For us, you could by now call it a fixture of summer.
The handmade bike festival out of Portland, Oregon, USA: MADE BIKE SHOW.
This year was its fourth edition, and of course we went again. On this trip to the US I'd put together a road trip to visit all sorts of people before and after MADE BIKE SHOW, and after getting back to Japan there was in fact a trade show for dealers at CWD, the wholesale division where I usually work, plus plans for another business trip, so only now do I finally seem able to sit down and look back on it.
If anyone has been waiting eagerly, I'm sorry it's taken so long! I think it's still plenty fresh, so I hope I can convey, in my own way, what it was like on the ground with the excitement not yet cooled. Please bear with me.
This first part is the builders edition. I'll look back on them in alphabetical order.
BIKE FRIDAY
Being a brand based in the same state of Oregon, BIKE FRIDAY has had perfect attendance since the first edition. In recent years they've been ambitiously announcing new models to coincide with the show, and this year, too, they unveiled a model that caught my eye.
That model is the Pocket Rocket Further, which takes the Pocket Rocket, a staple as their road model, and turns it further toward gravel/all-road.
It uses thru-axles and flat-mount disc brakes, and while designed around 451-size tires, it also allows for the OS20-inch standard often used in BMX racing, giving it a go-anywhere ability you'd hardly credit to a small-wheeled bike.
After the show I actually dropped in on their workshop in Eugene, too, and was able to give it a proper test ride, and this looks set to widen considerably how far you can roam at your destination. I'm grateful to say we've already received orders, and deliveries are expected to begin around December at the earliest.
Peridot Green, newly added to the color options this time, was a really nice color, too.
BLACKCAT
For Todd of BLACKCAT, it was the first time since the inaugural year, 2023. He didn't have a booth this time, but at the PAUL COMPONENT booth he had a show bike on display on top of the buggy that Paul is well known for driving.
This bike came about through a joint project between the Oakridge Trails Alliance and PAUL COMPONENT: a 29er drop-bar bike called The Cascade Cougar, inspired by the 1992 SALSA dirt-drop mountain bike that Paul owns.
The plan is for this bike to be the prize in a raffle, with the proceeds going toward trail maintenance and environmental conservation in Oakridge.
The raffle winner has already been decided, and while I was thinking how I envy anyone who gets to ride a bike like this, the truth is that, personally, I had my heart completely shot through by another one: a road bike on display in a corner that spotlighted builders without booths.
Todd says he's recently been back on a road bike and enjoying his rides, and the bike he builds is kitted out with parts you can really put the miles on, yet with its original dropouts, its carefully selected tubing throughout and that eye-catching separate-type bullmoose stem, it has not only a beauty that only steel can achieve; the way he turns out a bike that rides comfortably and honestly while making the most of the material's properties is what you'd have to call that trademark Todd magic.
BREADWINNER
Tony of BREADWINNER turned up at his booth astride his own DUCATI / SuperSport1000. On the freeway heading to the venue, I thought, “that motorcycle just breezed past me,” and it was him (laughs).
The A-Road, the G-Road and the rest: it's precisely because the drop-bar bikes he builds are so simple and ride so honestly that they enjoy such enduring popularity, especially in his hometown of Portland.
In fact, the SuperSport1000 he brought to the booth this time is one he built up himself, and it seems he worked in Ti parts made by his own hand in places such as around the handlebars, so on the logic of “well then, you can make bicycles that way too,” it looks as though we can look forward to Ti frame production in future. Perhaps it's something only he could pull off, making his living as he does by simply working with his hands, but this is surely what they mean by mixing business with pleasure.
He's also due to serve as an instructor at FIRSTHAND FRAMEBUILDING, which finally gets going in earnest next year, and I'm really looking forward to seeing him pour his passion into nurturing the builders who will follow in generations to come.
DESALVO
Mike stood out a mile with this Baja Bug last year, too. This year, in fact, the idea was to go all the way and show it with a perfectly matched show bike, so Circles asked him to build one.
With this flat-bar 29er gravel/adventure bike, your eye goes straight to the superb matching paint, but the frame is made of Ti.
Built up with the SIMWORKS SunRise series, likewise unveiled at the show, it's a bike with no weak spots. There were lots of 32″ bikes around, but this bike, built on the shared understanding between Mike and me that “this is what's best for Japan!”, will be going on sale in Japan shortly. Stay tuned!
Incidentally, after the show ended I also visited Mike's workshop in Ashland for the first time in a long while, so I'll report on that separately another time.
Oh yes, and he too is confirmed to be teaching a TIG welding class at FIRSTHAND FRAMEBUILDING.
JAMMER BIKES
James Newman: anyone who came up through early MASH and then MACAFRAMA surely knows the name.
The footage of him tearing through the streets of SF on a hugely ridden-in, super-big-size HUNTER CYCLES track frame was far too stimulating for me as the track kid I was back then.
The brand of his own that he started this year is JAMMER BIKES. It offers track frames, built of course by the hand of Rick Hunter, that are packed with James's street-riding experience. Circles and BLUE LUG will be carrying these, so please look forward to further news.
RETROTEC
Curtis of RETROTEC didn't have a booth of his own, but he had the 32″ rigid MTB he rides himself on display at the PASS AND STOW booth.
With PASS AND STOW's new rear rack, and a front rack paint-matched to go with it, the bike really stood out at the venue. Personally I think that when it comes to building this kind of dirt-oriented bike designed around racks, Curtis is the best there is.
I asked him, tall as he is, about 32″, and what he said stuck with me: “The sense of speed that comes from that diameter really is the standout point. That said, tire volume is limited, so for trail riding with lots of drop-offs the ride is too harsh, and honestly I wouldn't recommend fully rigid. I think it's very effective when interpreted as a bikepacking or dirt-tourer kind of bike.”
Quite unexpectedly, I lost my 32″ virginity on top of a front rack. (*Good children must never try this)
SYCIP
Another regular every year: Jeremy of SYCIP. Perhaps spurred on by Mike of DESALVO, this year he joined the fray with a roof rack on a Mini Cooper. The air conditioning doesn't work, apparently, so the drive up from Santa Rosa was quite an ordeal (laughs).
Jeremy, too, had brought a 32″ drop-bar bike, built at the request of a tall owner.
With the familiar wishbone stays and segmented fork, and laser-cut crown marks and coins scattered about, the bike was packed with Jeremy's playfulness yet flawlessly finished as an adventure bike, and it made a very strong impression.
While based on the very latest standard, 32″, it's also an interesting way to build it that the components are MICRO SHIFT MX with mechanical shifting and brakes.
STINNER FRAME WORKS
As it happens, STINNER is a brand we're newly starting to carry.
Based in Santa Barbara, California, STINNER, led by Aaron, who heads it, offers handmade frames in two materials, Ti and steel.
There's Aaron's own long career as a builder, of course, but a great many builders have also gained experience here at STINNER and gone on to set up on their own, making it a brand that holds an important position in the next-generation handmade builder community.
Besides their own booth, they were also featured at the booth of Cycle Path, a local Portland shop that specializes in custom orders, and Circles, too, will be expanding its offering from this autumn, centered on stock sizing, so keep an eye out.
Before this show I visited their workshop in Santa Barbara and documented it thoroughly, so I expect to be able to share that with you again soon. Look forward to it.
TOMII CYCLES
Nao of TOMII CYCLES had prepared a bike for the SIMWORKS booth, and so came along from Austin in person, bringing the bike himself.
What he brought was a flat-bar Fat Canvas shod with the new 650Bx55mm size of the well-received Faraway Tire. We've had many requests for more size options since its release two years ago, and it finally looks as though we'll be able to offer a new size. This time he rushed to fit that precious first prototype for us.
The bike, studded for all it's worth with Nao's masterful touches, such as the brilliant color scheme skillfully combining greens of different tones and the engraved detailing that is his specialty, was ordered by Bayou Bicycles, a shop in New Orleans that supports SIMWORKS USA day in, day out. This shop is amazing, too, so do check them out.
WILDE
Last up is the familiar WILDE. Of course, they're not only about production models; they're also keenly pursuing handmade projects built by the hand of their in-house builder Brad (right in the photo), and this year a model called the Pleezer, a retro 29er that is their own homage to the Breezer built by Joe Breeze, worked through with a modern interpretation, was stopping many of the people walking past the booth in their tracks.
What caught my attention personally was the other show bike: a Ti randonneur bike that Jeff, following on from having developed the Spelljammer, created out of a desire to build what would truly be a bike for life for himself.
He's used SIMWORKS silver parts lavishly on this bike, cementing a style that is modern yet timeless. Jeff, thank you for choosing SIMWORKS parts!
To be continued in Vol.2
And so, I meant to keep this brisk, but in the end I wanted to tell you about this and that as well, and it ran long before I knew it.
That's it for Vol.1 for now. Please look forward to Vol.2!