Editor's note: Please welcome new BikePortland contributor Mark Reber. A reporter and photographer, Mark is working with us to cover the Oregon Manifest Constructor's Design Challenge and Race this weekend. Mark was able to spend some time with the bikes and their proud, nervous builders this morning, and sent this dispatch -- and some enticing shots of some of the bikes -- from the show floor.

The crew from Chris King stand with their Cielo entry. In the middle is Cielo brand manager Jay Sycip (yes that Sycip) and to his left (in short-sleeve blue shirt) is Chris King.
-More photos below-
(Photos by Mark Reber for BikePortland)

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Sean Chaney of Vertigo Cycles
posted this sneak peek of
his Design Challenge entry.

The Constructor's Design Challenge (part of Oregon Manifest) is coming this Friday. The event is an unprecedented opportunity to have the brightest minds in bike building put their skills and experience into building the Ultimate Transportation Bike. Each entry will be judged and then ridden to see which one comes out on top. It's a bike geek's dream come true.

We'll have three people covering the event (I'll be in California visiting family) and we'll bring you the full lowdown. But since I tend to get impatient about big events like this and I love to get sneak peeks of upcoming action, I thought I'd share some photos of some of the bikes that will be entered into the competition. (more...)

The Oregon Manifest is right around the corner!

Organizers have unveiled the final program for this year's six-week long celebration of the art, culture, and craft of bicycling. The multifaceted program promises to put a creative, utilitarian spin on all aspects of bicycling from framebuilding to racing -- and aims to put them in front of a broad audience by tying them into the realm of everyday, transportational cycling.

The three day long 2008 Manifest was a major event that grasped at the gestalt of Portland's cycling revolution, bringing together high-end framebuilders and freakbike welders with racing teams, all stripes of bicycle industry, and some of the zanier sides of local cycling culture. (more...)

The 2009 Oregon Manifest (10/2 - 11/8) can hardly be called a bike show. After the success of their first show last year, organizers have signed a presenting sponsorship deal with Chris King Precision Components and transformed the event into five "concentrated weeks" of art, workshops, and unique events designed to showcase the nation's best handmade bicycles.

The highlight of this year's Manifest is the Constructor's Design Challenge and the Constructor's Race. Builders from around the country will design and build a transportation-oriented bicycle that will then be raced on a 77-mile epic ride and judged by a panel of experts.
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"The most original, spirited, and spectacle-laden boutique bike show in the nation."

That's the vision of an ad-hoc coalition of Portland framebuilders, bike lovers, and creative professionals that have come together to create Oregon Manifest -- a new event coming to Portland this fall that just might re-define the traditional bike show. (more...)