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North American Hand Made Bicycle Show -

Portland, Oregon, USA, February 8 - 10, 2008

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Part 6 - NAHBS still awash with 'normal' bikes

By James Huang in Portland, Oregon

Kirk Pacenti probably didn't expect the speed
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Ventana jumps into the 650B market
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Perhaps Ventana left a 26" bike and a 29" bike
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The modular design of White Brothers' forks
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Ventana looks to have developed
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Cane Creek manufactured a handful of 650B prototypes
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Arizona framebuilder Steve Garro
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Garro's favored construction method
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Fillet brazing yields a cleanly radiused joint.
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Coconino frames are proudly built
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Coconino also showed off this clean-looking 29er.
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Colorado-based builder Yipsan
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Sliding dropouts ruled at NAHBS and for good reason
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Yipsan's 650B singlespeed used a Fox 29" fork…
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…who fork tips sported a new shape
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Yipsan even made up a custom freehub spacer.
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Why use headset spacers
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Yipsan also showed off this fixie…
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…whose celebratory graphics
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The North American Handmade Bicycle Show has proven to be a consistent showcase for anything and everything attending builders can dream up to build. In many cases, function definitely followed form yet the end result was often a sight to behold nonetheless if only as a rolling example of what could be done. Even so, most (if not all) of the builders on hand also offer perfectly conventional machines and we wrap up this year's coverage with a diverse array of examples.

650B takes hold

Previous shows have been awash with 29"-wheeled mountain bikes whose lesser-used size format was a natural fit for the hand built industry's niche clientele. Fast forward a couple of years, though, and the old 'in between' 650B wheel format resurrected and championed by Kirk Pacenti looks to be well on its way to supplanting 29ers, at least in this crowd.

Pacenti is a long-time frame builder himself but now primarily dedicates the bulk of his time to Pacenti Cycle Design which he intends to be a 'one stop shop' of products and design services that caters to the specific needs of other builders. As a designer, the ramifications of building frames around 29" wheels weren't lost on him and he introduced his 650B concept at last year's show as a viable alternative.

Arguments about yet another wheel size format aside, the idea does seem to hold merit: 650B neatly splits the difference between the two current frontrunners at a rough outside diameter of about 27.5" and at least in theory, offers up a good compromise between the steamrolling ability of 29" rubber and the lighter weight of 26" hoops. More applicably to Pacenti, though, is the fact that 650B wheels are easier to design a frame around, particularly for riders of smaller stature. Full-suspension makers have also caught on to the fact that 650B forces fewer radial geometry modifications in their designs and Ventana showed off at least two samples at the show.

Even so, Pacenti likely could not have predicted how quickly 650B has been adopted especially given the sometimes painfully uphill struggle that 29" proponents suffered in their early days. Multiple builders had examples on display and the supporting players have quickly stepped up to the plate. Velocity already offers two high-performance 650B rims, SUN ringlé and Stan's NoTubes supposedly have models coming out later this spring, Weinmann might be board as well and Cane Creek has toyed with the idea with a handful of prototypes. On the tire side, IRD/Panaracer is already in production, Kenda has committed to three tire models and Schwalbe and CST are strongly considering tossing their hats into the ring, too.

650B bikes were relatively big at NAHBS (pardon the pun) but it's already become clear to us that the idea isn't strictly limited to the cottage industry. We can't say who it is, but we do know of at least one particularly prominent and well-storied full-suspension maker who has a 650B version in the works.

Pavement bikes at NAHBS

On the road side of things, higher-tech materials may have garnered much of the buzz but some of the absolute finest works used a soundly traditional material: steel. Frame building icon Richard Sachs was in attendance again this year and to the casual observer, his familiar paint jobs, lug shapes, and frame configurations might be described as surprisingly stagnant amidst the surrounding and ever-changing sea.

"The most important component is skill set," Sachs insisted. "That's impossible to quantify. I'm constantly improving every aspect. Just the fact that they're painted red doesn't mean anything."

We would be more apt to apply the term 'timeless', particularly as Sachs' classic and recognizable aesthetics envelope thoroughly modern, high-performing and lightweight Columbus steel tube sets and are eminently raceable as evidenced by the masses of Sachs 'cross frames that are flogged weekly by Sachs-sponsored riders and teams. Even at 55 years old (Sachs' birthday coincides with Valentine's Day; Happy Birthday!), Sachs continues to race 'cross himself and continues to look decidedly lean and trim year after year.

Speaking of years, Sachs' waiting list has consistently been measured in multiple complete orbits around the sun instead of phases of the moon. As of the beginning of NAHBS 2008, the quoted lag was six years. At a claimed truly one-man production rate of about 100-120 frames per year... well, you do the math. Do you honestly think that many people are waiting in line for a 'stagnant' bike? We don't think so, either.

Another renowned frame builder made the jump over from Australia for his first-ever appearance at NAHBS. Like Sachs, Darrell McCulloch is a true one-man show behind the Llewellyn line of frames and his overwhelming material of choice is steel given its inherent stiffness, toughness and resistance to fatigue, not to mention its ride quality or the freedom the material presents to him as an artisan. He readily admits that the material is subject to a weight penalty as compared to its non-ferrous counterparts but one look at the reputed equalled-by-some, second-to-none level of quality and craftsmanship is enough to squelch that argument for many.

McCulloch's frames are similarly also designed not just as visual showpieces but functional machines which are infused with his experience as a professional rider racing both in his native Australia and in the European arena as well as his time spent working closely with the Australian Institute of Sport. Even with all of the cutting-edge bicycles currently on the ProTour, several top-level riders are rumoured to have Llewellyn-made bikes in their own personal collection.

Italian frame builder Dario Pegoretti also made the long journey overseas to NAHBS, a feat made only more impressive given that fact that he was diagnosed with lymphoma just last May. Pegoretti is decidedly more progressive in his Columbus steel constructs but his pedigree is arguably no less impressive with top road teams reputedly running his frames in the late 90's (in officially sponsored livery, of course). Unlike Sachs and Llewellyn, though, Pegoretti makes liberal use of TIG welding and dramatically oversized tubing as well as wildly flamboyant paint jobs that leave little uncertainty as to the name on the down tube.

Pegoretti debuted his latest Responsorium Ciaveté as a defiant message to the lymphoma that made him so ill in 2007 (look it up if you're curious, but we'll save you some time and tell you that it's two words, the second of which is 'off'). It bears the same Columbus XCr stainless steel tubing as the standard Responsorium but with the cachet that comes with a frame that is not only guaranteed to have been built by Dario himself but also hand painted as well. Smaller diameter and thinner walled tubing means a lighter and more comfortable ride than some of Pegoretti's stiffer offerings.

And with that, we wrap up our reporting of the North American Handmade Bicycle Show and we hope you've enjoyed it as much as we've enjoyed covering it. Until next year in Indianapolis!

Photography

For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here

Images by James Huang/Cyclingnews.com

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