Stars shine at Handmade Show
- By Matt Pacocha
- Published Feb. 11, 2008
- Updated Mar. 2, 2009 at 1:59 PM EDT
The North American Handmade Bicycle Show was quite a draw this year for boutique frame builders and their fans — including Lance Armstrong, Brian Lopes and Robin Williams.
Armstrong was seen walking the floor Friday and Saturday. The seven-time Tour de France champion spent some time with Naked Cycles proprietor Sam Whittingham, admiring the fixed gear the Canadian built in homage to Portland. Rumors circulated that Armstrong purchased the bike for $15,000. While Whittingham would not confirm who bought the bike or for how much, he did say that it would be going to Austin, Texas, after the show.
Multiple World and World Cup gravity champion Lopes flew in for the show with his good friend Steve Blick from Oakley. The duo walked the halls admiring the fine craftsmanship with the rest of the public show-goers.
Comedian and actor Robin Williams also attended the final day of the show on Sunday. Clad in a Rapha cycling jersey and carrying an Independent Fabrications catalogue, Williams admired bikes and posed for photos with exhibitors and attendees alike. He had just checked in with IF about the SSR road bike — a 953 stainless steel model — that he has on order.
While the hall only encompassed 60,000 square feet of exhibitor space it was surprisingly packed with great stuff to talk about and look at. I’ll conclude my show floor coverage with this photo gallery, but stay tuned to VeloNews.com for more on specific builders, a brief chat with show president Don Walker, and a gallery of the show’s peer-elected award winners.
Photo Gallery
FILED UNDER: Bikes and Tech
Matt Pacocha
Pacocha, the VeloNews test editor, started in the industry sweeping shop floors at 13. Since then he’s wrenched, raced mountain bikes on the national circuit for four years, worked at IMBA (International Mountain Bike Association) for two years, raced on the road in Belgium for six months, and served four years as the tech editor for VeloNews. And, of course, Pacocha is the staff's resident cyclocross fanatic.