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NAHBS slugs one in Louisville

Published March 9, 2015

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BRAIN) — The foot of snow that fell in Louisville last week may have complicated exhibitor setup for the North American Handmade Bicycle Show, but it had little impact on show-goers, with many exhibitors saying Saturday's attendance was the busiest they've ever seen.

Show organizer Don Walker chose Louisville, in part, because of the great time everyone had at the 2013 Cyclocross World Championships that were hosted there, and the city worked its magic, with the evening's good bourbon extending into the show's early hours.

No one was happier about the venue than Connor Wood Bicycles founder Chris Connor. Connor makes his bikes out of solid American white ash, and when questioned about the strength of his bikes, he would remind people that ash is used for tool handles and Louisville Slugger bats.

Connor was commissioned by the Slugger museum to create a bike from raw ash billets from the Slugger bat factory for display in the museum.

"It's kind of a dream come true — what great people at the museum to work with. And I'm honored to tie what I do with the heritage of Slugger bats," Connor said.

The show also saw the return of a triumvirate of veteran builders. Chris Chance relaunched Fat Chance Bicycles, Bill Grove of Grove Innovations offered a state-of-the-art frame jig, and Ted Wojcik is returning with custom frames for Fifield e-bikes.

A growing interest in domestic manufacturing not only saw a few builders launch production bike lines, like Kish, Snyder Cycles and Zen Bicycle. LocoMachine showed a new $3,200 cast-iron three-piece alignment table and tools, and MakeTime introduced its machine shop B2B website.

Next year's NAHBS will be held in Sacramento, Calif., though the dates haven't been set. NAHBS is now partnering with the U.K.'s handmade show, Bespoke; the events will be sponsoring builders and events at each other's shows.

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Topics associated with this article: North American Handmade Bicycle Show

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