NAHBS Announces International Exhibitors, Unique Group Exhibit

NAHBS, (or North American Handmade Bicycle Show), which features several of the top custom builders in North America announced recently that it will be featuring the largest contingent of international exhibitors in its history. From a recent press release:

 Builders from across the world head to Richmond, Va. NAHBS in Feb.
NAHBS has always been an international show, and 2010 is shaping up as no exception. 12 foreign companies have signed up already, and with a full three months remaining until show time, the Richmond NAHBS is already expecting a larger international contingent than last year in Indiana (11 companies), and '08 in Portland (10). Most pleased of all about this news is the show director and founder, Don Walker. "It's a big undertaking to take bicycles across international borders, so this shows how much business these companies are getting from being at NAHBS," he said.

Three Italian companies for the 2010 show are Zullo, Pegoretti and Columbus. The Canadian contingent comprises head-badge maker Suzanne Carlsen, NAHBS award-winning painter Velo Colour, and Bicycle Forest. CCP and Cherubim by Shin-ichi Konno return from Japan. Shin-ichi Konno won the Best Track Bike and Presidents Choice awards in the '09 show. For the first time, the show welcomes a builder from the Netherlands, Ton Berkhout's Vittorio Fietsen. Llewellyn Custom Bicycles is coming from Australia, and returning British tube maker Reynolds Technology rounds out the current list of international exhibitors.

In other news about NAHBS, which will be held in Richmond, Virginia in 2010, the head honcho of the show, and its founder, Don Walker tells of a unique idea for several exhibitors to join forces to reduce costs in these trying times. Again, from the press release:

Minneapolis-St Paul is known across the USA for having a big cycling scene. Yet like many businesses, the custom bicycle builders there are facing tough economic times. So when the call came to stump up the cash for a booth, and start budgeting for the trip to the NAHBS, a group of Minneapolis custom bicycle framebuilders pooled resources and shared costs, making it more affordable for each of them to be there than if they'd made arrangements individually.
   
The idea was hatched in a conversation between show director Don Walker and Twin Cities Builder Erik Noren, of Peacock Groove Bicycles. Noren said, "Minnesota and the Twin Cities is a serious cycling region, 3.8% of all the commuters in the Twin Cities are cyclists. We've got to be tougher than the times, and that means not missing NAHBS. The builders who don't go to that show, they're the ones who may not make it through this recession."
   
Five custom frame builders and the internationally known wheel maker, HED Cycling, will share the costs of a van to Richmond, Va. Noren expects to drive it himself.
   
The Minnesota Island will include Capricorn Bicycles, Clockwork Bikes, HED Cycling, Peacock Groove Bicycles, Vincent Dominguez Cycles, and Wyganowski Custom Bicycles. All of these builders exhibited in August's Minnecycle show.
   
"Watch out for a very different booth look at the Richmond NAHBS: it will be more inviting, more open than traditional booths. It will represent the community of custom manufacturers here in Minneapolis," said Noren.www.peacockgroove.com  

The NAHBS has always been a traveling show that features several of the top builders in North America. Walker explains the "mission statement" in more detail in the newsletter:

The whole point of NAHBS in the beginning was to raise standards for framebuilders and customers. We think we're staying on point. What makes NAHBS special, and what keeps it fresh and interesting to the public is that it moves from one region to the next, year on year. Sometimes it stays for two years in a city or a region, but overall the plan is to move onto a fresh, excited, market every year thus maintaining an atmosphere of electric enthusiasm among the consumers, and with the volunteers without whom the show couldn't happen.

Another step NAHBS has taken to raise the bar is on bikes exhibited at the show. By setting a minimum standard for experience and a requirement that builders have product liability insurance NAHBS is working to protect the customer and elevate the image of the industry at the same time.

The North American Handmade Bicycle Show will happen in Richmond, Virginia on February 26-28, 2010