Posts tagged Portland
Ten Cool Bikes from the MADE Show in Portland
August 28, 2023 2:44pm
by
rob
I just got back from three days at the MADE Show in Portland and am happy to report that American framebuilding is alive and well. It was great to see a lot of the “old guard” along with a lot of new up and comers.
MADE did a great job of taking the baton from NAHBS and running with it. I think Portland is a natural home for this show, though I’d love to see an East Coast version at some point.
It’s been said that the bike industry is really just a fashion industry, and to some extent this felt like a fashion show. I’m old enough to remember when steel bikes like Ritchey, Bontrager and Ibis were designed and built to be raced. But now it's less about the performance and more about the lifestyle. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
And like Stevil Kinevil pointed out on his Instagram: "All bikes are made by hand. The only ones that are generally celebrated are the ones made by white people who wear scarves."
Two negatives on the show were the heat (in the low 90s most days) and the terrible lighting inside the Zidell Yards building--hopefully they sort that out next year. Otherwise great location, staff, parking, food trucks, clean porta potties, etc.
My favorite bike at the show was the bike Mike DeSalvo built for me. I can’t wait to ride it as soon as the smoke clears up here in Bellingham!
But here are ten other cool bikes from the show!
Frank the Welder is building these Cunningham-esque retro-rides for Crust. Pretty cool.
Tonic Fabrication has the coolest, most minimalist aesthetic. Tony built this one for his son. Love the Bontrager/BMX vibe.
There wasn't a whole lot of carbon fiber at the show, but Pursuit (a Carl Strong project) was a standout. I'd seen it in pics before, but my favorite was the Sex Pistols livery bike that appeared at the Chris King open house Thursday night.
This show wasn't 100% Made in USA. Battaglin showed up with two very cool bikes with unique paint and lugs, including this gravel bike.
And Marc Tsiu came all the way from Taiwan to show off his ioklin bikes, which were stunning.
It was great to finally meet Jeff Frane in person. I love what he is doing with the Wilde brand.
The craziest bikes at the show were the Heavy Bikes. From their website: "At Heavy Bikes we utilize Foundry Casting Systems’s Pascal Process for pressurized solidification of sand casted parts. The build process starts with a custom bike fit which drives the 3d printed sand mold design. We fill the mold with molten A356 aluminum. The pressurized solidification ensures a properly filled part with enhanced mechanical properties. We then bust the mold with a sledgehammer, heat treatment then machining of all the interface and art surfaces."
The bike I most wanted to ride was this Archibald from Vancouver, BC. See my reel on Instagram
I finally got to meet Chris Chance, which was awesome. I've been a huge Fat Chance fan since the early 90s! He has set up shop down in Medford, Oregon and is doing some cool stuff!
Last but not least, my favorite new builder I'd never heard of was Mostly Forever from Bend, Oregon.
MADE did a great job of taking the baton from NAHBS and running with it. I think Portland is a natural home for this show, though I’d love to see an East Coast version at some point.
It’s been said that the bike industry is really just a fashion industry, and to some extent this felt like a fashion show. I’m old enough to remember when steel bikes like Ritchey, Bontrager and Ibis were designed and built to be raced. But now it's less about the performance and more about the lifestyle. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
And like Stevil Kinevil pointed out on his Instagram: "All bikes are made by hand. The only ones that are generally celebrated are the ones made by white people who wear scarves."
Two negatives on the show were the heat (in the low 90s most days) and the terrible lighting inside the Zidell Yards building--hopefully they sort that out next year. Otherwise great location, staff, parking, food trucks, clean porta potties, etc.
My favorite bike at the show was the bike Mike DeSalvo built for me. I can’t wait to ride it as soon as the smoke clears up here in Bellingham!
But here are ten other cool bikes from the show!
Frank the Welder is building these Cunningham-esque retro-rides for Crust. Pretty cool.
Tonic Fabrication has the coolest, most minimalist aesthetic. Tony built this one for his son. Love the Bontrager/BMX vibe.
There wasn't a whole lot of carbon fiber at the show, but Pursuit (a Carl Strong project) was a standout. I'd seen it in pics before, but my favorite was the Sex Pistols livery bike that appeared at the Chris King open house Thursday night.
This show wasn't 100% Made in USA. Battaglin showed up with two very cool bikes with unique paint and lugs, including this gravel bike.
And Marc Tsiu came all the way from Taiwan to show off his ioklin bikes, which were stunning.
It was great to finally meet Jeff Frane in person. I love what he is doing with the Wilde brand.
The craziest bikes at the show were the Heavy Bikes. From their website: "At Heavy Bikes we utilize Foundry Casting Systems’s Pascal Process for pressurized solidification of sand casted parts. The build process starts with a custom bike fit which drives the 3d printed sand mold design. We fill the mold with molten A356 aluminum. The pressurized solidification ensures a properly filled part with enhanced mechanical properties. We then bust the mold with a sledgehammer, heat treatment then machining of all the interface and art surfaces."
The bike I most wanted to ride was this Archibald from Vancouver, BC. See my reel on Instagram
I finally got to meet Chris Chance, which was awesome. I've been a huge Fat Chance fan since the early 90s! He has set up shop down in Medford, Oregon and is doing some cool stuff!
Last but not least, my favorite new builder I'd never heard of was Mostly Forever from Bend, Oregon.