If you’ve got a handmade bicycle you want to show off, the 2023 MADE bike show is now accepting applications.

The new trade show for handmade bikes debuts in Portland, Oregon this August, and offers 40 “subsidized spaces” for framebuilders. They’re reserved for new builders and “those traveling from a distance that would make exhibiting cost prohibitive,” organizers said in a news release. These spaces support a single handmade bike with signage and are available on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Registration opens today, Jan. 25 — but only for framebuilders. The full floor plan will open up to exhibiting brands on Tuesday, Jan. 31.

Application instructions are on the MADE website.

With pricey venue, no free spaces for builders

Last summer, MADE said spaces for framebuilders would come free of charge. However, that was before organizers booked The Rose Quarter in Portland. It’s an expensive venue, especially because of the increased cost of security spurred by the city’s rising homeless population, Billy Sinkford, co-founder of MADE, said in an interview.

“Free spaces was initially the intention, but we now have to ask small builders to offset the cost by paying $200,” Sinkford said. “For builders that are capable of paying for these spaces, they’re purchasing at a lower rate than most trade shows. The subsidized spaces are meant for framebuilders who need some help.”

Organizers suggest that interested framebuilders register quickly before spaces run out. While spaces aren’t free, MADE sponsor BikeFlights will still help offset the cost of shipping for builders.

MADE was announced last summer after three years without the North American Handmade Bicycle Show, which returns to Denver in December. The latter show canceled its 2022 event after organizer Don Walker cited “an unexpectedly low number of commitments.”

With many vendors already signed on, MADE doesn’t seem to have that problem.

“There is clearly an appetite for a new handmade show, and we are humbled and excited about the 170+ builders and 80+ brands that have expressed a desire to exhibit, and as of today we have more interest than space,” Sinkford said in the news release.

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MADE taps veteran of North American Handmade Bicycle Show as director

MADE also announced the appointment of Steven Elmes as the event’s Show Director. A longtime manager in the bike industry, Elmes is the co-founder of brand Independent Fabrication. He also served as Director of Sponsorships and Partnerships for the North American Handmade Bicycle Show from 2016 to 2020. His event experience includes work with Adidas, Ford, Nissan, The NBA, Clif Bar, Progressive Insurance, and many others.

“I am thrilled to be part of MADE and to continue supporting the handmade community, which will always hold a special place in my heart,” said Elmes. “I am confident that this event will set a new standard, highlighting the builders and brands that collectively create a force of creativity, community and craftsmanship. In year one we are focused on creating stability in this space and earning the trust of the industry as a new home for showcasing the art that is handmade bicycles.”

The inaugural MADE event will run from August 24-27 at the iconic Rose Quarter in Portland. The first two days will offer exclusive entry to industry and media. The latter two days, August 26-27, MADE opens to the public, allowing anyone to meet the builders and companies making handmade bikes.

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Lovers of handmade bikes rejoice: A new trade show featuring artisan bicycles will debut in Portland next year.

After three years without the North American Handmade Bicycle Show, a new event planned for 2023 will offer bike makers another avenue for showing off their wares.

Show organizers announced the MADE Global Bike Show, an industry and consumer bike event with “a mission to bring framebuilders, media and makers together to elevate and inspire,” the group said.

Supported by both industry sponsors and PR firm ECHOS Communications, the new show will come to Portland, Ore., in September of next year. ECHOS confirmed that the MADE show is entirely separate from NAHBS. Given the recent merger of The Pro’s Closet and The Radavist, we’re also not that surprised to hear that Nick Martin from The Pro’s Closet “will likely be a contributing voice in the direction of the show.”

It will include events at iconic local shops Chris King, Speedvagen and Breadwinner Cycles. It will also be outdoors, which could mean more consumer demonstrations and actual bike riding.

The event will offer several significant perks for framebuilders. For starters, they will receive free booth space to help offset the cost of exhibiting. And MADE sponsor BikeFlights, is helping to offset the cost of bike boxes and shipping for builders.

New Competition for NAHBS

MADE represents some new competition to the North American Handmade Bicycle Show (NAHBS). Organizers of NAHBS just canceled its 2022 show, rescheduling for September 2023 in Denver. Primary organizer Don Walker cited “an unexpectedly low number of commitments” for the event’s cancelation.

Judging by the early roster for MADE, that doesn’t seem to be an issue it will face.

Registration for MADE opens in September, but the show already has many confirmed exhibitions. They include: Moots, The Pro’s Closet Museum, Paul Component Engineering, Mosaic, BikeFlights, Schon Studio, Stinner, Abbey Bike Tools, Argonaut Cycles, WZRD Bikes, Retrotec, Btchn Bikes, Falconer Cycles, Tomii Cycle, Frontier Bikes, Bender Bikes, and Monē Bikes among others.

“MADE is the next evolution of handmade consumer and trade events, creating a format that is inclusive, exciting and supportive,” said Billy Sinkford, Vice President of ECHOS. “The event will celebrate and support framebuilders and the culture that surrounds them, and our collective goal is to bring awareness to this segment of the industry. To that end, we will be offering free booth space to all builders for the inaugural 2023 year.”

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Our readers love the North American Handmade Bicycle Show, and so do we. That’s why we were all saddened to learn of its postponement due to the COVID-19 virus.

What to do? The show has been rescheduled to August, but we still have plenty of great NAHBS content to share with you. We’re going to have our usual series of pre-NAHBS interviews to put the spotlight on a handful of our favorite builders – and will start sharing these stories NOW, when the original show was scheduled to begin. Economic times will be tough for us all, but perhaps even more so for small independent businesses. Thus, we feel it is our duty to help promote these builders, and keep the excitement going all the way to the forthcoming August NAHBS.

Please enjoy this interview with Aaron Barcheck of Mosaic Cycles.

Bikerumor.com: What’s your name, your bike brand, and where are you based?

Aaron Barcheck: Mosaic Cycles is based in Boulder Colorado. My name is Aaron Barcheck, founder and lead frame builder.

Bikerumor.com: How long have you been making bikes? How’d you get into it?

Aaron: Mosaic has been producing titanium and steel frames since 2009 with the intent to build the highest quality handmade bicycles for each individual we work with. We focus on true Bespoke customer experience by meeting rider fit, frame performance and personal aesthetic requirements unique to each of our customers we build a frame for. We work through and with our extended base of bike shop partners around the world to provide Mosaic through their truly exceptional fit, build advice and customer service.

Bikerumor.com: How many frames have you built, and what’s your material of choice? Why that material?

Aaron: Many, many. Mostly Titanium frames with some steel, in categories such as road, disc road, all road, gravel, cyclocross and mountain.

Bikerumor.com: What’s going to be the highlight in your NAHBS booth this year?

Aaron: For NAHBS 2020 we are launching our second uniquely created Artist Series Paint Design within our updated paint program. As a follow up to our Prismatica design fall 2019 our latest creation, named Kaleidosaic, is a unique combination of layered pattern, pearl transparency and eye popping sparkle effect. It will be offered in three colorways starting April 2020. We have a bike built up in each colorway with a few of our brand partners: Blacksmith Cycles (Toronto), The Bike Tailor (UK), Bicycle Speed Shop (Houston TX) and Black Oak Velo (Greenwich CT).

Bikerumor.com: What’s your inspiration lately?

Aaron: Our creative team has been working on new paint layering techniques along with our sister brand, Spectrum Paint & Powderworks, to create visually stunning effects that can be paired with our current frame layouts. We want to create a finish program that really adds personalization to each Mosaic Rider’s bike, something that not everyone on the road or trail has and when you see it you can’t look away. Since colors, design and effects can be endless, we really get excited to get creative, ideate and get lost in the endlessness for a while, and then come back with a more focused piece that gets honed into the next Mosaic offering. Look for more of the Artist Series from us this year, but we’re super pleased with how this one came out.

Bikerumor.com: What’s the oddest request you’ve gotten for a custom build?

Aaron: Recently we got a request to make a gravel frame built ready to accept bike packing bags with our hidden bag bolts. The unique request was to have the custom bags made by JPaks, out of Denver, sewn in a camping themed wool Pendleton Camping Blanket to complement the frame. The frame is themed after a red speckled ceramic camping mug. This bike will no doubt be one of the classiest themed bikes we’ve ever done, plus it’ll have a SRAM Mullet group to go with! (Photos on this still to come!)

Bikerumor.com: Someone calls you up and says “Can you make me a race bike?” – Describe the first kind of bike that pops in your head?

Aaron: I actually asked myself that very question recently. I have been making gravel bikes for myself with larger tires for a few years now, but produced nothing that really got me excited. Too many of them ended up being noodly, not quite the snappy feel I was looking for. I wanted something faster to race Lost and Found with our Builders for Builders challenge again this year. In reaction to this I built up a larger, double butted version of our GT-1 45. The massive tubes really did the trick for me, and paired well with the Shimano GRX group and Enve G23 wheelset with Chris King ceramic bearings. Its fast, snappy and playful for a bike the accommodated 700×45 tires and built for someone (me) at 6′ 2″. I’m seriously loving this bike/tubing/parts combo.

Bikerumor.com: Sum your brand up in one word:

Aaron: Experience.

Bikerumor.com: What is your website and Instagram handle?

Aaron: www.mosaiccycles.com IG: Mosaiccycles

The post (Long) Road to NAHBS 2020 – Teaser interview w/ Aaron Barcheck of Mosaic Cycles appeared first on Bikerumor.

Our readers love the North American Handmade Bicycle Show, and so do we. That’s why we were all saddened to learn of its postponement due to the COVID-19 virus.

What to do? The show has been rescheduled to August, but we still have plenty of great NAHBS content to share with you. We’re going to have our usual series of pre-NAHBS interviews to put the spotlight on a handful of our favorite builders – and will start sharing these stories NOW, when the original show was scheduled to begin. Economic times will be tough for us all, but perhaps even more so for small independent businesses. Thus, we feel it is our duty to help promote these builders, and keep the excitement going all the way to the forthcoming August NAHBS.

Please enjoy this interview with TJ McArthur of tubing supplier, Titanium Joe.

Bikerumor.com: What’s your name, your bike brand, and where are you based?

TJ McArthur: Titanium Joe, Inc. We are a Titanium Supplier – We have one location in NY/ON and a second location in California.

Bikerumor.com: How long have you been making bikes? How’d you get into it?

TJ: We have been supplying Titanium to the bicycle industry since 2001.

Bikerumor.com: What’s your material of choice? Why that material?

TJ: We have supplied many many frame builders with the titanium for their projects. Our material of choice is titanium as it has a very high strength to weight ratio making it ideal for light weight and strong frames.

Bikerumor.com: What’s going to be the highlight in your NAHBS booth this year?

TJ: One of the highlights will be our welding learning kits. We have built welding kits to help people to learn the art of welding titanium. As well as our bargain bin. Our bargain bin contains many grades and sizes of titanium at discounted prices.

Bikerumor.com: What’s your inspiration lately?

TJ: We have been in contact with many builders and people trying to learn. As titanium is a specialty metal it can be difficult to obtain material to practice with. For this reason we have created an affordable option to obtain various grades and forms of Titanium. For example, 3al-2.5v and CP2 tubes, as well as 6al-4v and CP2 bars, sheets and weld wire. These start at only $25.00 USD.

Bikerumor.com: Any unique questions you use to help customers get a product that’s really dialed for them?

TJ: We do ask our builders many questions to help them find the ideal grade and condition of titanium for their builds. Great builds need great material.

Bikerumor.com: What’s the oddest request you’ve gotten?

TJ: We do not get many odd questions. But one question we do get often is requests for custom sizes. We are able to offer custom mill runs with a low minimum order of 152ft.

Bikerumor.com: Sum your brand up in one word:

TJ: Service.

Bikerumor.com: What is your website and Instagram handle?

TJ: TitaniumJoe.com and @titanium_joe_inc

The post (Long) Road to NAHBS 2020 – Teaser interview w/ TJ McArthur of Titanium Joe appeared first on Bikerumor.

Our readers love the North American Handmade Bicycle Show, and so do we. That’s why we were all saddened to learn of its postponement due to the COVID-19 virus.

What to do? The show has been rescheduled to August, but we still have plenty of great NAHBS content to share with you. We’re going to have our usual series of pre-NAHBS interviews to put the spotlight on a handful of our favorite builders – and will start sharing these stories NOW, when the original show was scheduled to begin. Economic times will be tough for us all, but perhaps even more so for small independent businesses. Thus, we feel it is our duty to help promote these builders, and keep the excitement going all the way to the forthcoming August NAHBS.

Please enjoy this interview with Mike Smith of No. 22 Bicycle Company.

Bikerumor.com: What’s your name, your bike brand, and where are you based?

Mike Smith: Mike Smith, one of the co-founders of No. 22 Bicycle Company. Bryce Gracey and I founded No. 22 in Canada, and we build all of our bikes in our factory in upstate NY, USA.

Bikerumor.com: How long have you been making bikes? How’d you get into it?

Mike: We launched No. 22 in 2012. Bryce and I had been riding together for a few years in Toronto, and I was getting ready for a coast-to-coast ride across Canada and needed a bike to do it on. Bryce and I began brainstorming about a titanium bike for that trip, as Bryce had recently built up a titanium commuter and had become evangelical about the ride quality. After the bike was built we both had the desire to do more with titanium: its performance envelope was so huge, and the ride quality is so unique to the material.

Our first year saw us doing a test of concept, designing some basic frames made by a contract fabricator to see if there was enough interest to build a business. That went well enough for us to take the next step, designing the bikes that would become the key early models of the brand, the Great Divide road frame and Little Wing track frame. These were contracted to Lynskey in Tennessee with pretty solid results. When it came time to step up the quality again in late 2013, Saratoga Frameworks, the latest iteration of the former Serotta factory, had just made an announcement that they were open to contract frame building. At that point some of the key artisans from the Serotta team were still involved: Scott Hock, head frame designer who’d been working in the bike industry since age 16, Frank Cenchitz, head welder who had seen thousands of bikes pass through his hands, and Bryar Sesselman, who excels at extremely skillful machine and metal working, as well as finishing work. They agreed to build us two prototypes which Bryce and I drove down to inspect in person and meet the team. The bikes blew us away and we really hit it off with the guys.

Our next step almost buried us: we put down a deposit on a full run of bikes, and then about a week later the factory shut down for good. For an agonizing window, we were out all of our money, and the guys were out of jobs. In a huge stroke of luck we were able to get most of the deposit money back given the method we used to pay it, but the bigger issue remained: how are we going to get bikes of this quality from this team? The answer staring us in the face was to open our own production facility and hire the crew, with no previous plan to do so. We purchased a small amount of equipment that was still of use to us from the Serotta collection and started hunting for the rest of it and a space to house it all. We ended up in an old knitting mill in Johnstown, NY, about 45 minutes away from the former Serotta space in Saratoga Springs. We found a bunch of Bridgeport mills in NJ and scooped those up, with the smaller pieces coming together in the next weeks/months. By the end of summer, 2014, we were starting to ship bikes from our own factory.

Today we’re still in the same space, having taken over the neighboring unit with an expanded amount of equipment, over one thousand bikes out the door, a nice amount of hardware from the NAHBS exhibitions we’ve participated in, and most importantly, a larger team: Sam Dries, our second welder, Josh Mock, another former Serotta employee in finishing, Patrick Gillham from Serotta, Parlee and Speedvagen (among others) and a handful of other key fabricators are working for us now.

Bikerumor.com: How many frames have you built, and what’s your material of choice? Why that material?

Mike: We turned over the milestone of over 1,000 No. 22 frames relatively recently, though some of our team members have decades of previous experience. Franz Cenchitz alone has guesstimated that he’s welded over 5,000 frames. We build all of our frames primarily from titanium: it’s a material that has a huge bandwidth of performance: depending on how it’s used, it can be very light, very stiff, comfortable, durable, and in all cases beautiful.

Bikerumor.com: What’s going to be the highlight in your NAHBS booth this year?

Mike: We have two key bikes that we’re really excited about. The first is a “Save the Rim Brake” Reactor with an aggressive build to show off how darned good a rim brake bike can still be. As we often do for NAHBS, we’re going to be showing off some new finishing approaches on that bike with a hope that they will land on our production models down the road.

The other bike is a travel-focused version of our Drifter gravel bike. We are really excited about this one, as I think it’s going to be a gamechanger for people that do a lot of traveling with their bike. We’re showing off an extremely slick new coupler system that is super clean, simple, and really vanishes once the bike is together. More importantly though, we’ve developed a system for disconnecting hydraulic disc brakes without tools or bleeding required, which means that finally you can build a great travel bike with hydraulic brakes.

Bikerumor.com: What’s your inspiration lately?

Mike: It comes from so many directions, and everyone on our team will have a different answer. I think one of my favourite things about NAHBS and the handmade bike space in general is that there are so many people doing really clever things. When you walk the show and look at bikes from other brands, without fail on every single bike you can point to a detail that makes you say “wow”, and that’s really inspiring. Where it becomes exponentially more challenging is growing that from one detail to a cohesive, well detailed and most importantly great riding package. The drive to do that is what keeps all of our fires lit.

Bikerumor.com: Any unique questions you use to help customers get a bike that’s really dialed for them?

Mike: It all starts with a phone or email conversation with the customer. We have developed a collection of eight models which each represent our philosophy of how a bike built for each discipline should ride, and the door is then open for customization for fit, finish options and the final build. The particular questions really depend on each customer and each conversation: I wish there was a clever secret question I had in my back pocket!

Bikerumor.com: What’s the oddest request you’ve gotten for a custom build?

Mike: We get a lot of requests for things we really have no background in. We get asked to build titanium unicycles every now and again, and we have to respectfully decline: I don’t even know if anyone on our team knows how to ride one.

Bikerumor.com: Someone calls you up and says “Can you make me a race bike?” – Describe the first kind of bike that pops in your head?

Mike: What kind of racing! All of our bikes have a performance bent, and we design each model with the intent that they could be raced in their respective disciplines. The first that jumps to mind is our Reactor road race model, but also our Broken Arrow CX race bike. Those two are probably the bikes we make that on average spend the most time actually being raced.

Bikerumor.com: Sum your brand up in one word:

Mike: Dialed.

Bikerumor.com: What is your website and Instagram handle?

Mike: Website: 22bicycles.com
Instagram: @22bikes

The post (Long) Road to NAHBS 2020 – Teaser interview w/ Mike Smith of No. 22 Bicycles appeared first on Bikerumor.

Our readers love the North American Handmade Bicycle Show, and so do we. That’s why we were all saddened to learn of its postponement due to the COVID-19 virus.

What to do? The show has been rescheduled to August, but we still have plenty of great NAHBS content to share with you. We’re going to have our usual series of pre-NAHBS interviews to put the spotlight on a handful of our favorite builders – and will start sharing these stories NOW, when the original show was scheduled to begin. Economic times will be tough for us all, but perhaps even more so for small independent businesses. Thus, we feel it is our duty to help promote these builders, and keep the excitement going all the way to the forthcoming August NAHBS.

Please enjoy this interview with Steve Potts of Steve Potts Bicycles.

Bikerumor.com: What’s your name, your bike brand, and where are you based?

Steve Potts: Steve Potts Bicycles, Etna, California.

Bikerumor.com: How long have you been making bikes? How’d you get into it?

Steve: Professionally, 40 years. I got into bikes as a young kid. I lived at the base of Mount Tamalpais and it became a great place for me as a kid for adventure, a place where my imagination was stimulated about the stories of the past, the native Indians, the pioneers, the railroad, the old buildings and camps on the mountain and the freedom of being able to travel as a little kid to discover new things, I was totally into finding new creeks, waterfalls, a new place to fish or camp out. The bicycle pretty much gave me the freedom to do that . Not many people had that much freedom as I was a latch key kid, my Mom passed when I was 8 years old, so I had more freedom than most and the bicycle adventures was really the most constructive outlet I could have had. I never got into the more typical type of trouble, but I did get into some adventure type of trouble, getting lost, or hurt was the type of trouble I got into, but I survived and I maintained my love of cycling through those experiences.

Bikerumor.com: How many frames have you built, and what’s your material of choice? Why that material?

Steve: Approximately 5500 frames. My first bikes were steel ( approximately 3500). I still build some steel,  (great material) but now build mostly in titanium (approximately 2000 plus frames). I like titanium’s strength and corrosion resistance, basically a lifetime bike if built properly! Great ride too!

Bikerumor.com: What’s going to be the highlight in your NAHBS booth this year?

Steve: Showing some new bikes and some new components ! A few surprises for the show too!

Bikerumor.com: What’s your inspiration lately?

Steve: Always trying to make the most functional bike possible, unknown to most I have been making gravel-type bikes for years… and I called them DIA’s (Do It All) bikes. It is great that a lot of people see the versatility in this type of bike… right up my alley!

Bikerumor.com: Any unique questions you use to help customers get a bike that’s really dialed for them?

Steve: I do have an order form and questionnaire that helps people relate to what they are riding, what they like and dislike about their riding position, that has been very helpful in getting people fit properly. Type of riding, level of fitness, what is going on with their body at different times and riding conditions… very helpful info in determining proper fit!

Bikerumor.com: What’s the oddest request you’ve gotten for a custom build?

Steve: I have had a lot of requests over the years, but I do try to forget them asap… too much to think about!

Bikerumor.com: Someone calls you up and says “Can you make me a race bike?” – Describe the first kind of bike that pops in your head?

Steve: What pops into my head is that I will need to have a good conversation with the customer and pay attention to what kind of riding they are really going to be doing. It is important to get a complete picture (as best you can) of what kind of riding or racing they will be doing.

Bikerumor.com: Sum your brand up in one word:

Steve: Clean, well built, functional, no bells and whistles, reliable…

Bikerumor.com: What is your website and Instagram handle?

Steve: Instagram: stevepottsbicycles
Web site: www.stevepottsbicycles.com

The post (Long) Road to NAHBS 2020 – Teaser interview w/ Steve of Steve Potts Bicycles appeared first on Bikerumor.

Our readers love the North American Handmade Bicycle Show, and so do we. That’s why we were all saddened to learn of its postponement due to the COVID-19 virus.

What to do? The show has been rescheduled to August, but we still have plenty of great NAHBS content to share with you. We’re going to have our usual series of pre-NAHBS interviews to put the spotlight on a handful of our favorite builders – and will start sharing these stories NOW, when the original show was scheduled to begin. Economic times will be tough for us all, but perhaps even more so for small independent businesses. Thus, we feel it is our duty to help promote these builders, and keep the excitement going all the way to the forthcoming August NAHBS.

Please enjoy this interview with Nao Tomii of Tomii Cycles.

Bikerumor.com: What’s your name, your bike brand, and where are you based?

Nao Tomii: My name is Nao Tomii and I’m the owner / builder of Tomii Cycles in Austin TX.

Bikerumor.com: How long have you been making bikes? How’d you get into it?

Tomii: I have been making bikes since 2012. I was born in Yokohama and grew up in Niigata, Japan. I came to the United States in 1998 for art school in Boston MA. Since I was a child I’ve always liked cars, motorcycles, and bicycles (everything with wheels) especially American hotrod culture. It was a good opportunity to study art and explore American culture.

I found a sculpting job after I graduated from art school. I worked for sculpting company for 12 years making sculptures, mold making, casting and restorations for old sculptures and architectures. I was also making my own sculptures and did some shows in Boston area. In 2006, I got a cheap bike and started to ride and met many cyclists and bicycle builders. I was impressed by the beauty of handmade bicycles and really wanted to make my own.

Bikerumor.com: How many frames have you built, and what’s your material of choice? Why that material?

Tomii: Around 100 frames and currently making steel frames. With steel, there are few different methods to make bike frames. I like both Tig-weld and brazing. I’d like to try other materials in the future.

Bikerumor.com: What’s going to be the highlight in your NAHBS booth this year?

Tomii: Two gravel bikes and one classic style sportif. I like all kinds of bikes!

Bikerumor.com: What’s your inspiration lately?

Tomii: My inspiration is my usual ride in Austin, to the city and to have a great coffee. I am still new here and I have to check out more gravel roads around Austin. When I ride, I always check new and old buildings, rusty cars/motorcycles, signs, murals, plants, colors and everything inspires me. I think Austin is a great city for this. Austin summer can be really hot, so night rides are my favorite. Cold coconut water tastes great!

Bikerumor.com: Any unique questions you use to help customers get a bike that’s really dialed for them?

Tomii: For the steel frames, paint is one of the fun part of the build. I usually ask customers about their favorite colors then start drawing paint ideas.

Bikerumor.com: What’s the oddest request you’ve gotten for a custom build?

Tomii: I don’t think I’ve ever had an odd request. Very big or small frames are always challenging.

Bikerumor.com: Someone calls you up and says “Can you make me a race bike?” – Describe the first kind of bike that pops in your head?

Tomii: Light weight CX and Road.

Bikerumor.com: Sum your brand up in one word:

Tomii: Wayosetchu (Japanese and Western eclectic / Style)

Bikerumor.com: What is your website and Instagram handle?

Tomii: www.tomiicycles.com
https://www.instagram.com/tomii_cycles/

The post (Long) Road to NAHBS 2020 – Teaser interview w/ Nao Tomii of Tomii Cycles appeared first on Bikerumor.

Our readers love the North American Handmade Bicycle Show, and so do we. That’s why we were all saddened to learn of its postponement due to the COVID-19 virus.

What to do? The show has been rescheduled to August, but we still have plenty of great NAHBS content to share with you. We’re going to have our usual series of pre-NAHBS interviews to put the spotlight on a handful of our favorite builders – and will start sharing these stories NOW, when the original show was scheduled to begin. Economic times will be tough for us all, but perhaps even more so for small independent businesses. Thus, we feel it is our duty to help promote these builders, and keep the excitement going all the way to the forthcoming August NAHBS.

Please enjoy the words and images from our first interview, with Brad Bingham of Bingham Built. Based in Steamboat, CO, they’re known for beautiful rides, perfect stack-of-dimes welding, and some truly unique designs.

Bikerumor.com: What’s your name, your bike brand, and where are you based?

Brad: Brad Bingham, Bingham Built, Steamboat Springs, CO.

Bikerumor.com: How long have you been making bikes? How’d you get into it?

Brad: 20+ years. Had an inherent interest in bikes & frame design, built first bike on my own and then went to UBI and then was recruited to work at Moots. The rest is history.

Bikerumor.com: How many frames have you built, and what’s your material of choice? Why that material?

Brad: I have been involved in construction of thousands of bikes. Titanium for it’s superior ride quality, durability, and wonderful aesthetic.

Bikerumor.com: What’s going to be the highlight in your NAHBS booth this year?

Brad: We’ll be highlighting an all-road disc bike built up with a Campy super record groupset & Campy wheelset. Also a hardtail MTB, a couple gravel rigs, and possibly a touring bike.

Bikerumor.com: What’s your inspiration lately?

Brad: Our customers are an inspiration because everyone wants something slightly different and unique. Also bikepacking has been an inspiration for me since I’ve gotten into it more in the past few years.

Bikerumor.com: Any unique questions you use to help customers get a bike that’s really dialed for them?

Brad: Where are you from & what kind of riding do you do, what are your riding goals, what are you hoping to achieve with this bike?

Bikerumor.com: What’s the oddest request you’ve gotten for a custom build?

Brad: A full suspension road bike with a dropper seatpost. It was showcased in our NAHBS booth last year.

Bikerumor.com: Someone calls you up and says “Can you make me a race bike?” – Describe the first kind of bike that pops in your head?

Brad: A few – because I don’t know what kind of racing they do – is it a road race, gravel race, or mountain bike race bike?

Bikerumor.com: Sum your brand up in one word:

Brad: Handbuilt.

Bikerumor.com: What is your website and Instagram handle?

Brad: @binghambuilt

BinghamBuiltBikes.com

The post (Long) Road to NAHBS 2020 – Teaser interview w/ Brad Bingham of Bingham Built appeared first on Bikerumor.

Dynaplug announced a pair of bikes built in partnership with Dear Susan Bicycles “to make a bike honoring their red-wine swilling intergalactic meerkat spirit animal.” Meant to pay homage the roots of mountain biking in both the US and UK, the bikes feature special parts from PAUL, Hope, S&M, and Industry Nine.

Dynaplug is best known for their tire repair and inflation tools, but they opted to step out into something a little (lot?) different for the Sea Otter Classic this year. Dubbed the Meerkat Hooptie, this rig is colorful to say the least.

In their own words…

“The Dynaplug Meerkat Hooptie is the party animal to the more reserved Dear Susan Hooptie, though both pay homage to the classic UK and US klunkers that birthed the MTB movement, subsequently giving rise to tubeless tires and thus Dynaplug.”

“The Meerkat is encrusted in multi-colored anodized bling from boutique US makers including Paul Components, White Industries and Industry Nine, while the Dear Susan Hooptie arrives dressed mostly in Hope Tech. The frames are built from a mix of Columbus tubing, painted with a subtle sparkly fade and topped off with jeweler-made head tube badges.”

“Topping off the builds are magnetic frame bags to hold Dynaplugs and party supplies, and (of course) tubeless tires. Because, after all, without tubeless tires and Dynaplugs to keep them rolling, none of this meerkat magic would have ever happened.

Keep an eye out for the Dynaplug Meerkat Hooptie at the Sea Otter Classic, and if you’re lucky the little guy may show up with a bottle of red wine and an extra glass for a toast to his ride.”

Details are slim on the second bike, but we know it sports a Lauf fork, oval chainring, and MUCH more subtle styling.

Both bikes will be featured at the Sea Otter Classic in April 2020 – so stay tuned for more information and photos.

Dynaplug.com

DearSusan.co.uk

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Spray.Bike colored our opinion of self painted bikes with their amazingly advanced spray paint, which is formulated to dry almost instantly as it turns into powder just inches from the nozzle. But what if you wanted to go metallic? Paint your bike gold, bronze or silver? Those proved awfully elusive for Spray.Bike founder Gareth Jones, so he went back to the lab…

Their standard colors are an acrylic base plus propellant and color. The metallic ones share the acrylic base and propellant, but use finely ground zinc powder that’s then anodized to one of four hues. Choose from Pewter Silver, Brass Gold, Bronze Gold and Copper. In the U.S., they’re available through Squid Bikes for about $17.99 per can. Gareth says you can probably coat one frame per can.

Squid Bikes makes the most of Spray.Bike’s paint, selling bare frames so you can paint them yourself. Sometimes, they get a little carried away…

Between the spray paint and paint pens, they get pretty creative.

Spray.Bike

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