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On the Floor with Core: The 2018 North American Hand Made Bike Show

By Stuart Constantine - March 7, 2018

Mosiac Cycles Designed and built in Boulder, CO. mosaiccyles.com Dave Pinter 1 of 73

Mosiac Cycles Designed and built in Boulder, CO. mosaiccyles.com Dave Pinter 2 of 73

Mosiac Cycles Designed and built in Boulder, CO. mosaiccyles.com Dave Pinter 3 of 73

Mosiac Cycles Designed and built in Boulder, CO. mosaiccyles.com Dave Pinter 4 of 73

Breismeister Bicycles Custom steel frame manufacturer based in Queens, NY | breismeisterbicycles.com Dave Pinter 5 of 73

Breismeister Bicycles Custom steel frame manufacturer based in Queens, NY | breismeisterbicycles.com Dave Pinter 6 of 73

Breismeister Bicycles Custom steel frame manufacturer based in Queens, NY | breismeisterbicycles.com Dave Pinter 7 of 73

Breismeister Bicycles Custom steel frame manufacturer based in Queens, NY | breismeisterbicycles.com Dave Pinter 8 of 73

Alex Meade Bikeworks Alex Meade makes frames and complete bikes, as well as offering frame building classes and tools for builders. At the show he had a custom jig on display, along with a bike. | alexmeade.com/ Dave Pinter 9 of 73

Ascari Bicycles Their motto is 'Looking Back to Move Forward'. Located in Brooklyn, these steel-framed bikes are finished in a unique, retro luxury style, featuring leather wraps, polished chrome and gold plated details. | ascaribicycles.com Dave Pinter 11 of 73

Boo Bicylces Custom built bamboo bicycles, handcrafted with carbon fiber connections. The gravel bike on display showcases both the bamboo tubes and the connections, along with state of the art hardware. | boobicycles.com/ Dave Pinter 14 of 73

Chapman Cycles Based just outside Providence, Rhode Island, Chapman Cycles had some of the nicest bikes on display at the show, including a tandem with custom trailer. |chapmancycles.com Dave Pinter 15 of 73

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Don Walker Cycles The Don Walker booth showed a wide range of styles. Multiple styles of track frames, a tricycle and other beautifully executed road bikes really showed his range. Several bikes also showcased elaborate paint jobs, done by several different painters. His badge is a personal favorite. | donwalkercycles.com/ Dave Pinter 32 of 73

Enigma Bicycle Works This British builder showed off their painting skills with a candy apple finish over a Campagnolo group. The depth of the finish was truly remarkable. | enigmabikes.com/ Dave Pinter 39 of 73

Enko Bikes A builder from Russia, who make small batch frames primarily from steel. The bike packing rig shown here is one of their newer offerings. | enkocycles.com/ Dave Pinter 42 of 73

FiftyOne Bikes This Dublin, Ireland builder creates race machines in carbon fiber. Each one is custom made and custom finished - no standard starting sizes, colors or graphics. Each bike made has a unique story behind the design, the fit or the finish. | fiftyonebikes.com/ Dave Pinter 43 of 73

Horse Cycles Based in Brooklyn, John Callahan has been running Horse Cycles since 2008. His frames are steel, with beautiful paint by Ben Falcon. More recently he's expanded his offerings to include hand crafted knives, axes, clothing and accessories. | horsebrand.co Dave Pinter 44 of 73

I Ride Bicycles Although built in Italy, these bikes are now available in North America, so I guess that is how they got into the show. The steel track frame shown here is minimal, and beautifully crafted and painted, really bringing out the appeal of the cleanliness of a single speed machine. | irideusa.com/ Dave Pinter 50 of 73

Juliet Designs This bike was part of the new builders section of the show. An experimental design in carbon fiber, hand crafted in California. | juliet-designs.com/ Dave Pinter 52 of 73

King Cage The owner of King Cage was on site, bending stainless tubes into water bottle cages using the actual jigs and tools from his workshop in Durango, Colorado. They make water bottle cages, flask holders, and other accessories there, all available through their web site. | kingcage.com/ Dave Pinter 53 of 73

No. 22 Named after the number in the periodic table, this upstate NY company makes all their bikes from titanium. The finishing process allows them to ad color gradients on crisp cut outs, against a background of bead blasted titanium, giving a durable, classic and high tech look. | 22bicycles.com/ Dave Pinter 55 of 73

Northern Frameworks Makers of steel frame custom bikes, the folks from Northern Frameworks showed a really nice adventure touring rig, along with a hard tail mountain bike. Based in Minneapolis. | northernframeworks.com/ Dave Pinter 58 of 73

Panasonic Prototype One of the more interesting displays was from Panasonic, who had a 'Steel Randoneur Prototype' in their booth. A beautiful color scheme, with matching hammered fenders made this bike a real beauty. | http://cycle.panasonic.jp/products/pos/ Dave Pinter 59 of 73

Parlee Cycles Made in Beverly, MA, Parlee makes high-performance carbon fiber bikes, mostly for road, but with a few gravel/dirt offerings as well. The model pictured here comes with an intense circuit board inspired paint job. |parleecycles.com/ Dave Pinter 60 of 73

Porter Cycles Based in Brooklyn, one of the new builders at the show. A heavy duty, all-road machine with a nice set of racks, lights and cages. | www.facebook.com/portercycles/ Dave Pinter 61 of 73

3D Printed Bottom Bracket by Reynolds Tubing The reps from Reynolds were showing a new 3D printed bottom bracket and lug set. The model can be modified and printed to spec, allowing builders to create super specific frame geometries. This is a brand new project, done in conjunction with Renishaw PLC in the UK, and Independent Fabrications in the US as the frame builder. | http://www.reynoldstechnology.biz/reynolds-3d-print-bike-frame/ Dave Pinter 62 of 73

Gaulzetti Shown here is the Interclub model, one of the few aluminum frames at the show. | gaulzetti.co/ Dave Pinter 63 of 73

Stan Ridge Cycles Stan Ridge makes a variety of custom frames, along with clothing and accessories. While many of their frames are designed in a more traditional fashion, and made of steel, the model on display here is a custom designed as an homage to the 3Rensho Broad Axe. | http://stanridgespeed.com/ Dave Pinter 64 of 73

T-Red Bike Company This Italian manufacturer won the 'Best Track Bike' award at the show. | tredbikes.com/ Dave Pinter 65 of 73

Velocolour Open since 2008 VéloColour is a custom painting shop in Toronto that specializes in contemporary bicycle painting and design as well as top-quality vintage bicycle paint restoration. The beautifully detailed line work shown here is how the pros do it, with the matching pump. | velocolour.com/ Dave Pinter 66 of 73

Vlad Cycles Vlad Cycles makes made-to-order steel frames for road, mountain and gravel bikes. The Troika model here sports a blue and orange color scheme with matching bags and laces from Andrew The Maker. | vladcycles.com/ Dave Pinter 69 of 73

Von Hof Cycles Based in Hoboken, NJ, Von Hof Cycles makes road, cross and mountain frames primarily from steel. Made to order. | vonhofcycles.com/ Dave Pinter 70 of 73

Weis Manufacturing Rounding out the Brooklyn builders, Weis Manufacturing makes steel road and track frames to order. | weismfg.com/ Dave Pinter 71 of 73

Weis Manufacturing Rounding out the Brooklyn builders, Weis Manufacturing makes steel road and track frames to order. | weismfg.com/ Dave Pinter 72 of 73

Weis Manufacturing Rounding out the Brooklyn builders, Weis Manufacturing makes steel road and track frames to order. | weismfg.com/ Dave Pinter 73 of 73

The bikes on display at the 2018 North American Hand Made Bike Show, recently completed in Hartford, CT, are inspirational works of art, beautifully constructed and painted, ready to hit the road or trail. As a life-long biker, I've been to many rides and festivals that feature a few booths and vendors selling accessories, but this was my first time at a proper bike builder show, so I was like a kid in a candy store.

The show was big enough that it took us a bit more than 4 hours to walk the floor, but not so big that you got overwhelmed and desensitized to the beautiful creations on display. The material of choice was steel, with plenty of carbon fiber and titanium on display as well. A few builders showed bikes made with bamboo tubes, with a particularly interesting bamboo project on display from the Cyclolab at the University of Kansas.

The attention paid to each machine is truly impressive. Gleaming paint jobs, exquisitely crafted welds, beautiful head badges, polished chrome bits and matching seat/tape and cranks/rims are all standard offerings. I have a hard enough time keeping the tires matched on my personal bikes. Coordinating the color scheme as tastefully as the pro builders do it is no easy task, proving once again how important the details are.

In addition to the bike builders showing their wares, the show included displays from several of the big parts manufacturers, tube producers, wheel builders and vendors selling other accessories. I was surprised that there were not more bag makers participating, since many of the bikes shown were bikepacking and adventure-touring rigs.

Overall, for a bike enthusiast it is a great way to spend an afternoon. For a design fan, or someone who appreciates hand crafted, analog technology, its a rare collection of people and objects literally exemplifying the state of the art. I'm happy to report that the custom build bike industry is thriving. Now I just have to figure out how to get one myself.