North American Hand Built Bicycle Show Wrap Up

Schnozzola Bikes

  Well, that's a wrap for NAHBS this year…





I could spend a lot of time talking about who I liked best or what I was most impressed by but that's boring as hell.

I’ve been to plenty of trade shows throughout the years, interior design shows, car and motorcycle shows, Scout jamborees,  Mac World, Interbike, NAMM but most of them are usually a hellish mixture noise, glad-handing, gift bags and carnival barkers.

This year was a little different and I think that was partly due to the fact I have one foot outside the bike industry but the other one still stuck in the doorjamb.

Like every one else I keep my eye on what bubbles up on the net from the major companies and while there is a lot of cool new stuff I can’t afford the majority of it.

Even if I could a lot of it doesn’t really speak to me.

I come from the generation of riders that was just about a handshake away from the originators of mountain biking and as a result I have a soft spot for high end domestically made mountain bikes and components.

Yes, the new off-shore made full suspension bikes super fun to ride.

I have one, and it’s fucking amazing.

On a technical level these bikes are amazing feats of engineering  but the buzz quickly fades as next year’s new hotness rolls out.

Back to NAHBS for a bit, I have a friend of mine who is one of the best frame makers in the business.

He said he can look at the welds on a frame and tell if the welder was having a good day or a bad one. He could tell if the welder was being rushed, and what their skill level was.

While there is room for tinkerers to innovate they simply don’t have the resources to compete against a nationally distributed brand that has a multi million dollar r & d department.

There is only so much one person can do.

As fantastic as the new high performance bikes are I just don’t have a warm fuzzy place in my heart for them.

At this point the majors probably don’t need to poach ideas from some the smaller builders because they are no longer ones pushing the industry forward.

I enjoyed meeting some of the newer builders, talking to some of the older ones and giving out free decals to some weirdos you only find at trade shows.

Recently it was announced that next year’s NAHBS is going to be in Salt Lake City Utah.

It seems that the NAHBS is doing well enough but how much all the great press, fantastic photos and good will goes to making sure that independent builders can make a living building bikes is any one’s guess.