I spent an amazing Saturday at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show. While I’m not the type to drop $5k on a bike anytime soon, it sure is fun to look gawk at these incredible bikes/works of art (and talk to their very friendly builders) in person.
Some quick notes: Cargo and city bikes were well represented. I think I saw four or five over-the-top custom long bikes and scads of stylish commuters (including a belt-drive, Rolhoff-hub-equipped Curtlo city bike). The quantity of porteur style bikes with integrated heavy-duty front racks was my real surprise. These strike me as the perfect mount for many riders: commute, tour, cargo, whatever. The show builders must agree — porteurs, and nicely racked bikes in general, were everywhere.
It’s refreshing to see utility and beauty get their due together.
I snapped tons of great photos, but, uh, forgot to bring a USB cable or card reader and can’t upload anything right now. Sorry about that. More detail and hundreds of photos coming when we get back to Seattle. Honest.
-Tim
photo: bikeportland.org (creative commons license)
