North American Handmade Bicycle Show 2011 Part 1

For those who walked the isles of the 2011 North American Handmade Bicycle Show, the experience of seeing the bikes first hand is nearly impossilble to replicate. Luckily, images of the bikes will fill the websites, blogs, and social media sites for weeks to come. But a large part of the NAHBS experience is not only seeing the bikes but having a unique chance to engage in open discussion with the creative minds and personalities behind the bikes. The design philosophies, life knowledge, and inspired persectives of each individual builder are transformed from grey matter to reality through the hot end of a torch and knowing them is just as important as knowing their work.

Mountain Flyer's David Ochs logged endless hours working the floor at NAHBS this year and gathering footage for a series of interviews, giving us the chance to get to know the unique personalities that fabricate the finest bikes in the world.

We'll have over twenty interviews in total. Below are the first four: Erik Noren of Pecock Groove, Corey Bernardo representing Form Cycles, Don Ferris of Anvil Bike Works, and Tom Warmerdam from Demon Frameworks.

Pecock Groove - Erik Noren

Pecock Groove is the physical embodiment of the American craftsman taking the customer's needs and wants, in that order, to produce a true one-of-a kind machine. Noren is one of the more colorful, passionate builders of NAHBS and his staunch made-in-American beliefs are embedded into every inch of the steel masterpieces he produces.

Form Cycles - Daryl Roberts

Two days before the Show, Daryl Roberts' wife went into labor. Needless to say, Daryl didn't make it to the show. Speaking for Daryl is Corey Bernardo - one of Daryl best customers who is so passionate and knowlegeable about the bikes, Daryl entrusted him to represent Form at the Show. Congratulations Daryl - we hear you're now a father.

Anvil Bike Works - Don Ferris

Don Ferris is one of the most prolific personalities involved in NAHBS. He is well spoken, tough as shit, and pretty damn smart too. A framebuilder at heart, Ferris began by fabricating fixtures for himself so he could streamline his frame making process. His fixtures were so killer other framebuilders - and eventually larger bike manufacturers - began requesting that he make them fixtures. His fixtures became the gold standard in the business and he is now so busy producing frame fixtures he rarely has time to make bikes under his own brand: Entropy Bikes.

Demon Frameworks - Tom Warmerdam

Based in the UK, Tom Warmerdam entered NAHBS 2011 as a New Builder - a framebuilder with fewer than 50 frames under his belt. Seeing the quality and artistry behind Demon's frames, I'm sure we'll be seeing more of his work at future NAHBS.