Those of you interested in art and motion and craftsmanship may enjoy reading about the North American Handmade Bicycle Show that just closed in San Jose this week.
David Rowe, a Portland cyclist who writes the Ready to Ride blog, visited the 3-day bike show and reports that about half the nation's 100 or so indepedent bike frame builders exhibited.
The Silicon Valley, home to many high-tech industries, may seem an odd choice for a handbuilt bike show, Rowe points out. The mass-produced bike industry and high-tech industry do have a common trait, however, in outsourcing manufacturing to Asia. He writes:
But the deeper irony lies is in the fact that the high-flying technology executives who sent their manufacturing processes off-shore, are same guys that jammed the aisles in San Jose, ogling over lugged-steel frames, built one at a time, by a guy at his work bench.
While these bikes are way out of my league in terms of price — $2,500 to $4,000 for a frame and fork — I can appreciate them as individual works of art and craftsmanship. The exhibits by DeSalvo, Curtlo, Co-Motion and others were among my favorites at the Seattle Bike Expo last month.
CyclingNews staffed the hand-built bike show, too, and filed three reports with tons of pictures.
James Huang says in his first report that hand-built bikes are making a comeback; some builders have years-long waiting lists. The second part talks about style and function in hand-building bikes; the third part reports bike builders are using lighter-weight steel and other materials.
For more pictures from the bicycle show, check out the set from BrianWickman at flickr.com. That's where I got the image of the Calfee bamboo bicycle pictured above.
Would you like to learn how to build bicycle frames. Check out this story about the United Bicycle Institute in Ashland, Oregon.
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