Winners announced at North American Handmade Bicycle Show

The North American Handmade Bicycle Show celebrated its 10th anniversary this past weekend in Charlotte, North Carolina, usually a destination for NASCAR fans.

Co-Motion tandem

While the bicycle fans at the Charlotte Convention Center were less interested in horsepower, they showed a keen interest in the precision craftsmanship represented by some 150 exhibitors at the show.

Don Walker, who launched the handmade bike exhibition series in Houston in 2005, told a reporter at the Charlotte Observer that the show represents “high fashion art in the form of bicycles.”

Next year, the traveling show heads to Louisville, KY.

As usual, some exhibitors were honored with rewards for their work in several fields.

Suffering a case of hometown chauvinism, I was expecting to see the list heavily weighted toward bicycle makers in the Pacific Northwest. Not even close. It’s obvious that exceptional handbuilt bicycle makers are at work all across the U.S. In fact, exhibitors came from 20 states and 4 foreign countries this year.

Here are the winners:

Sunday Awards

Best Finish: Independent Fabrication, NewMarket, NH  (Honorable Mention: Ellis Cycles)

Best Theme Bike: Sycip Designs, Santa Rosa, CA (Honorable Mention: Calfee Design) La Selva Beach, CA

Best New Builder: Harvey Cycle Works, Indianapolis, IN

President’s Choice: Peacock Groove, Minneapolis, MN

People’s Choice: Six-Eleven Bicycle Co., Roanoke, VA

Best in Show: Argonaut Cycles, Portland, OR

Saturday Awards

Best Track Bike: Six-Eleven Bicycles, Roanoke, VA

Ellis Cycles

Best Fillet-Brazed: Ellis Cycles, Waterford, WI

Best TIG-Welded: Kent Eriksen Cycles, Steamboat Springs, CO

Best Lay-Up: Argonaut Cycles, Portland, OR

Best Mountain Bike: Breadwinner Cycles, Portland, OR

Best Cyclocross Bike: Retrotec, Napa, CA (Honorable Mention: Lundbeck Cycles, Cincinnati, OH)

Best Road Bike: Kent Eriksen Cycles (Honorable Mention: Argonaut Cycles)

Best Tandem Bike: Co-Motion Cycles, Eugene, OR

Best City/Utility Bike: Cykelmageren (Honorable Mention: A.N.T.), Copenhagen, Denmark

There were no entrants for “Best Lugged Frame”