Three days on the floor

This last weekend was the 2019 NAHBS in Sacramento, California. It’s local to me so it was easy to go and enjoy the event as I like to; by working hard taking photos, recording interviews, and networking with bros. 

This year I decided to step up my game by trying to do audio and photo work in depth. I challenged myself with a massive work load and it shows here by the size of this post. That meant carrying full gear and a lot wires and a lot of head spinning. The press pass I got for the show helped me as I was able to get into the venue early while it’s quiet and people have time to talk with people who are very busy with the public at other times..

I’m grateful to all the folks that took the time to talk with me on record. Hopefully, the things they said to me will also come in handy for a lot of others. There’s a lot of information and wisdom in there.

There was a lot to see. At the end of it all, there is one thing that stands out from all the rest and wins the PVD Best in Show prize:

Burnsie’s Huffy fork. The fork, affixed to a re-worked design-failed frame, this fork was produced from a dead Huffy (Serrotta?) road bike frame from the eighties. It was such an inspired piece in a booth full of real passion and grit (literally). There was a lot to see at Oddity but the Huffy fork is something that left me stoked to be a bicycle builder and eager to shred some dirt.

The work that Burnsie is doing at Oddity is worth a deep look. He’s an artist building kids bikes. I’m a kid. I get it. They aren’t serious bikes. They also aren’t goofy. They’re raw but immaculate, mostly. They cut everything down to what the toys I want to play with are when I just need to eliminate all the stuff and crap that doesn’t matter. That is some really good stuff.

The Audio Interviews:

My goal with the interviews, like my photos, is to focus on the details that the builders and designers focus on. What is going on in the heads of the people who’s bikes we look at? There are some comments made here you won’t hear anywhere else…

My voice got a bit horse by day three. These clips were posted in no particular order. I’ll let you guess which was done last.

***NOTE: Having an issue with these files playing on Android (chrome) mobile. Open on a desktop or laptop if you are having an issue***

Carl Strong
Pursuit Cycles & Strong Frames

 

Dmitry Nechaev
Triton Bikes & Pushka Bikes

 

James Bleakley
Black Sheep Bikes

 

Rob English
English Cycles

 

Mitch Carlson, Student, University of Iowa
University of Iowa

 

Steven Plante
Plante Cycles

 

Steve Rex
Rex Cycles

 

Sean ‘Burnsie’ Burns
Oddity Cycles

 

Rick Hunter
Hunter Cycles

 

Pierre Chastain
Blaze Bicycles

 

Paul Price & Patrick McNamara
Paul Components

 

Nick Crumpton
Crumpton Cycles

 

Michael Corby
Corby Concepts

 

Max Pratt
Pratt Frameworks

 

Joe Roggenbuck
The Cobra

 

Nick Jirsa
Drift Cycles

 

CalPoly Bike Builders

 

Bruce Gordon
Bruce Gordon Cycles

 

Brad Hodges
W.H. Bradford Designs

 

Atelier Kinopio
Kinopio

 

Alan Weatherill
Hope Technologies

 

The Photos

If you like this post, you may like some past NAHBS posts:

http://www.peterverdone.com/wiki/index.php?title=Handmade_Bicycle_Show_2007

2008 NAHBS

IMG_1954

2010 NAHBS

IMG_8693

2011 NAHBS

IMG_2548

 

2012 NAHBS, Sacramento

NAHBS 2014, Charlotte

NAHBS #2016

Who are you and why are you here?

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https://www.facebook.com/peter.verdone/media_set?set=a.10202201891901943