This beautiful Kish titanium townie features a Wound-Up fork, White Industries cranks, and an internally geared rear hub.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Michigan-based Quiring Cycles offers titanium head tubes in a wide range of sizes, including standard 1 1/8", 44mm for straight or tapered steerers (or even 1.5"), and also Lefty-specific ones with integrated bearings.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Quiring showed off this bright titanium full-suspension bike using a Ventana rear end.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Quiring was one of few titanium builders at NAHBS to use a proper BB30 bottom bracket shell.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
NAHBS could easily have been called the "Paragon Machine Works Show" judging by how often its bits were seen on frames like this Quiring titanium hardtail.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
This Quiring titanium hardtail makes liberal use of Cannondale technologies, including the Lefty fork and BB30 bottom bracket.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Quiring's Lefty-specific titanium head tube also uses Cannondale's ultra-simple press-fit headset.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Gates' thick belt-drive chainring requires a small dimple on this Ti Cycles chain stay.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Ti Cycles put the split in the chain stay instead of the seat stay to pass through the Gate carbon belt and an internal cone keeps everything aligned. The design - developed by Ti Cycles' own Dave Levy - is also used by Sean Chaney of Vertigo.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Ti Cycles' triangulated rigid fork reminds us of a certain old-school suspension design(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Ti Cycles showed off this striking 69er.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Integrated seatmasts in metallic form were fairly common at NAHBS as seen on this Ti Cycles hardtail.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Naturally, Moots fits the Vamoots RSL with its own Open Road titanium stem.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Pencil-thin seat stays are included on Moots' Vamoots RSL.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Moots includes a PressFit 30 bottom bracket in its new Mooto X RSL titanium 29er.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Moots showed off its new Mooto X RSL titanium 29er at this year's NAHBS.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
The 44mm-diameter head tube as seen on this Moots frame allows for bigger down tubes and top tubes for extra front-end rigidity but also the use of either straight 1 1/8" or tapered steerers depending on which lower headset cup is used.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Moots uses wishbone-style seat stays for its new Mooto X RSL.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Moots showed off its Mooto X in full-blown 'adventure' form.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Check out the sculpted titanium headset spacer on this Moots.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Moots' long-running YBB pivotless rear suspension still provides the same benefits as it did years ago.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Moots offers optional stem faceplates for mounting a front light.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Moots milled out the dropouts on the Vamoots RSL to shave a few extra grams.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
The Moots Vamoots RSL is the company's lightest road frame.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Lots of builders at NAHBS had their own solutions on how to split the seat stay for a belt but few were cleaner looking that this setup from Vertigo - a design originally developed by Dave Levy of Ti Cycles. A bolt is fed in from the bottom and tightens the two tubes over an alignment cone. Brilliant and beautiful.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
This Vertigo singlespeed 'cross bike is designed around linear-pull rim brakes with no rear cantilever hanger.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
This Vertigo Cycles 29" titanium hardtail looks to have just the right amount of curves.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
The 44mm-bore head tube on this Vertigo Cycles allows for a tapered steerer tube to fit with the new Chris King headset. But wait, where's that hydraulic fitting going?(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Vertigo Cycles principal Sean Chaney fed a titanium hydraulic tube all the way through the frame, starting at the front of the down tube and finishing back on the chain stay.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
The curved seat stays are a nice touch on this Vertigo titanium hardtail.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
The front end of this Vertigo townie gets a lift courtesy of a head tube extension and a tall stem.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Naturally, the front rack on this Vertigo townie is titanium, too.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Vertigo showed off this beautiful titanium town bike.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
The rear rack on this Vertigo townie doesn't seem to serve much purpose aside from holding the mini U-lock in the dedicated cradle.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Cannondale historically has gone up against a lot of resistance in the bike industry for its forward thinking but smaller builders like the ones at NAHBS are far more embracing of non-standard designs. There were lots of Hollowgram cranks spotted on the show floor including on this Vertigo Cycles titanium bike.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Vertigo Cycles principal Sean Chaney says this titanium plate-style chain stay section is the best way to get all the tire and chainring clearance he was looking for.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Vertigo's Sean Chaney came up with the idea of plugging a tapered steerer into a 44mm-bore head tube so it's no surprise to see one here.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
The tapered seat tube top on this Vertigo frame blends elegantly into the Moots seatpost.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
This Vertigo titanium singlespeed frame was also fitted with a trick rear skewer of the company's own design, featuring built-in tension adjusters.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Vertigo adds another short section of titanium to reinforce the bottom bracket area.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
This Vertigo 'Dr. Jon' looks to be a beast of a 29" titanium hardtail - and we mean that in a good way.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
If the image of B.A. Baracus doesn't conjure the idea of toughness, then we don't know what does.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Vertigo includes its own take on 'HTFU' on the top tube of this custom bike. Squint just right and you can almost hear Mr. T yelling.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Offsetting the seat tube at the bottom bracket on this Vertigo titanium frame allows for shorter chain stays just like a curved seat tube.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Gates' new Centertrack belt was found on several bikes at NAHBS, including this Vertigo 'cross singlespeed.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Oh, but wait - hidden inside the Vertigo townie's rear rack are three LEDs. The wire runs through the fender.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Vertigo Cycles' Sean Chaney discovered the stock bracket for his child trailer didn't fit on socketed dropouts - so he milled his own out of a block of aluminum.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Even the rear rack on this Black Sheep barely uses two straight tubes.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Proper BB30 bottom bracket shells like on this Dean road bike were almost completely replaced by PressFit 30 systems at this year's NAHBS.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Exogrid's molding process yields a tube with utterly perfect external walls - run your finger over it and there's no noticeable seam at all.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Exogrid is back! By replacing strategic chunks with a co-molded internal carbon fiber sleeve, the claim is that an Exogrid tube can deliver the same ride quality as titanium but with a lower weight.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Exogrid panels are also visible on the seat stays of this Dean road bike.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Builders at NAHBS showed a number of different ways of splitting the driveside seat stay to allow for a belt drive. Here's Dean's approach.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
This Dean full-suspension titanium frame features sliding rear dropouts, a 44mm head tube (for straight or tapered steerers), and flex built into the chain stays in lieu of conventional pivots.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
The short aluminum links help keep the rear end in check on this Dean full-suspension frame.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
One Dean townie was fitted with a special pink Gates belt, designed to help raise funds for the Pablove Foundation.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
This Dean townie comes equipped with S&S couplers so you can always be sure to have a bike with you when you're on the road.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
As always, Kent Eriksen's welds are impeccable as seen on this 'cross bike.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
The front rack on this Black Sheep townie is a bit small to be genuinely useful but hey, it looks spectacular.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Black Sheep brought out this usual array of curved-tube titanium creations including this wild townie.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Black Sheep uses telescoping chain stays to adjust chain tension on singlespeed setups.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Much like Jeff Jones' designs, the Black Sheep truss-style front end is claimed to offer both superb steering accuracy as well as a measure of vertical flex.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Black Sheep showed off this swoopy 36er at this year's NAHBS.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
A wolf in sheep's clothing? How about a Black Sheep in wolf's clothing!(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Wildly curved bars such as Black Sheep's titanium set were quite popular at NAHBS.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Black Sheep's full-suspension design uses a flat chain stay yoke instead of a conventional pivot.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Geared or singlespeed setups are easily accommodated on this Black Sheep titanium frame just by swapping hangers.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Black Sheep has on display this curvaceous full-suspension titanium machine, complete with a Cannondale Lefty fork.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Black Sheep uses an aluminum link that stiffens up the rear triangle and also helps more closely control the rear shock rate.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Smaller bolted joints are used on chain and seat stays of this Black Sheep townie instead of conventional S&S couplers for easier packing and travel.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
The steerer is the only straight tube on the front end of this Black Sheep townie.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Clean, purposeful, perfect - behold the rear dropout on this Eriksen disc-equipped 'cross bike.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Form Cycles also works with aluminum, steel, and now stainless steel such as on this ultralight Revel road bike with its sub-14lb claimed weight.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Once again, the 44mm head tube. Form Cycles pairs it here with a straight 1 1/8" fork.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Stainless steel's inherent corrosion resistance allows Form Cycles to leave the back end raw.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Extended seat tubes as seen on this Form Cycles road bike seem to be gaining in popularity.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
S&S couplers on this Form Cycles titanium bike allow for easier traveling.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)