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North American Hand Made Bicycle Show
Portland, Oregon, USA, February 8 - 10, 2008
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Part 5 - Local builders come out in force
By James Huang in Portland, Oregon
Sacha White offered upthe usual array
Photo ©: James Huang
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It could easily be said that NAHBS organizer Don Walker couldn't have chosen
a better location for this year's show. In fact, many people did say exactly
that given Portland's status as a hotbed of the frame building world right now.
Out of the 156 total exhibitors (not all of which were frame builders), roughly
two dozen were based in Portland or in nearby surrounding areas of Oregon, including
Tony Pereira, Sacha White, Joseph Ahearne, Mike DeSalvo, and Ira Ryan.
White has built an enormous head of steam with his Vanilla Cycles brand since
NAHBS 2006. White said his waitlist spanned about 13 months at the time, ballooned
to about four years by the next year's show, and after hitting the five-year
mark shortly thereafter he stopped taking deposits for full-custom bikes, at
least for now. One doesn't have to look too closely to understand why this is
the case and we'll let the images speak for themselves.
White's signature dropout
Photo ©: James Huang
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One customer who managed to nudge her way to the top of the list, though, was
White's oldest daughter, Cybelle. The eight-year-old outgrew the award-winning
tricycle her father created for her two years ago (which currently resides in
a museum in San Francisco) and now pedals to school on a beautiful mixte bike
complete with the full Vanilla Cycles treatment. Think back now: what did you
used to ride to school on? Must be good to have one of the world's best frame
builders as your dad!
That five-year waiting period weighs heavily on White, though. While the security
of knowing he has work for the half-decade must be at least somewhat reassuring
it does also place some restrictions on pursuing other creative interests (and
he has many). It also doesn't always sit well with him that his full-blown Vanillas
are now financially out of reach for many buyers (including a lot of his close
friends).
Creative abilities aside, White still holds a strong passion for 'cross racing
and created the Speedvagen line last year to help feed that hunger as well as
offer customers a shorter waiting period and more accessible price tag. Built
in cooperation with another local builder, Mike DeSalvo, each Speedvagen is
a purpose-built racer with few of the purely aesthetic embellishments that grace
the Vanilla line and White is careful about whom these go to; these machines
are built for racing and he'd like to have some reassurance that they will be
used as such.
For 2008, White has added a Speedvagen road racing line but interested parties
should line up quickly. There will only be fifteen made this season and ten
are already spoken for. We'll freely admit to truly lusting after very few bikes
ourselves these days, but this is absolutely one of them. Where do we sign up?
Portland compatriot Joseph Ahearne has thus far chosen to concentrate on everyday
lifestyle bikes but his creativity and workmanship has drawn many admiring eyes
and multiple awards. His split chain stay design has evolved into somewhat of
an Ahearne trademark and each of his bikes profiled here feature it. At this
year's show he also showed off a split fork blade design as well. Ahearne readily
admits that he's not ready to offer that to the public yet before giving it
a good go himself but it's a striking design feature nonetheless.
Fixies were as prevalent as ever
Photo ©: James Huang
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One of his most fetching works also happened to be his own personal bike. Paired
tubes abound from top to bottom on this one, and the split top tube was specifically
sized to hold Ahearne's U-lock as he pedals from place to place. The unique
seat binder configuration is unlike any we've come across in recent memory and
the custom front rack is as functional as it is beautiful.
Newcomer Ken Wheeler came to NAHBS with what were possibly the most unconventional
bikes of the show. Nope, they weren't steel, titanium, or aluminium, nor were
they carbon or even bamboo. Wheeler's material of choice is hardwood.
Each front triangle member is essentially created in halves. A CNC mill hogs
out the interior of each frame member half and then the two are bonded together
to create what is then essentially a hollow tube. Hard points are glued and
bolted into place and solid hardwood reinforcements are used at the head tube
and seatpost. Carbon fibre rear ends are also bonded in place.
Speedvagen bikes are fitted
Photo ©: James Huang
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According to Wheeler, one of his maple down tubes beat a commonly used brand
name aluminium MTB tube in out of place bending and torsional stiffness and
the smoothness of the ride quality is unmatched by any other material he's encountered.
Moreover, wood's toughness and overall damage tolerance bodes well for long-term
durability. He can also use a number of different varieties of wood to deliver
particular characteristics or even a particular aesthetic. Surprisingly, the
frames are even reasonably light as sub-4lbs complete.
Want more? Come back tomorrow!
Also be sure to check out additional coverage from Gary Boulanger at our
BikeRadar.com partner site
PhotographyFor a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by
James Huang/Cyclingnews.com
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Sacha White offered upthe usual array
of showstopping bikes including this randonneur model.
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How far did you say you had to go
, and how much stuff did you have to carry?
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The rack is functional
but the detailing is beautiful in its own right.
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If you want some of this Vanilla
you'll unfortunately have to get in a very, very long line.
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There's a lot going on here.
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Fixies were as prevalent as ever
and White certainly had one on hand at his Vanilla Bicycles booth.
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White's signature dropout
shows the mark of a steady paintbrush.
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Yikes, that's tight!
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A stainless steel top tube protector
has got you covered if you inadvertantly let the bars swing around.
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White's oldest daughter, Cybelle
, gets to ride this mixte to school every day.
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The mixte frame
is a nod to classic frame designs and looks great to boot.
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Comfortably bent bars
are covered in Brooks leather tape.
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Cybelle certainly does use this everyday
as these panniers were full of papers when we stopped by the workshop one night.
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White has also began to delve into the world
of prints.
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These frames hanging up high
didn't garner too much attention but the leather chain stay guard caught our eye nonetheless.
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White launched his Speedvagen line
of race bikes last year and added a road model for 2008.
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The Speedvagen bikes are still breathtaking to look at
but their intent is all business.
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Deeply arced stays
get the job done.
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White's own interpretation of the prancing horse.
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Speedvagen bikes are fitted
with a unique take on the integrated seatpost. Does that seatpost top look familiar?
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Stainless plates are secured
to the underlying dropout with tiny screws. Edge Composites is also making some for White in carbon fiber.
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A custom-painted saddle perhaps isn't the most practical
but damn, does it look good.
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Even the cable stops
display an unyielding attention to detail.
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Speedvagen 'cross bikes have been raced
throughout the U.S. and abroad by sponsored riders such as Molly Cameron.
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Speedvagen frames are built in cooperation
with another heralded Portland builder, Mike DeSalvo.
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This dropout design was striking enough…
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…but wow, this one is even better.
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Brake lines run directly through the seat tube
for a straight shot.
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Speedvagen 'cross posts
are fastened a little more securely.
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White also had some new wool jerseys on hand
in his booth, recently introduced by another Portlander, Harth Huffman.
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Huffman is a long-time wool jersey user
and created his line to embody everything he's ever looked for (but apparently couldn't find) in existing offerings at the time. We'll keep an eye on this one but the quality looks superb to us so far.
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The Vanilla Bicycles workshop
sits in an unobtrusive building in Portland.
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Frames start out as this…
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…and eventually end up like this.
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White spends a lot of his time shaping metal
with cutting and hand files.
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How many files are on your bench?
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Maybe this is the inspiration for White's work.
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A dedicated alignment table sits at the back of the room.
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Wooden stairs lead up to a fitting studio
and 'professional' area.
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Portland is rife with top notch builders
and Joseph Ahearne is another one that has forged a well-earned reputation for himself.
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Ahearne's personal townie bike
includes a split top tube that fits his U-lock perfectly.
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Split chain stays have become
an Ahearne signature feature.
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This clearly took a long time to make.
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Ahearne's townie also boasts
a unique seat binder arrangement.
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Anyone want to go pick up the pizza?
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Ahearne also displayed another townie
at this year's NAHBS.
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The rear end is purposeful
yet elegant at the same time.
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Again, Ahearne's split stays
feature on another machine.
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The shifter is cleverly integrated
into the stem.
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The custom-built front rack holds plenty of stuff…
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…but sometimes maybe just a single flower will do.
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When standard U.S. coins just won't do.
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Ahearne doesn't limit himself to just townies, though
, as demonstrated by this randonneur model.
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Any guesses who built this one?
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Ahearne also introduced the split concept
on this fork although he wisely wants to test it first before offering it to the public.
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The front rack is custom sized…
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…for this bag.
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The elegant pump holder is neatly fitted
on the non-drive seat stay.
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Shifters are again cleanly integrated into the stem.
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Drink, anyone?
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Ahearne does road, too.
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Yup, here again.
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A small scallop in the seat stay
offers extra chain clearance.
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We'll take one, please.
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Portland builder Ken Wheeler
showed off his Renovo line of wooden bikes.
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Each front triangle is built out of a number
of hollowed-out pieces of hardwood.
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The bottom bracket shell is bonded and bolted
in place.
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"Air hardened"!
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Hardwood rings reinforced the head tube.
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It looks heavy
but is actually quite reasonable.
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Ira Ryan only started building frames recently
but has quickly forged a name for himself in his Portland community.
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We saw this bike at last year's show
but the rack has since gained some 'embellishments'. Mmm… cupcakes.
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We're sure we'll see more of Ira Ryan
in the near future.
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Have we mentioned that Portland
is a bike-crazy town?
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Ryan isn't just a framebuilder
; he's also an accomplished racer.
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Mike DeSalvo showed off a number of bikes and frame
, including this clean-looking singlespeed.
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Sliding dropouts were everywhere
in the Oregon Convention Center.
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Almost too pretty to ride.
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DeSalvo also does titanium.
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Does this bring back any memories?
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Dropouts are clean and purposeful.
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Ah, right, we figured there was a story
to be told here.
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Newcomer Aaron Hayes of Courage Bicycles
won this year's 'Best New Builder' award.
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With details like this we can see why.
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Courage takes advantage of Paul Components' direct mount
post design.
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The rear brake cable is routed directly
through the seat tube but it's not an integrated seatpost design; the bottom of the post is slotted.
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The symbol of Courage.
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The front brake cable is routed through the stem.
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Local builder Vertigo
showed off the preferred bicycle genre of the region.
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Vertigo also showed off this nice titanium mountain bike.
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The most eye-catching Vertigo bike on display
was arguably this road bike.
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Vertigo builder Sean Chaney
equipped his road bike with a 90mm-wide shell and milled its interior to directly accept the bottom bracket bearings.
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A small notch makes for chainring clearance
while maximizing room for big tires.
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Brake lines are run internally.
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Chaney says he can comfortably fit 28mm-wide tires
in the single-bend stays.
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UK clothing company Rapha announced
that it would be basing its U.S. operations in Portland.
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Andy Hampsten fans can pick up this replica jersey
from his Giro d'Italia win…
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…which comes complete with a pin-on number
if you're so inclined.
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Co-Motion is best known for its tandems…
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…but also does singles as well.
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Portland builder Vendetta Cycles…
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…came to NAHBS with some clean-looking machines.
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Signal Cycles does road…
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…and townie, as well as just about anything else you can think of.
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Goodtimes is another Portland builder…
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…and its frames sport some neat-looking dropouts.
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Hufnagel showed off this mixte bike…
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…and also sponsors the local road chapter
of Organic Athlete.
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Marcroft Cycles offers road and mountain bikes.
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Marcroft is adopting the philosophy
of 'race it on Sunday, sell it on Monday.'
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These jerseys might be a common sight
in the Portland area.
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Portland builder Strawberry Cycles
has been around for some time now…
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…and also offers a range of
superb-looking frame tools.
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Many builders learned the mechanics of their craft
at United Bicycle Institute.
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