Friday, March 20, 2009

Tuesday, March 03, 2009

Beauty and the Bicycle







As I roamed down the aisles of the 2009 North American Handmade Bicycle Show (NAHBS) I was greeted with beautiful bicycle after beautiful bicycle. As I took it all in I paused to think about what makes a bike beautiful? Is it the intricately carved lugs? What about the little extras which add visually to the bike, but offer no utilitarian value to the machine.

I would argue that all of the bikes pictured are beautiful machines. The Peacock Grove dropouts show how fun a bicycle can be. The leafed vine on the Naked frame adds a touch of elegance and complements the bikes paint job. Finally, the clean lines and simple utilitarian nature of the ANT commuter bike remind me how useful a masterfully crafted bicycle can be.

The beauty of a bike is of course in the eye of the beholder. In short I believe the bicycle is as diverse as the people who ride them. They can be fun, funky, playful, all-business, super eccentric or even downright ugly. Fortunately the latter was not present at this year’s show.

What makes a bicycle beautiful to you?



Monday, March 02, 2009

Hufnagel at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show











Danielle and I had a wonderful time at the 2009 NAHBS! So many great people and SO many beautiful bicycles. I hope you enjoyed my live cell phone blogs. I am in the process of uploading higher quality (for a bike mechanic anyway) pictures. These will be on our Flickr album soon.
The bikes above were made by Jordan Hufnagel. He is a newer builder that is worth keeping an eye on. His bike were amazing and he show cased an incredible range of skills. Not only did Hufnagel display several different frames and forks but he included custom racks, stems and even a bar-stem. On top of that he was a hell of a nice guy as my Grandfather would say. Check out his stuff!

Sunday, March 01, 2009

Fruity Bike


Fruity Bike
Originally uploaded by thebicycleescape

Peacock's Fruit Stripe Gum tribute. The bike has lots of little details including intricately carved dropouts and a Peacock Groove name plate on the handle bar.

Chris King Frames


Chris King Frames
Originally uploaded by thebicycleescape

Chris King is now making frames under the Cielo name.

MAP city bike


downsized_0301091149.jpg
Originally uploaded by thebicycleescape

MAP city bike...any women's dream city bike.

Shamrock


Shamrock
Originally uploaded by thebicycleescape

Shamrock Cycles road bike.

Indy Fab


Indy Fab
Originally uploaded by thebicycleescape

IF Mountain Bike at the 2009 North American Handmade Bicycle Show.

IF


IF
Originally uploaded by thebicycleescape

IF daily ride. A great bike to ride to the pub.

Independent Fabrication Road Bike


Independent Fabrication Road Bike
Originally uploaded by thebicycleescape

Photo taken at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show.

IF


IF
Originally uploaded by thebicycleescape

Indy Fab city fixed gear.

953 Mtn


953 Mtn
Originally uploaded by thebicycleescape

IF stainless steel mountain bike with etched graphics.

Sycip


Sycip
Originally uploaded by thebicycleescape

Sycip mountain bike at the 2009 NAHBS.

Retrotec


Retrotec
Originally uploaded by thebicycleescape

Retrotec road bike.

Bilenky


Bilenky
Originally uploaded by thebicycleescape

Bilenky town bike.

Bilenky


Bilenky
Originally uploaded by thebicycleescape

Funky Bilenky tandem.

Signal Cycles



Signal Cycles
Originally uploaded by thebicycleescape


I want to ride this bike to the wine shop.

Signal Cycles



Signal Cycles
Originally uploaded by thebicycleescape


29er single speed

Hufnagel Track Bike


Hufnagel Track Bike
Originally uploaded by thebicycleescape

Hufnagel Cycles

Hufnagel


Hufnagel
Originally uploaded by thebicycleescape

This bicycle was born from Portland bike culture. Jordan Hufnagel was great to talk to!

Carbon Gold


Carbon Gold
Originally uploaded by thebicycleescape

This "Spanish Gold" carbon fiber Crumpton cross bike was made in Austin, TX. The light reflects gold tones, too bad this is just a cell phone picture huh.

Curves


Curves
Originally uploaded by thebicycleescape

Kirk frames with sexy curves.

Kirk


Kirk
Originally uploaded by thebicycleescape

Kirk Frame Works lugged Cross bike.