Indianapolis, IN – At the heart of the North American Handmade Bicycle Show is Don Walker. It was Walker’s foresight, some five years ago; to bring together the world of hand built bicycles under one roof so that the masses might be able to partake in what the attentive few already had.“Framebuilding is truly a labor of love,” Walker wrote in his NAHBS director’s note. “NAHBS was created as a medium to validate the talents and ingenuity of these extraordinary individuals who have dedicated their lives to the art of fabricating bicycle frames.”
The 5th edition of the show saw a relocation to Walker’s current homestead, the Midwest.
In Part III of our NAHBS series, we’ll take a look at some of the handmade offerings from the Midwest, specifically Indiana, and also at some of the giants back east.
Don Walker isn’t only the founder and director of the NAHBS, but also a frame builder who runs Speedway Handmade Bicycle Works out of Speedway, Indiana. Walker “specializes in fillet-brazed or lugged steel frames and has created bicycles of performance, durability and beauty in road, track, time trial, cyclocross and tandem styles.”
Shamrock Cycles are hand built by Tim O’Donnell directly from “the mountains of Indiana,” or more specifically Indianapolis, IN. O’Donnell’s creates “custom-lugged and fillet-brazed steel road, cyclocross and mountain bike frames,” but it was this utility/city bike that caught my eye.
Stephen Bilenky of Bilenky Cycle Works also has a penchant for creative writing as noted from his NAHBS biography. “My tinkering career began at age three with a percolator coffee pot. I sat on the kitchen floor taking it apart and putting it back together, preparing the skill set for my tween year’s Sturmey Archer three-speed hub rescue missions…Now the BCW framebuilding superheroes stand ready to take on your bike-building project. Our happy, dirty place turns out exquisite, clean machines.” The Philly based Bilenky Cycle Works won this year’s NAHBS “Best Tandem” award. See other award winners.
Drew Guldalian of Engin Cycles took home the NAHBS “Best Off-Road Bicycle” award at last year’s show. This year, the Philadelphia based builder brought in four customers’ bikes that illustrated his craftsmanship with lugged steel frames.
Rich Adams made the trip to Indianapolis from Wilkes-Barre, PA with pet rabbit in tow to showcase his steel framesets. Framebuilding for 10 years now, Adams combined his framebuilding business and full-service retail store five years ago so that he can “interface with my clients, showcase my custom frames, and serve the basic needs of my community.”
Serotta Competition Bicycles was founded in 1972 by owner and master framebuilder Ben Serotta. It’s fair enough to say that Serotta is one of the giants in the world of customized bicycles, and his fabrications at this year’s NAHBS further validated the point. It's easy to see why Serotta's creations are some of the most sought after in the bicycle industry
Another member of NAHBS’ “original six,” Richard Sachs began his career in framebuilding as an apprentice in London based Witcomb Lightweight Cycles. And after 35 years in the business, the Chester, CT framebuilder still maintains a one-man shop using traditional methods because “technology alone is a poor substitute for experience.”
Independent Fabrication was founded in 1995. Since that time, the bicycles fabricated at the Somerville, MA company have won numerous awards and drawn plenty of accolades. Their creations, from the "her’s-and-her’s" pair of pink roadies to their Asian inspired fixie, continue to impress. For their efforts, IF came away with the "Best Carbon Fiber Bicycle" award. See other award recipients.
October Hand Made Bikes, based out of Lynn, MA, was founded by framebuilder Andrew Frasca. October specializes in titanium and titanium/carbon fiber composite road, cross, mountain, and track bicycles.
Alternative Needs Transportation, or ANT, in owned and operated by Mike Flanigan and Betsy Scola. The bicycle builder from Holliston, MA specializes in “making complete bicycles for the transportation market, and everything is done in-house.
Parlee Cycles was founded by Bob Parlee, a high-performance boat builder, in 1999. Building exclusively with carbon fiber, Parlee has added triathlon, cross, and track frames to their repertoire for 2009.
Photos: © Leonard Basobas
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