North American Hand Made Bicycle Show

Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, February 27 - March 1, 2009

Main Page           Next Part

Part 1 - February 28: NAHBS opens its doors for 2009 edition

By James Huang in Indianapolis, Indiana

The 2009 North American Handmade Bicycle Show opened its doors today to roughly 1,700 attendees hailing from as far as Hawaii, Japan and beyond. Though tighter restrictions (two years in business or fifty frames built plus requisite liability insurance) perhaps culled some fresher framebuilding talent, nearly all of the major players were on hand for what looks to be the busiest NAHBS to date.

Vanilla Bicycles unveils round three of Speedvagen program

Vanilla introduces its third Speedvagen

Not surprisingly, Sacha White's Vanilla Bicycles booth was among the most heavily traveled on day one with his usual array of eye candy that included a beautiful bare stainless steel and baby blue townie and several other showstoppers from past NAHBS editions. Those wanting a Vanilla of their own hopefully already have an order in place though as White is still not accepting new orders. Even after having spent the last year working through the backlog, some existing orders are still four years out.

In the meantime, White showed off a third member of his racer-specific Speedvagen line: an all-steel TIG-welded track bike. As with the 'cross and road versions, the track bike features a number of clever White innovations such as ultra-beefy dropouts that are a whopping 15mm thick but still reasonably light courtesy of hollow construction.

Dropouts on the show bike were fully machined - the driveside one then had plates brazed on to either side to box it in but the non-driveside one was left open to show the interior. White says that production versions will ultimately be cast and he also plans on using a similar design for new Speedvagen 'cross frames.

Up front, the Speedvagen track bike also features a custom-butted top tube with additional reinforcement where the bars would contact in the event of a crash, a 'Speedvagen' logo cut right into the head tube and backed by a carbon fiber insert, and a new full-carbon track fork from Edge Composites with a stiff lay-up and tight clearances.

Availability of Speedvagen track frames in 2009 will be limited solely to a local Portland track team for testing but White is already taking orders for delivery in 2010. He plans to offer just 15 of them that year though, with production to increase to 30 in 2011. Time to line up!

Parlee

Parlee showed off its latest options for its flagship Z1.

Long-time NAHBS exhibitor Parlee showed off a custom Z1 road flagship complete with newly added integrated seatmast and BB30 bottom bracket shell options. According to Parlee's Tom Rodi, there had been enough requests from customers to justify adding it in and the weight savings, extra drivetrain stiffness and roomier heel clearance just lent more substance to the idea.

Rather than use a bonded-in aluminum or titanium bottom bracket insert though Parlee's BB30 shell is bare carbon. Rodi says that the lay-up was reconfigured specifically to deal with the added load of pressed-in bearings and the direct fit offers better alignment as well. Claimed weight for the display frame is just 940g.

Also on hand were a track variant of the Z1 and a 'cross frame based on the Z2/Z3 - both now in full production and finally available to customers - as well as a belt-driven single-speed 'cross bike using a Carbon Drive Systems drivetrain.

Just in case your current winter beater just isn't doing the trick (and you've got a lot of money burning a big hole in your pocket), yes, Parlee can also do fender and rack mounts - in carbon fiber, of course.

Della Santa

Della Santa says that just prepping the lugs

Legendary framebuilder Roland Della Santa's long history includes such notable clients as Greg LeMond and now celebrates four decades of framebuilding with a limited run of special-edition frames - all of which will feature his remaining stock of Nervex Pro lugs.

Della Santa will build the frames as 1970s period pieces, right down to the Campagnolo brake housing loops, dropouts, fork tips, and bottom bracket cable guides - brazed on top of the shell. Gorgeous Masi seat stay 'spoons' are brazed up top and three slots are hand-filed into the bottom bracket shell.

A single set of water bottle braze-ons grace the down tube and all of the frames will be finished in pearl white with red panels and accents. Customers will have the option of 120, 126, or 130mm rear axle spacing and 47 or 52mm brake drops.

Della Santa says he will only be able to offer twenty anniversary framesets - limited by his stock of the long-defunct lugs - and three have already been pre-sold.

Photography

For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here

Images by James Huang/Cyclingnews.com

• Vanilla Bicycles introduces its third Speedvagen model to supplement the existing road and 'cross frames.
• The massive 15mm-wide dropouts are uber-stiff but apparently fairly light given their unique hollow construction.
• The production dropouts will be fully boxed-in.
• It's hard to tell but there's a new Chris King InSet hidden inside there.
• The cut-out Speedvagen logo is backed by a carbon fiber insert.
• Sacha White does his own version of an integrated seatmast.
• The custom head is made of stainless steel and uses Thomson cradles and hardware.
• This year's Speedvagen road bike looks stunning in red.
• The dramatically shaped seat stays are flattened and curved for extra comfort.
• Tiny housing stops are elegant and functional with their built-in barrel adjusters.
• Only a lucky few get to ride a bike with this logo.
• This beautiful townie is undoubtedly a little nicer than the one most people use to get the groceries.
• Registered graphics make for a racy look.
• As is fast becoming a Vanilla trademark, the rear brake line is routed directly through the integrated mast.
• A neatly done chain guard keeps pants clean.
• Yes, folks, even the display stands are creative. These are made from poured concrete.
• Mud anyone?
• White's Vanilla and Speedvagen brands have grown to include more than just bikes.
• Parlee showed off its latest options for its flagship Z1.
• The integrated seatmast is topped with a Ritchey head.
• This one also utilizes the BB30 standard and is fitted with a SRAM Red crankset.
• Parlee doesn't use a metallic sleeve for the press-in bearings, preferring instead to mold the bearing seats right in and readjust the fiber lay-up to handle the load.
• Parlee's track-specific Z1 is also now in production.
• The dropouts are made from both titanium and carbon fiber.
• This particular Z1 Track belongs to Jackie Simes IV, a fourth-generation American six-day racer.
• Parlee's new 'cross bike is also ready for the mud.
• Carbon fiber top tube housing stops are molded as a strip and then individually cut and milled.
• Even the brake housing stop is carbon fiber.
• The front derailleur pulley mount is an exercise in overkill.
• This single-speed Parlee belt-drive 'cross bike looks ideally suited to nasty weather.
• Parlee's dropout design is already well suited for the Carbon Drive Systems belt installation.
• Naturally, Parlee made their own spacers for the rear cog.
• The Parlee Z4 is what is used by the Fly V Australia team for road events.
• Unlike the Z1, Z2, and Z3, the Z4 uses an internal-cup headset.
• Fancy a Parlee for some wet-weather riding?
• Sure, you can put fenders on that!
• Yes, even Parlee's fender mounts are carbon.
• The lower fender mounts are neatly integrated into the dropout interface.
• Optional 'ghost' lettering makes for a stealthy look.
• Roland Della Santa celebrates forty years of framebuilding with a limited-edition run of anniversary framesets.
• Della Santa is limiting production to just twenty framesets as he's limited by the number of old Nervex Pro lugs he still has on hand.
• Della Santa says that just prepping the lugs takes a day and a half per frame.
• The seat cluster includes added-on points and beautiful Masi scoops atop the seat stays.
• In keeping with the intended 70s look, the cables are run on top of the bottom bracket shell.
• Three slots are hand-cut into the bottom bracket shell.
• Does your steel frame look this clean even on the inside?
• Campagnolo bits are used throughout.
• Della Santa prefers horizontal dropouts even on his most modern frames.
• Fork tips and crown are both chromed.
• This Della Santa belongs to long-time admirer (and show organizer) Don Walker.