bhsk goes places: NAHBS 2012

let's be honest here, i'm no john prolly. i got a media pass to NAHBS this year since it was in my neck of the  woods- i'm going to warn you here, i took a different approach and just took photos of stuff i was around and liked. i'll also warn you that i'm GARBAGE at taking indoor shots and i know i should've rented a flash. in any case, i had a blast hanging with everyone while i was down in sacto. get a look at the rest of the photos and some stories after the jump!












if you've been paying attention to the random things i say sometimes, you may have heard me talk about broakland. they've been laying a little low, but i think they're going to make a huge comeback (well i wont call it a comeback) in the upcoming months. they're moving into some really cool things like hidden disc brake levers, and aluminum frames and stuff. oh, and you know that FGFS bike you see above belongs to ferrer sanders. yes, FERRER SANDERS. if you know your OG stuff, then you know how psyched i was. that's a wound up fork, that has clearance for a 47c. YES, 47c! there's also sugino 75's on there too. OG indeed!





as the mentors to the builders at destroy bikes, bicycle fabrications came with an armada of super tech mountain bikes. now i'm no MTB expert but i do know what works well and what doesnt work so well, and these guys have some really really nutty rear suspensions that will blow your mind. they're also experimenting with innertube techology that will revolutionize the downhill world.

 actually, those inner tube coverings are to keep people from peeking at what will be a game changing rear suspension since patents arent on the suspension yet. the MTB game is real, folks.









ghisallo wood rims were in effect thanks to wheel fanatyk. what drew me to their booth were (as always) shiny shiny things- this time they were hubs. these things had hella big flanges going on and they were ridiculously polished. could you imagine having one of those track hubs? mmmmm...




though they only brought one bike, demon frameworks' "manhattan" was more than enough for me. these guys came from the UK  with arguably the raddest lugs ever which was inspred by new york's chrysler building. i'm a fan of their philosophy and views on the bikes, and i'm sure after you watch this video you'll be a fan too...


this is a festka. they're from the czech republic. it's fast. it also has the mash x cinelli x mike giant bar tape. that's rad.




one of the track bikes that caught my eye was the this track setup built by anderson cycles. creamsicleness, room for some meaty tires, nice i-tal-yun pieces, and curved seat tube makes a really clean and fine mix of a bike.





this is a gaulzetti. i want one. that is all.


hey look it's richard sachs with some richard sachs.


bishop bikes was killer this year. you are looking at the winner of the best steel bike and they also won best fillet brazing, and best lugged construction. that's a massive achievement. by the way, this AMAZING track bike is for sale!


this right here is the winner of  the people's choice award. it's a replica of of an 1888 whippet built by paul brodie- it was actually used as a promotion of the university of fraser valley's bicycle building course which is taught by brodie.





this was at the KVA stainless booth. though it might lead you to think that it's an SE, i do know what it is in terms of geometry. if you've been paying attention to any rider who's riding a bike comprised of KVA stainless, then you should know what this is.






i like indy fab, who doesnt? they had a bike at the gates carbon drive booth, and the latter 2 cause my attention. i'm really really into 'cross bikes for some reason and this was a pretty primo example of one. then there was that fire truck red porteur bike which was amazingly clean.



i hated the lighting for this one, but i couldnt go home without a photo of cherubim's machine. the shape of this bike, the lines the whole vibe of this bike is so crazy that it works. shin-ichi konno was all over the place at his booth too, but he seems really hyped on everyone around him. it's no wonder that he won best of show, and the presidents choice!



i've never seen the select series stuff from brooks. i quite like it. they had a 611 in their booth but i'll leave that one out til later. peep the plethora of colored colts!




every time i passed the shamrock cycles booth, there were people crowding around this green bike. it was a belt driven, super purpose built for the city, juggernaut of a bike which won the best city bike award.






36er anyone?






















these guys were super cool. vibe cycles is a smaller company based out of boise, idaho and initially i thought this was carbon. it was actually made of bamboo that was painted over to look like it was made of metal materials! i have a really nice conversation with dave about how materials are changing the way we have to thin about bikes as well as the fact that fat bikes are super cool.







majaco track bike that i thought was misunderstood. i think people over looked it because they dont apppreciate track bikes as much as i do, so i though this thing was on point!





i'm not going to lie, i was kind of disappointed with the FGFS bike rock lobster brought to the show. i love rock lobster because they're local and they always know what they're doing, but this one kinda lacked for me. first off it had a euro bb, the chainstays seemed kinda long, and white isn't the best at hiding dirtiness. i feel like an asshole for ripping this one apart, but i kind of expected more i guess. sorry rock lobster.



this rock lobster, however, was in the whiskey parts co booth. that fork, with those cranks, and that frame made me all fuzzy inside and made me forget all the snobbery i had against their FGFS bike.


this english singlespeed 29er weighed in as a whopping 18.5 lbs. that is astonshing considering i used to have a leader 721 that weighed in at around 18lbs!



ahearne bikes is my kind of company. you know how much i like odd purposed bikes, and these guys know what's up for the traveling cyclist. racks on racks on racks and flasks. so. many. flask. mounts.








i was all about this castle frameworks track setup. those cane creek wheels are sooooo shmexy.



one of my favorites at the show was this funk la ruta- it's a standard bike in their line, but this one is SUPER LIGHT due to the carbon front triangle (through ENVE) and a titanium rear triangle. let's put it this way, a standard la ruta weighs in at around 22 lbs. this weighed in at 20 lbs and 13 oz. in terms of mtb, that's pretty drastic.



cinelli was on that belt drive hype too. this one also had some internal cbles going on for the disc brakes which really cleaned it up. still not a fan of belt drive though...




the alcohauler!





i saw this and was immediately awash with a warm, fuzzy feeling. if you pay attention to my random ramblings, then you know how i feel about fat bikes (and can we not call them fat? can we call them curvacious or something?) and you might know how i feel about lefty forks. this form had both. what a beautiful machine that only a guy like me could love.








quite possibly the most photographed bicycle at the show, peacock groove's tribute to evil dead II. i overheard people with some mixed reactions, one being: "why would someone build this?" uh... becauase it's friggin awesome! erik is a mad man, and his ideas are polarizing sometimes but this one was soooo right and yes, it was even better in person than in photos.










when you put a delorian in the middle of the floor you're going to naturally move towards it. the folks at sarto  brought it becuase they have the first "authorized by delorian" delorian bicycles made from columbus stainless steel. why this is relevant, i'm not sure- but i sure as hell cant see a young michael j fox riding one of these to 88 mile per hour (i couldn't not say that, it's a delorian!). some of these ones were strange like the "liger" disc, and that questionable "fixi"...



one of the first booths i went to was burro because i seriously wanted to know what the hell the grinder was.  i thought it had something to do with FGFS, other people thought it was literally a grinder (for... um... sandwiches if you get the reference to HIMYM). we were wrong. it happened to be their mid size bag- i threw it on and it was ridiculous how comfortable it was! i'm pretty sure you can load this one down, throw it around and it'll still ask for more.







now we're at the guys i've been rooting for, six eleven bikes. 2 years ago they took best rookie, last year they took best track bike, so their record is pretty intense. the first day i wore my hipster nascar shirt and aaron pointed me out and asked me where i got it- you sent it to me a looooooong ass time ago dude! i'm kicking myself because i forgot to buy a patch from them. in any case they had a bike at the books booth which was one of my favorites of the show. their cross bike was the winner of... well ... best cross bike, and it had painted on mud! how awesome is that!?!

well this ends everything NAHBS. like i said, i'm no john prolly so if you want to get really into it, i suggest you go there! i want to thank the destroy crew for letting me crash with them, the guys at bicycle fabrications for letting me hang at their booth, skylmt and nem pro for the food and drink on saturday, and NAHBS for actually giving me a media pass despite my extremely long blog and personal name.


jmik