Dear Listmembers,
I just wanted to mention that I attended the RMBS in Denver last weekend. It was my first time in Colorado; and I really had a good time in Denver and Boulder. A special thanks to Mike Kone from Rene Herse Bicycles, and his entire family of wife and two sons. The were great hosts and went above and beyond just overseeing that I was taken care of at the show. We had some great meals in Boulder and also had a real fun evening at the Boulder Indoor Velodrome. ( Wow, a 140 meter indoor track that is exciting to watch races on!)
I arrived mid morning on Friday, set up day for the show. Mike picked me up at the airport and we went directly to the show venue. I had time to walk around and talk to a few people most of the day, since I did not bring anything with me to display. Mike has a Baylis frame that we had on my table; and listmember Mike Wilkinson brought his Baylis fixed gear road bike to the show for me to display as a complete bike. Mike is a real nice guy and very generously allowed me to show the bike while I was in Denver. My main mission was to promote the San Diego Custom Bicycle Show and to make media and framebuilder contracts while there. I was quite successful on both accounts. I especially enjoyed speaking with the young woman who used to work for a publicity agency that used to help one of the other show promoters with their show. It's so valuable and helpful to meet and speak with people like this as we work on improving our show and expanding our audience.
Carol Johnson, director of RMBS, put on a great show, which is only in it's second year. Each show is improved upon and I'm sure this show will grow as Carol works on taking the event to the next level each year. Promoting shows is no easy job. It takes a small crew of the right talent to make an event happen. RMBS is well on it's way to becoming an invaluable part of the bike show circuit and an opportunity for the large number of outstanding framebuilders in Colorado and surrounding states to show their wares and variety of talents. There were more framebuilders than I was aware of on Colorado. Also, some of the movers and shakers amongst the newer builders from Oregon, Pennsylvania, California made an appearance; some of whom we've seen at recent Cirque events. Mike Kone and a few friends put on a very nice display of vintage bikes that was quite impressive. That alone must have taken Mike and several other people a good amount of time to arrange.
In attendance were my favorite people from PA, the Bilenky Crew; Simon Firth and Bina Bilenky and then on Sunday Steve Bilenky showed up. These guys always make a great showing and put in a lot of work to do a show. I'll have to do something special for them to make life easier if and when they show up in San Diego. They came last year. Hope to see them again. Also spent some time with Jack Bissell, yes, THE Jack Bissell; who has recently moved to Boulder from Tucson. Always great to see Jack and hang out with him.
I had time to talk to Mike Kone and Mark Nobilette about my Rene Herse bicycle; which will be getting under way very soon. I am actually going to order another custom bicycle as a result of speaking with these guys at the show. Not sure where this fits in to our interest; but I am going to place an order for a fixed gear road bike from Renovo Bicycles in Portland, OR. They are making bikes out of wood. Amazing stuff that is laminated and then CNC machined to be hollow inside; but ends up looking like a carbon fiber monocoque type frame, only it's made of wood! We discussed using a rare piece of Brazilian Rosewood I have as part of my bike. They said "no problem". So I decided to go ahead with it. They haven't made any fixed gear bikes yet; but prototypes are being made already. Six months or so, I will have the frame. Such a deal, a combination of two of my favorite things; wood and bicycles. I may even do a special finish on my bike. I talked with Leonard Zinn about getting some 155mm crankarms for my new machine. Bill Boston also fitted me up a number of years ago and suggested 155mm cranks. I don't know why many people look at me funny when I mention short crankarms. I'm anxious to find out what it does for me.
Gotta go. Still moving my workshops and setting up to work in my new digs. Lots of work left to do. But I did want to thank everyone in Colorado who made my trip memorable and worth while. Special thanks to Mike Kone and family, Mike Wilkinson, Mark Nobelette, and Carol Johnson. I think there is an article on RMBS in Cyclingnews online.
Brian Baylis
La Mesa, CA
USA