A judge from the California handmade show reveals the winners
Santa Cruz's Caletti Cycles went all out with the finish on its entry in Best Finish. Spectrum provided the white base paint. Then the bike, along with a pair of Giro shoes, Giro helmet and a slingshot, was handed off to artist Jeremiah Kille who hand painted everything. A clear coat was then applied to protect the work
Santa Cruz's Caletti Cycles went all out with the finish on its entry in Best Finish. Spectrum provided the white base paint. Then the bike, along with a pair of Giro shoes, Giro helmet and a slingshot, was handed off to artist Jeremiah Kille who hand painted everything. A clear coat was then applied to protect the work - Nick Legan
People's Choice winner was Alchemy Cycles for its Arktos full-suspension bike - Nick Legan
Bixxis won both Best Campagnolo Bike and President's Choice for his Doriano De Rosa's beautiful red and white road bike. Valentino Campagnolo won on hand for the award, his first time to NAHBS - Nick Legan
Best in Show went to Black Cat's Todd Ingermanson for his exceptional 27.5 bikepacking bike. It was built for Velorution Cycles owner Joey Ernst. The shop in Durango recently partered with Bedrock Bags and they made special, bolt-on frame and top tube bags for the bike - Nick Legan
Ingermanson painted the bike himself, including this intricate down tube motif inspired by 1970's GMC truck sticker kits - Nick Legan
Ingermanson machines his own dropouts, in this case with a pivot and tensioner giving the rider the option of using the bike as a single speed - Nick Legan
Going the extra mile with the Giro Synthe helmet, Empire shoes and slingshot blew away the judges - Nick Legan
Star fish, crabs, an ocotopus and other naval items covered the Santa Cruz inspired finish - Nick Legan
Best New Builder went to Cryptic Cycles for its carbon road bike. The Orange County maker lays up his own carbon tubes based on rider needs and uses Boron fibers to keep this frame's weight below 700g - Nick Legan
Clean work and an ambitious frame were rewarded with Best New Builder - Nick Legan
Dropouts don't come much cleaner than Dinucci's - Nick Legan
Argonaut won Best Layup for its disc brake, integrated seat mast road bike - Nick Legan
Argonaut co-developed the threaded T47 bottom bracket spec alongside Chris King - Nick Legan
Best Artisan Bike went to Dekerf for his mind-boggling road bike. All the tubes began as straight, round titanium and were formed by Dekert in his Vancouver shop - Nick Legan
The integrated bar/stem combo completes the aesthetic of the bike while also adding significantly to the work involved in completing the bike - Nick Legan
Dinucci's brake bridge lug is very identifiable. Notice the tiny amount of visible brazing material - Nick Legan
Eriksen again won Best TIG Construction. The welds are as close to perfect as you'll see - Nick Legan
The complex shapes of the Eriksen full suspension frame presents welding problems but the resulting stack of dimes look is a testament to the extreme skill at Eriksen's shop - Nick Legan
Holland's lugged carbon frame and custom fork earned a well-deserved Honorable Mention in the Layup category - Nick Legan
Sacramento's own, Steve Rex, won Best Fillet bike for his steel and carbon road bike - Nick Legan
Good fillets will give a monocoque look to steel, blending tubes into one another in beautiful arcs. The Rex certainly accomplishes this - Nick Legan
With excellent carbon contruction and a clever suspension design called Sine that Alchemy licenses from David Earle, the Arktos is an impressive machine worthy of Best Mountain Bike - Nick Legan
Best City/Utility went to Breadwinner for its stunning mixte bike - Nick Legan
Clean execution and real-world features like dynamo lights, fenders and a front rack make the Breadwinner a usable show bike - Nick Legan
Co-Motion brought home Best Tandem for its bright white and purple road bike. With Di2 shifting, hydraulic brakes and low weight, it was built for fast two-up riding - Nick Legan
Mark Dinucci once again won Best Lugged Bike. Dinucci designed the steel tubeset and lugs before brazing them together for one of the world's most elegant bike framesets - Nick Legan
An Honorable Mention was earned by English in the City/Utility category for this beautiful belt drive Alfine Di2 "winter bike" built for a customer in New Zealand - Nick Legan
Rob English's amazing homage to Graeme Obree's "Old Faithful" nearly brought tears to the eyes of show-goers. Using modern materials, English built the bike to his personal measurements and plans on racing aboard the stunner. The bike earned him an Honorable Mention in the Artisan Bike category - Nick Legan
English used a custom, narrowed eccentric bottom bracket, a custom U.K. produced crank and narrowed front and rear hubs to emulate Obree's own efforts - Nick Legan
Best Track went to Sarto for its carbon wonder bike. The Campagnolo chainring is 1 of 2 in the world. The other was used by Alex Dowsett in his hour record ride - Nick Legan
The tricolore accent on the fork makes its orgin obvious - Nick Legan
The clean seat mast with flashy paint is bold yet elegant - Nick Legan
Alchemy launched its Arktos dual suspension bike at Interbike last fall. The 27.5" wheeled, six-inch travel full-suspension bike is designed, engineering, built and painted at Alchemy's Denver location - Nick Legan
An Honorable Mention went to Demon for its lugged road bike. Using oversized tubing and custom lugs, it was built specifically for a large rider - Nick Legan
Inspired by the winged feet of Hermes (messenger to the Greek gods), the lugs on the Demon required a huge investment of time and money to produce - Nick Legan
Rob English's bikes always impress. This year his personal pink machine delivered like no other in the road category. Disc brakes, three bottle mounts, room for 700x35mm tires and SRAM eTAP made for an exceptional package that was expertly executed - Nick Legan
The dropped top tube and extended seat mast allows for an extra bottle cage mount - Nick Legan
Very tidy thru axle rear dropouts and Flat Mount rear brake added to the svelte look of English's road machine - Nick Legan
Best Cyclocross/Gravel went to Eriksen. Brad Bingham is the company's head welder and his personal gravel machine featured a custom 12mm rear axle, Flat Mount rear brake and a custom crank spider for optimal road gearing chainline on the 142x12mm rear spacing - Nick Legan
Designed by Bingham and machined by Jason Oakes of Oakes Manufacturing, the custom SRAM DM spider offers an optimized chainline and increased tire clearance - Nick Legan
To use Flat Mount brakes, Eriksen's Bingham had to design an all-new 12mm thru axle drop-out system to properly locate the rear axle in relation to the caliper - Nick Legan
SRAM's eTAP keeps a bike tidy like only a fixed gear can match - Nick Legan
At the North American Handmade Bicycle Show, a convention hall is filled with bikes that represent the pinnacle of cycling ingenuity and craft. Here, the job of picking award winners is not an easy task. But each of the past four years I’ve had the honor and the chore of doing just that, helping to judge the beautiful bikes on display at NAHBS. This year several categories were especially tough, in which case the judges’ panel decided to include Honorable Mentions.
With any further ado, here are 2016’s standouts.
Best in Show: Black Cat (27.5+ bikepacking bike)
Best in show went to black cat's todd ingermanson for his exceptional 27.5 bikepacking bike. it was built for velorution cycles owner joey ernst. the shop in durango recently partered with bedrock bags and they made special, bolt-on frame and top tube bags for the bike:
Best New Builder: Cryptic
Best new builder went to cryptic cycles for its carbon road bike. the orange county based maker lays up his own carbon tubes based on rider needs and uses boron fibers to keep this frame's weight below 700g:
President’s Award and Best Campagnolo Bike: Bixxis
Bixxis won both best campagnolo bike and president's choice for his doriano de rosa's beautiful red and white road bike. valentino campagnolo won on hand for the award, his first time to nahbs:
People’s Choice: Alchemy
People's choice winner was alchemy cycles for its arktos full-suspension bike:
Best Road: English (Honorable Mention: Demon)
Rob english's bikes always impress. this year his personal pink machine delivered like no other in the road category. disc brakes, three bottle mounts, room for 700x35mm tires and sram etap made for an exceptional package that was expertly executed:
Best Mountain Bike: Alchemy Arktos (Honorable Mention: Foes and Moots)
Alchemy launched its arktos dual suspension bike at interbike last fall. the 27.5
Best Cyclocross/Gravel: Eriksen
Best cyclocross/gravel went to eriksen. brad bingham is the company's head welder and his personal gravel machine featured a custom 12mm rear axle, flat mount rear brake and a custom crank spider for optimal road gearing chainline on the 142x12mm rear spacing:
Best City/Utility: Breadwinner (Honorable Mention: English)
Best city/utility went to breadwinner for its stunning mixte bike:
Best Track Bike: Sarto
Best track went to sarto for its carbon wonder bike. the campagnolo chainring is 1 of 2 in the world. the other was used by alex dowsett in his hour record ride:
Best Artisan Bike: Dekerf (Honorable Mention: English Obree homage)
Best artisan bike went to dekerf for his mind-boggling road bike. all the tubes began as straight, round titanium and were formed by dekert in his vancouver shop:
Best Tandem: Co-Motion
Co-Motion brought home best tandem for its bright white and purple road bike. with di2 shifting, hydraulic brakes and low weight, it was built for fast two-up riding:
Best Lugged: Mark Dinucci
Mark dinucci once again won best lugged bike. dinucci designed the steel tubeset and lugs before brazing them together for one of the world's most elegant bike framesets:
Best Fillet: Steve Rex
Good fillets will give a monocoque look to steel, blending tubes into one another in beautiful arcs. the rex certainly accomplishes this:
Best TIG: Eriksen (Honorable Mention: Triple 3 Fab)
The complex shapes of the eriksen full suspension frame presents welding problems but the resulting stack of dimes look is a testament to the extreme skill at eriksen's shop:
Best Carbon Layup: Argonaut (Honorable Mention: Holland)
Argonaut won best layup for its disc brake, integrated seat mast road bike:
Best Finish: Caletti
Star fish, crabs, an ocotopus and other naval items covered the santa cruz inspired finish: star fish, crabs, an ocotopus and other naval items covered the santa cruz inspired finish
