Wow

Wow, OK, so I guess I'm not a very good blogger. It's been a while since my last post. I need to work on that.

Over the past couple months I've been trying to catch up on my schedule. The NAHBS really put me behind. I've been working away though and am pretty close to being back on track. I've put out some good bikes these past couple of months. The one that folks might find most interesting is the bike that's going to be given away at the Global Biorythm's Coolest 24 mountain bike race. It's coming up next weekend and is sure to be a blast. This year's race is looking like it will be bigger than ever. Jim Northey is a very generous guy and puts on a race that is not only a fun time, but doesn't cost an arm and a leg. The best part is that it's all for charity. All of the proceeds go to help fight cancer.

The bike that's going to be given away is a 29er singlespeed. It's the only non-custom bike I've every produced. I don't do non-custom bikes, but Jim really wanted to give a finished bike away rather than the certificate that's normally given out. I think it's a good idea as people get really excited about the possiblity of riding the bike away at the end of the race rather than having to wait to get a custom model built. It's a bit of a trade off, but in this case I think it's the better way to go.

Here's a picture:

Pics from the show

I didn't get a chance to take as many pictures as I'd have liked to from the show, but here are a couple that my friend Jim Northey took and gave to me. A big thanks to Jim and Frank for making the drive and spending some time with us.

Besides the pictures in the links in my last post there are pictures of my bikes and everyone else's all over the net on personal blogs. I haven't seen them all, but there are too many to start listing here. If you're interested in seeing more just do a search for NAHBS 2008 or something similar on Google and you'll find everything you missed at the show.

I need to set the record straight

I'm super happy with all the attention I was given from the media. So far the major media outlets that I've seen my bikes in are Mountain Flyer magazine, the Fixed Gear Gallery, and VeloNews. I have nothing but thanks and praise for those organizations as well as all the other media that were at the show, whether they gave me attention or not. As a small builder I have nothing to offer the big guys other than my thanks so those that go out of their way to help bring me attention are extremely generous.

I do need to make one correction, however, to what was posted on VeloNews. I don't mean for it to be contentious, but simply to clarify a point of honost misunderstanding. In the caption for my fixed-gear bike they state that I built the fixie special for the show. While I did build that bike with the intention of showing it, I think that statement is a little misleading. There were several bikes at the show that were built with no regard to being practical or repeatable (at least not at any reasonable price). Mine, however, was not one of them. There was nothing on my bike that I do not offer as an option for any of my bikes. The dropouts, the brazed on lettering, the handlebars, the wheels; everything is a real and practical offering.

The handlebars are new and so they need to be tested and modified if necessary before they are going to be for sale, but they were built with the intention of being a saleable item and they will be. Not that I have anything against making something that is intended as a purely show piece, but that my bike stood out amongst all of those and was still percieved by those who saw it as special is a point of pride. More importantly, it follows my beliefs in being as honost with people as I can as well as offering more than what is average or expected. The greatest complement for me was when people said they loved my work. To be appreciated for the whole of what I had to offer rather than (or should I say in addition to) one specific detail is very rewarding.

What a show!

NAHBS 2008 is finished and in the books. What a great weekend it was! 6800 people attended the show. At one point on Saturday the firemarshall shut the open admission down because the hall was over capacity. There were hundreds in line to get tickets and hundreds more waiting for their turn to get in the door. Wow.

The weekend was too long and there was too much going on to be able to give a detailed account of everything that took place so I'll just give a quick recap.

Blair, Ryan, Miranda and myself drove up to Portland on Thursday. I overestimated the time it would take to get there so we got up there nice and early. Not a problem except that we all woke up at about 4 am to get an early start. Oops. Once at the hall we set the bikes in the stands and assembled the sign. It all went off without a hitch.

Friday was an industry only day so it was a little slower than the next two days would prove to be. It was nice to get a chance to talk with industry folks at a slower pace though and was a good warm-up for things to come.

Saturday and Sunday were crazy. Saturday more so, but both days were pretty fast paced. I would prefer it that way though, since it makes it easier to forget that your feet and back are sore from standing on concrete for 8 hours. I didn't even eat lunch either day since I was having too much fun talking with people about my bikes.

The feedback I got was awesome. Everyone liked what I had to offer. It was really great to see all my hard work get appreciated. The vast majority of people were quite savy as well and picked up on most of the subtle details of the bikes. That's not to say my bikes weren't full of unique features, but rather that I chose to maintain my usual style and keep those differences low key.

Not surprsingly, since the show was in Portland, the fixed gear bike got the most attention. I packed that bike with a bunch of the options that I offer, but did them in as subtle a way as possible. One of the things I find the most pleasure in is offering people the chance to make discoveries at their own pace. The bike was very monochromatic and a quick glimpse wouldn't reveal much. Only after a few moments of looking would things begin to make themselves visible. It was great when someome would already have been looking at the bike for a while and another person would come up and comment on something the first person hadn't even seen yet. They were happy with the surprise every time and challenged to see if they could find anything else I wasn't telling them. Even after thousands of people looked at it there were a couple details only a handful of people spotted. It was great fun.

I was also told by quite a few people that mine was their favorite bike of the entire show. To all of you I say Thanks! I didn't win any of the awards at the end, but that's OK. I got my satisfaction and praise directly from the people attending the show. They, you, are the ones whose opinions I care about most.

I'll finish this post by thanking everyone that came to the show, both within the industry and the general public. The days were filled with great conversations and many good laughs. I'd like to publicly thank Blair, Ryan and Miranda. Your companionship and hard work made the weekend go infinitely smoother. I'd also like to thank Don Walker, Brian Riepe of Mountain Flyer Magazine, and everyone else that had a hand in bringing the show to life. Thanks all!

Portland here we come

Wow! What a weekend. I thought I had everything pretty well in order last week and didn't expect to be working as hard as I've been to get ready for the show. Thankfully the bikes came together well and caused very little grief. It was everything else that was so challenging. My sign turned into a bit of a nightmare. With a ton of help from Blair, Ryan and Hilary it all came together though and everything looks great. I was planning on putting up some teaser picks, but it's late and I still have to pack. Everyone is going to be here at 4:30 am and we're going to roll out at 5. Ugh. Can't they move Portland any closer?

Getting started

What better time to start a blog? We are now just days away from the 2008 North American Handbuilt Bicycle Show. I've been focusing on getting everything ready for the show for some time now. I'm going to be bringing a 29er mountain bike, a fixed-gear bike and an S3 road frame. I was hoping to have another road bike done and ready to bring too, but time got away from me.

I'm really excited about this year's show and think it's going to be a great time. The only down side to the weekend is going to be the fact that since it's in Portland, my family won't be able to come and visit. Last year they surprised me and came down for a day.

I won't be going up to Portland alone though. We're going to have a full truck with Blair, Ryan and Miranda on board to help me out. It's going to make life much easier to have some additional people to help with the crowds and to watch the booth when I feel the urge to go and check out some of the other incredible machines that will be there.

In the next 5 days I have to finish prepping the fixed-gear frame and put the parts on it. I just got it back from paint a couple days ago and it looks awesome! I'll be picking up the fork and handlebar/stem on Monday. That's right, I said I still don't even have all the parts yet. In fact, I won't be getting the wheels for it until Tuesday. Needless to say I'm a little nervous. There's no reason to think it won't all work out though so I'm not stressed too much.

I also have to finish making my sign. Last year I did a painting of my logo as the backdrop for my booth. It came out OK, but not great. It was a bit of an amateur effort I'm sorry to say and I was a bit embarrased by it. This year will be much better. I'm putting together a nice wooden sign with teak veneer and aluminum letters. It's going to be at the same high quality level as the Grognard bikes. I'll post pictures of it when I've finished getting it all together. I'll put up a few teasers for what I'm bringing to the show too.