MADE might be one of the world’s largest handmade bicycle shows, though “handmade” always feels like a slightly odd word for it. After all, most bikes, at some point in the process, are made by hand. What MADE actually is is a celebration of original, small-batch bicycle frame building: bikes and parts that exist because an individual decided to make them, vs. model-year bikes constructed per a spreadsheet.
One part craftsmanship, one part creativity; if I had to sum it up in one word, it would be craft.
MADE features upwards of 200 builders and brands most years — though that’s builders represented, not booths, since many booths carry hand-built bikes from several builders at once — in fact, it’s easy to miss seeing things, with so much packed in. I find I usually discover more cool stuff from the coverage from other website, but that doesn’t mean I don’t try to find it for myself.
It’s been happening in Portland for four years running now. As a cyclist here, you wouldn’t always think of PDX as “biketown,” based on the crappy attitude of many of the drivers we share the roads with, but many frame builders call Portland home, and while the United Bike Institute shuttered its Portland operations, many frame builders throughout the US first lit their torches here.
I look forward to it every single year; It’s not just an excuse to look at and discover new, cool, and shiny bike shit, though that’s obviously in the mix, but a chance to catch up and reconnect with bike industry friends.
It’s also a notable year as this was the last year MADE will be held at Zidell Yards. Starting next year, the show will be moving indoors to the Oregon Convention Center. Although the Convention Center trades away some real personality in the space, it’ll make up for it with better lighting for actually seeing the bikes (a real problem in a yard full of shadows and shipping containers), and — a personal bonus — a shorter ride for me.
I do enjoy the space that is Zidell Yards — it’s about a 45-minute ride from my place once you factor in getting the bike and bike lock ready, which is a Portland way to describe “not that far.” But it’s also the same stretch of the Willamette where I put in almost weekly to paddle my race stand-up paddleboard, though ironically, the two disciplines aren’t at all connected here. I’ve said it before, and I’ll keep saying it: cycling and SUP are way more complementary than most riders realize. Most cyclists’ entire mental model of stand-up paddling is “float, drink a beer, maybe fall in.” They have no idea there’s a genuine competitive faction in the sport — the training overlap with cycling, especially for endurance and core work, is real. Anyway. My local paddling grounds, bike show, same spot.
Most of what followed me around was catching up with the local builders, guys I’ve covered before and have real history with.
Sage Titanium had the new Harbinger out, and I spent a while taking all the details. I’m a sucker for additive manufacturing in titanium — 3D-printed junctions just look cool in a way that’s hard to explain if you haven’t seen one in person — and I love that builders are starting to use that extra geometric freedom for branding and story details instead of just structure.
Sage had their logo and some other nice touches worked right into the printed junctions.
[more on Sage/Harbinger to come]
Josh Ogle made the trek up from Colorado for the show — I’ve known Josh since college, and it’s always nice to catch up. He recently made waves with his working prototype full-suspension bike, which features 3d printed titantium lugs (utilizing Ministry Cycle’s 3VO suspension design). The latest working prototype (V3) was on display, and Josh, being Josh, was still bolting on pieces to get it to a rideable state. (More on the bike in a separate post)
Though Josh started as a frame builder, he’s found his calling as a designer; the lugs on this bike were printed by Silca, with the tubes welded by Firefly Bicycles.
His primary focus has been the small parts available through his site — chainrings, top caps, lock rings, and a genuinely stunning titanium stem. He gave me one two years ago, and it’s lived in a place of honor on my Tallboy trail bike ever since.
Peter Verdone (PVD) had his latest all-mountain hardtail, the Starfighter, parked at Josh’s booth, which was a nice surprise — I’ve been following the build process online for a while, so it was interesting to finally see it in person. Years ago, I pedalled an early iteration around the block after chatting with PVD post-ride in an MTB-friendly spot in Fairfax, CA.
I don’t always agree with PVD’s philosophy — he runs a really short stack with a short headtube, which isn’t my thing, functionally or aesthetically — but I respect the amount of thought that goes into everything he does. He builds bikes for himself and how he wants bicycles to ride (he did end up building a frame for his wife), something I can appreciate. He’s also ahead of a lot of the trends with reach length, running longer than most well before it became a bigger thing. And like Josh, he builds bikes because he wants to, not to scrape out a living — PVD makes his living teaching at a college in the Bay Area.
Each of his builds is completely documented on his website, complete with his reasoning and design decisions for each one.
I spotted one of Fred Cuthbert’s Wolfhound Cycles builds parked at the Madrone booth. There’s a good story behind that one — it deserves its own write-up rather than a paragraph here. The Madrone guys, meanwhile, have clearly been heads-down on their derailleur — I saw it mounted on a handful of bikes around the show.
My brother Izaak has been racing it in the NW Cup series this season on this derailleur and has had good things to say about it.
A bike that actually stopped me in my tracks, jaw agape, was the CNC-machined Palidan. Beautiful and completely ridiculous at the same time — one of those bikes that’s going to need its own dedicated post to do it justice.
A few other shiny things
I stopped by the Ortlieb booth, where they had some limited-edition colorways of their bikepacking bags set up on a bike with — no exaggeration — matching pink tires. If you’re a fan of pink, and a bikepacker looking for a unique build, better move quick while they’re available.
Billy Sinkford, who created the MADE show, has expanded the merch lineup a bit this year — including a cool deck of playing cards featuring photography of handmade bikes from past shows. He was also showing off the bike he commissioned specifically for the show.
TRP Cycling had a booth to promote their line of performance components, featuring a cool steel high-pivot DH bike. I haven’t spent any real time on the EVO series, but my niece Alyana is sponsored by TRP, and the drivetrain and brakes have been providing her with reliable performance for the last two race seasons.
Daylight Cycle Co is an American-made BMX race bike brand out of SoCal. It was cool to see a brand focused on alloy frames, and their Eclipse XC 29er hardtail was certainly eye-catching and is said to weigh in at 24lbs.
The White Industries T30 Titanium cranks are aimed at gravel and MTB riders looking for a crankset that will outlast the bike it’s mounted on. Weighing in at 420-432 grams for a 165mm to 170mm set, including the spindle, they’re priced at $1,349 a set.