Don Walker at the NAHBS awards ceremony.
(Photos © J. Maus)

Two Portland builders stood out among the country’s best bicycle craftsmen today at the awards ceremony at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show (NAHBS).

Aaron Hayes of Courage Cycles was voted “Best New Builder,” and Joseph Ahearne won “Best City Bike” for the second year in a row.

Aaron is a former product designer who started building frames just six months ago. When I visited his shop in Northeast Portland a few weeks ago he said he thought of his NAHBS debut as “a challenge”.[Read more…]

Don Walker looks to Indianapolis
for NAHBS ’09.
(Photo © Jonathan Maus)

NAHBS founder Don Walker will take the fifth addition of his show to Indianapolis, Indiana next year.

He made the announcement at the end of today’s show saying, “I’m sure many of you are already aware of Indiana’s very rich cycling culture.”

Walker cited the classic bike movie, Breaking Away as proof of Indiana’s two-wheeled heritage.

Rene Herse in black and white.
Slideshow below.
(Photo © Jonathan Maus)

Wish I had more time to share stories from last night and today, but the awards ceremony is starting soon and I’ve got to get back to the show.

Below is a slideshow of my photos from this morning. Highlights include Pegoretti’s magical paint jobs, bikes from Richard Sachs and Rene Herse, Craig Calfee’s bull-bike, and today’s gratuitous celebrity shot of Robin Williams checking out the work of John Slawta (Landshark).
[Read more…]

NAHBS founder Don Walker.
(Photos © J. Maus)

In a few hours, North American Handmade Bicycle Show founder Don Walker will make the announcement of where next year’s show will take place.

Each year it is a closely held secret, but Walker has already already shared clues and has made it clear it won’t be in Portland, and rumors about NAHBS ’09 are swirling through the aisles.

Here are the clues Walker has shared:[Read more…]

Amid the dizzying array of bike bling and pure craftsmanship here at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show, sometimes it’s the little things you remember at the end of the day.

Here are a few snapshots I’ve been collecting in my head…[Read more…]

No metal was safe from bikes at the NAHBS today.
(Photo © J. Maus)

[Read more…]

Bummer.

The crowds here at the Oregon Convention Center have been thick all morning. So thick in fact that City of Portland Fire Marshall Michelle Coefield just told me that they can’t let anyone else in until people begin to leave.

Just after 1:30 or so today Coefield said she was worried that the size of the crowd was getting out of hand. “When we can’t get through the aisles,” she said, “we are forced to close the doors.”

Fire Marshall Coefield estimated that the capacity of the venue was just over 3000 people and that the crowd at around 2:30 was “well over” that figure.[Read more…]

Chris King, the man who redefined headsets and has not compromised the quality of his Chris King Precision Components in over thirty years, has rekindled his love for making bicycle frames.

In typical Chris King style, he has quietly re-launched his Cielo Cycles brand name.

According Chris King Components marketing guy Chris Distefano, King began making frames in 1978, just two years after he created the headset that would make him a household name to bike geeks around the world. He built bikes primarily for road racing teams that would be labeled under a variety of nationally-known brand names.[Read more…]

There’s more than meets the eye
in Sam Whittingham’s booth.
(Photos © Jonathan Maus)

35 year-old builder Sam Whittingham of British Columbia-based Naked Bicycles, exhibited at NAHBS last year. He displayed several of his Naked Bicycles, got a few orders, but he failed to wow the crowds.

This year, he thought he would do something different. He brought only one bike — but he made it count.[Read more…]

Mike Flanigan in the CS Monitor.

One of the most important keys to the success of the North American Handmade Bicycle Show (NAHBS) is the media coverage it generates.

Local and national news outlets from both the cycling and mainstream media are covering all the action. And this year, with the show in Portland, the stories often feature Portland builders.

Here’s a little rundown of some of the recent coverage.[Read more…]