The North American Handmade Bicycle Show is a gathering place for a subculture of people who painstakingly hand-craft bicycles and items that most cyclists can purchase ready made on Amazon. Measured by Wall Street's scale of corporate indifference, there is no justifiable reason to TIG-weld a steel hardtail in the solitude of a 900 square foot shop crammed with second-hand machinery, and then sell it for what amounts to an average day-job wage. We have largely become consumers, dependent upon pre-made goods and instant satisfaction. We upgrade our phones, lease our cars, and arrange for work to be done. We freak out if packages take more than 24 hours to arrive. Time equals money. What can't be measured is the sense of empowerment that comes from making things - from doing it ourselves. If you can weld up a bike, you could make a motorcycle without much trouble; if you can lay up a carbon front triangle, it wouldn't be a stretch to mold a prosthetic leg. The self-confidence generated by turning an idea into a physical, useful object with your own hands far exceeds the value of the creation. The North American Handmade Bicycle Show is packed with people who get that. Some of them have been making bicycles for decades, while others are celebrating their first frames, and how awesome it feels to join the club. It's an inspiration.
Altruiste Bicycle Company Altruiste's founder and builder Gabriel Lang Is from New Brunswick, in eastern Canada, where he mainly builds with chromoly, but is experimenting with titanium. The ex-downhiller worked for some prominent Canadian builders as a welder before founding his own brand. He's pretty much a one-man show.
Lang believes that plush suspension is more efficient in the long run, even at the expense of pedal bobbing, which is why both his dirt-jump and trail bike designs use a concentric bottom bracket pivot location for their swingarms. I liked his asymmetric shock and seat tube arrangement. It is a simple solution that should be lighter weight and stronger than the more common work-arounds.
Ascari Bicycles
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Santana Cycles
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Thomson Bike Products
Juliet Designs | I named the carbon bike "Ella" after my wife, Raffaella, who put up with the workshop, including the kitchen, the bathroom and and the dining room of our home.—Ryan Cargo: Builder, Juliet Designs |
Squid Bikes
Tomo Ichikawa
University of Kansas
I'll pop a wheelie in your face, ripping off your fake mustache with my Minion DHF!
By the time my frame is finished, whoever sees my bike and has spent more on theirs will realize they've been all wrong. But I'll be friendly and forgive them. They can still join me on a ride if they feel like.
I'm on my third Vibrocore bar now (sold two on previous bikes). I fancy trying a Fatbar Lite 35 but the only 35mm diameter stem i like is that all mountain style one that has a hideous price. I love Spank Spike stems.
What I would love to buy actually is that one piece Syncros bar and stem. It seems a little steep too though at $300 american. There are a lot of other things i could buy for that that would be more useful. A bar and stem at the end of the day are just a bar and stem. Once you have ones you like there is no point changing.
The carbon rings are stiffer & on average 25% lighter than aluminum. They aren’t officially available yet, since we’re still finalizing some details to the product. Obviously we’re striving for aluminum longevity standards, but obviously realize they are full carbon... so we’ll see how close they get. They’ve been on the machine at the MFG testing for well ove a month w/o any issues, however that is not real world abuse. Thankfully now is where the fun begins! Before you ask, no I don’t need anyone to test... you’d be the 200th person in line! Haha ...seriously though. EVERYONE here at the show has asked.
We’re shooting to have them available (common tooth sizes and attachment type - bcd, direct mount etc) and possibly have them for sale at Sea Otter, where we’re planning to launch them.
Remember, it’s a carbon chainring, it’s not necessarily intended to be a every day use for the amatuer hucker. I hope it’s something that you can use all year long without any worry, but it’s likely going to be marketed to the high performance / racing athlete who’s looking for the added stiffness and weight savings.
To be continued...
who knows what the future will hold in regards to carbon cassette bodies. we have no plans to produce them, or shiftable chainrings. it's a pain & looooads of engineering to get it right
hope that made sense... it's been a long weekend, long travel home & my mind is fried. We'll hav some more info at Sea Otter & hopefully our website up soon that will further explain and answer your questions.
I'm not an engineer... i'm just the pretty face behind the brand here in the US! haha j/k
Does the floating ring in the fat tire wheel build add to rotational weight since it is not touching anything? Could he have done it with just a round piece of metal with holes drilled into it? I know fat tire bikes are not really concerned with such things, but that dude must be brilliant to have figured that out! THAT is out of the box thinking.
P.S. It does look pretty sick with the chain ring in there.
The spokes that do attach to the hubs are still the spokes that do all the work.
Trust a bunch of bike people to think they’re smarter than real science.
Moreover most people at the show were over 50.
www.pinkbike.com/photo/15628607
www.pinkbike.com/photo/15628606
Surprised no one has pointed out that all of these bikes (especially the Ascari) look exactly like a Session.
So many beautiful bikes it was really a great show.
altruistebikes.com
I know I'll get some slaps in the wrist from the "steel is real" crew but come on people, can't anybody think of innovating a little bit? How comes just 10-15 % of every NAHBS post is about out-of-the-box designers?
How comes NAHBS is just a trendy synonym to "vintage"?
By the way, his dirt jumper reminds me of Aaron Chase's slopestyle prototype with a Lefty as the top tube.
So many bike with geometry from the 90's, traditional square top tubes, with a million accessories, and some flashy paint.
@Endurahbrah
Altruiste is sweet, stoked on him and what he has done. But essentially he make a long-travel Le-Pink and instead of using a tube to puncture the seat tube, he went a-sym. Which is super cool and following his insta, looked like some pretty technically difficult work. Bike is sick, but has a slack seat tube, and looks to be pretty short TT. Would someone choose to buy this over any of the big boys bikes? I think that answer is no.
Wonder if the newer design is much better.
Thanks to the City of Hartford, CT and all the vendors and convention center staff who put in the time, effort and miles to make this year's show happen. Despite being rather close, I couldn't make it, but since *ahem* nobody gave proper credit, I figured I would.
#keepitclassypinkbike
giving it some real world testing now, so hopefully will let you know how they hold up!
www.pinkbike.com/photo/15621486
youtu.be/GQ6ukZ0aSCo
Welp, lets burn this place to the ground. Hopefully that'll contain it.
www.pinkbike.com/u/ufoDziner/album/Altruiste-Zydeco
Reference: www.maxim.com/rides/stylish-bicycle-builder-brooklyn-helio-ascari-2016-8
I happen to like the 'steam punkish' look to it. I guess that makes me a hipster douche? LoL Wankers.
But hey, good on him for finding a niche market where people are dropping that kind of cash.
I do think they are works of art, however garish they may be. The guy used to be a male model, so its no surprise really!