In addition to the long travel TS8 suspension fork, Magura had something else up their sleeve. Something no…
Introducing the newest trigger shifters from SRAM: X0, X9, and X7. Not quite the X0 version of XX1…
We’ve had the Specialized Venge Pro for more than a year now and logged well over a thousand…
Last week, Trek released a few key 2014 models to their dealers, and as expected, a few of…
Now for the 9th year in a row, Magura has descended upon the breathtaking red rock trails known…
Catch up on all of our Project 1.2 posts here! With out Project 1.2 singlespeed, we set out…
In our pre-NAHBS interview this year, Gaulzetti promised a new emerald green color, supposedly the hot new Pantone (17-5641) hue for 2013, and, well, he delivered. It’s a bit brighter in person, and surprisingly good looking.
And that’s not all they showed that’s new. Click through for pics and info on his stuff, plus bikes from Generic Cycles, Tomassini and our usual photos-only coverage of Richard Sachs…
Caletti gave us a heads up he’d be bringing his new Adventure Road bike, a blend between road and cyclocross bikes, and now we’ve got the details.
Builder John Caletti, who works out of Santa Cruz, CA, says they ride a lot of stretches where there are significant gravel or rough stretches. This provides the performance of a road bike but is more comfortable for long rides than a ‘cross bike.
It’s built with Columbus Life and OX Platinum steel tubing. Click through for detail shots of this and his new, lightweight Road Race Special, which may just burn your eyes…
Every year, NAHBS brings together a huge selection of builders, from seasoned veterans to first year endeavors.
Ventus has been around for a little while now. Beginning frame building in 2006, Mark Kargol of Ventus cycles has crafted some beauties, like last year’s sky blue touring build. Shown above is his disc brake gravel racer, built with carbon tubing and some dashing stainless steel lugs. After speaking with Kargol, he said that he can do the same with titanium tubes, but he preferred carbon for gravel riding.
More on Ventus, A-Train’s sparkly green mountain bike, and Shed 6′s Dutch bike after the break…
Chances are, if you walk through the aisles of NAHBS, very few of the bikes you see will be made from Carbon Fiber. We’ve already covered one builder with Appleman, and now we get a chance to talk to Brad Cason from Kirklee bicycles whose custom carbon creations will leave you wondering how such a small operation puts out such a polished final design.
Our last interview for 2013 NAHBS starts now…
Photo Credit: John Watson, Prollyisnotprobably.com
Normally, you won’t have any trouble identifying a Geekhouse bike. Known for their bright, candy colored powder coat finishes, it’s no wonder they have an extension of their business in powder coating – known as Sugarcoat. However, the Boston, MA builder isn’t afraid to change things up with darker colors, customer’s needs, or unique bikes all together. Geekhouse was founded by Marty Walsh in 2002, and expanded to a two-man operation in 2010 with the addition of Bradford Smith. Together they continue to turn out unique custom builds, worthy of the Geekhouse name.
Check out Marty’s response to the NAHBS 6 pack of questions, after the break.
Curtis Inglis started in the hand made bicycle world when he got a job in 1993 working for Robert Seals, the founder of Retrotec and the inventor of the original Cool Tool multi-tool. Three years later, after moving to San Francisco with Jeremy and Jay Sycip, Curtis launched Inglis cycles but continued to build Retrotecs on demand. These days, Curtis continues to build both lines of frames out of his Napa, CA home base with Retrotec continuing to offer modern takes on retro classic styling, and Inglis covering traditional straight tube frames.
Check out Curtis’ take on our pre-NAHBS interview next.
Born from Chris King, Cielo offers beautifully made bikes worthy of the boutique badge, yet produced on a larger scale. This year, Cielo will be bringing 7 different bikes to NAHBS including the new Cross Racer Disc pictured above. The Racer is built with a PF 30 BB which utilizes King’s soon to be released PressFit bottom bracket, as well as disc specific dropouts, a 44mm head tube, and aggressive race honed geometry. To take advantage of the 44mm head tube, a custom painted ENVE cross disc tapered fork is used and the bike can be equipped with King’s InSet 7 headset, and new R45 Disc hubs and will be offered in two color schemes.
We got a chance to chat with Cielo’s Design Manager, Jay SyCip, about what they have in store for NAHBS after the break.
All studio images c. Charles Uniatowski
After starting Wissahickon Cyclery in 1995 and creating a bike shop beloved by the community with the help of his staff, owner Drew Guldalian turned his sights to the bike building business 11 years later. Today, Engin Cycles operates hand in hand with Wissahickon turning out beautiful and show winning bikes primarily from steel. However, new for 2013, Drew will be offering an option for titanium as a build material and is currently working out the details. We asked Drew about his Ti bikes and plans for the future after the break.
Among custom carbon bike builders, there’s no mistaking Appleman’s unique, three-dimensional logo and often creative outer layers of woven carbon and tinted fiberglass. Last year he was tucked along the back wall with the new builders and first time exhibitors and only showed off a single disc brake cyclocross bike. This year he’s got a few more things planned…
BIKERUMOR: What materials do you build with? Which is your favorite and why?
APPLEMAN: I build frames exclusively with carbon fiber. In fact, I ditch aluminum frame parts and make my own carbon fiber parts resulting in a frame that is 99.8% carbon! I’m obsessed with carbon fiber’s strength and inherent beauty. When done properly, the ride of a carbon fiber frame is amazing. Carbon fiber allows me to truly customize the entire frame for a particular rider. Every frame receives custom tubing and layups that allow for a fine-tuned ride.
As if the juxtaposition of thick bamboo tubes connected by glossy carbon fiber wasn’t enough, last year Boo Bicycles introduced a carbon “exogrid” style overwrap for their bamboo tubes. Builder Nick Frey also went with a full carbon seat tube/seat mast design on some bikes, giving one bike in particular a very modern look and feel despite being made of a very old, natural material. Now, he’s mixing the panda food with metals…
Bikerumor: What materials do you build with? Which is your favorite and why?
Nick: We normally use exclusively bamboo and carbon, and Boo has built a brand around the highest performance bamboo bikes in the world. But we are going out and experimenting at NAHBS this year…we will be showing new bamboo-Ti and bamboo-Al bikes. The bamboo-Ti bike will be called Glissando, and will have a gorgeous split-bamboo top tube that flows seamlessly into the seat stays. It will be a high-design commuter bike, fit for display in a top design studio. The bamboo-Al bike will be called Aluboo, and will be priced at under $1000 for an entry-level fixie! We hope to bring the quality ride and handmade craftsmanship of Boo to a new audience.
