So, I always joke that the MADE show is where bike nerds go to get stoked. I love it. Few things there are scalable: with rare exception, no one is going for private equity acquisitions or trying to be the next Canyon. What you find there are the passion projects: the steel frame builder who is showing off his rim-brake-forward, 90’s styled road & mountain bike frame combos. You see the titanium stalwarts, the OGs of the custom-bike movement, playing with geometry, industry trends & so much beautiful paint. We are there as customers, bike voyeurs & ultimately, bike nerds ourselves, celebrating the unique visions put on offer at the MADE show.
But before we dive into the depths of bicycles-as-art, we need to capture the vibe: the show happens in Portland’s Zidell Yards, a former industrial shipbuilding site, with 50-odd-foot ceilings, accompanying clerestory windows & all manner of mildly decaying metal beams. Giant roll up doors are open on each end, allowing much-needed breezes to pass through the otherwise still air of the cavernous space. The smell of bearing grease, metal shavings & body odor predominates.
First of all, the number of gorgeous, bespoke bikes on display is simply staggering. The visions evidenced by the builders took my breath away & left me overwhelmed in the best possible way. There are a lot of tech editors busy parsing details of the many beautiful bikes, so I aimed to capture some of the category highlights, things that struck me as a little different.
Steel
On the steel side, Mike DeSalvo is working to keep it fun, showing both his classic DeSalvo brand and his new playful side hustle, Swedish Meatball. DeSalvo wants to make a quality custom bike in steel or ti without breaking the bank, and partners with John Slawta of Landshark Bicycles to make wild paint schemes.
Next up in steel was Liebo Bikes. Dave Lieberman of Miami, FL has been working to make the road überbike in steel. A quintessential road race frame, the Liebo flagship model has oversized lugs for increased stiffness & durability, T47 external BB (oversized again,) increases stiffness on power transfer & of course has that famous steel-feel on ride quality, gliding over rough pavement like (Dave’s words,) like driving a Bentley.
And for something that remains road-oriented but with more versatility & less focus on raw speed, we went to Ron’s Bikes, a reimagining of 90’s road frames meeting gravel capacity.
Titanium
It’s hard to top Boulder’s Mosaic Cycles when it comes to Ti bikes with beautiful finish work. The color options, the creative details are so endless that it almost supersedes the elegant welds & geometry of the bikes themselves.
And for more beautiful titanium, Steamboat Springs’ stalwart Moots Cycles is always a highlight.
And if you want something straight up different… well, MADE is your place to look for it! There were myriad experimental projects and wild ways to get around on two wheels.
