meet atmo and Tom Kellogg. $20 entrance fee? It was worth it.

[Louis]

It was worth it.

But did anyone twist your arm to force you to buy something? ;)

[rounder]

Nobody did. You should check it out if it ever comes near you (i drove 180 miles each way). It is sort of retro, and the talent and dedication is obvious.

[Louis]

Nobody did. You should check it out if it ever comes near you (i drove 180 miles each way). It is sort of retro, and the talent and dedication is obvious.

Been there, done that. I agree, lots of cool stuff and lots of nice people.

I was just teasing you because of your previous post about being forced to buy something.

[Dave Wages]

One guy (do not remember his name) was displaying bikes for Dave Ellis. He showed me pictures of the award winning bike from last year. It was a blue D. Ellis bike. He told me that Dave gave it to him for all the work he had done on his website.

That's my brother Steve! It was pretty nice having him help out in the booth, as last year I worked the whole show pretty much solo. He's the mastermind behind my website and pretty much anything else that involves computin'!

Glad you liked the show!

Cheers,
Dave