Jay,
Sounds like you had a good time, as did we all.
The camera issue pissed me off from the very first ruling. I think 99.9% of people feel the same as I do, if not more. I'm sorry that out of res pect for a rediculous stance you lost part of the permanent record of wh at was of special interest to you. If this policy continues without a re asonable and practical change in the future I will be at the forefront o f the neccessary protests to get someone's attention. There are some adj ustments that are still neccessary in order to improve the show and the experience of attending as both exhibitor and attendee. Some are minor a nd some are major. This event was about a 500% improvement over the firs t year and Don did a fine job of putting this one together. A little twe ek here and there and things will be much improved. I do have one MAJOR beef which I will address later.
Overall, quite good.
Brian Baylis
La Mesa, CA
NAHBS. Wow. It was indeed an overload, but my goodness, what an
overload. Way different than Interbike overload. 50 percent or more of
Interbike is simply not worth the time, but at NAHBS, everybody was
there because they wanted to be, and the passion was tangible.
Literally. Ther were four rows of booths, and it took me 3 hours to
see just the first two rows. I stopped at EVERY booth because the
bicycles were fantastic, and the builders interesting. Saw some old
friends and met new ones.
Favorites?? Man, this is a tough one. Bayliss? Gordon?? Columbine?
Sachs?? I think it would be unfair to choose one over the others.
Everybodys work was simply outstanding!
Brians bike was indeed a beaut, and I was staring and absorbing detail
after detail for close to half an hour. My god, talk about detail!
You have got to see the photos, and if possible, the bike in person to
understand what I'm talking about.
Bruce Gordon has added new goodies to his already overflowing options.
Beautiful curvy Ti racks and sculpted canti brakes in Ti. The headlight
and tail light....sweet!
Tom Oswalds downtube "OSWALD" in stainless was outstanding as were the
other details of his frames.
John Murphy had a couple of stunning stainless bicycles in his booth
that were jaw droppers. Every part polished up so brightly that
sunglasses would have been required if the lighting was any better.
I finally got to meet Richard Sachs. Didn't get to spend much time with
him as his admirers were constant, but I must say that his work is
impeccable. His frames are sleek, refined, and if I was going to
contract with a builder for a race machine, he would be the one. And
he's a great guy, on top of it all. Hope I get the opportunity in the
future to spend more time talking with him.
One guy, John Norstag of Thursday bicycles deserves some recognition.
He is Old School gas welding his frames. With cro mo rod. I don't know
if any of you has attempted this, but it is more difficult than using
brass. He is making bicycles for real working people, native american
rancher / herders who have traded in their horses for bicycles so they
can add a few more head of sheep to their flocks. His bikes are
utiltarian to the core, not glossy beautiful but beautiful in a real
down to earth way.
What can I say about Don Walker.....he has a wicked sense of humor that
is apparent in his paint and decals. I'll bet he's a hoot to hang out
with.
Then there's the Co-motion tandem out of chair legs and bed posts....in
steel of course. Amazing.
Craig Calfee is doing some incredible bicycles in bamboo. The lugs are
epoxy re-inforced with strips of bamboo specifically oriented to
strengthen the lugs. Bamboo.....I think he's on to something. A
renewable resource.
Greg Townsend was there helping out wheelbuilder.com, but had brought
his very first bicycle to show off. His enthusiasm was apparent and
infectious. He was stoked, to put it mildly. And his bicycle was very
very nice, and very clean, for a first effort. He's only going to get
better.
Oh, the whole camera thing is totally overblown. In my attempts to
respect Don's wishes I left my camera behind but regretted it after I
saw how many cameras were there. Geez. Kind of pissed me off
actually. Now I don't have my own record of what I saw. Oh well.
That's it from me. ya shoulda been there.
Jay
Lots of Ti, carbon, mountain bikes, which are off topic, but I swear, I
am really hopeful after leaving this show.