Oregon Handmade Bicycle Show

This past Sunday I went to the World Forestry Center in Portland to check out the Oregon Handmade Bicycle Show.   In a world where most bicycles are made by machines in Taiwan or China, it was great to see some two wheeled creations that local folks put a lot of effort into.   

The bikes ranged from crazy designs with steering wheels to one-off titanium works of art.  The companies in attendance are listed on the link above, and though I wasn’t familar with most of them, I nonetheless had a great time checking out all the little details on the bikes (welds, component choices such as internally geared hubs, frame/fork designs, etc) that the average joe wouldn’t begin to notice or care about.   The fully rigid Jones bikes frame and forks were probably the most interesting to me at the show (they’re the ones with the crazy looking forks in the pictures).  Check out how fat that tire & rim are in the last picture! 

I can’t wait until Feb 8-10th, 2008 when Portland will host the 4th annual North American Handmade Bicycle Show.