MADE 24 PDX, PART TWO

If there is one over-riding takeaway from the Made show in Portland, August 23-25, it is that the custom frame builders and small-scale parts and components manufacturers are alive and well as the industry in general continues to work toward a more settled state following the shock of Covid in 2020. 

Steps toward inclusivity in the cycling industry in recent years have opened the door to a more diverse range of frame builders, which means more ideas, more energy, and more talent. For people buying bikes there has rarely been more choice, although hopefully not too much choice(!), but the prospects of finding a perfect match in frame builder and build kit have never looked so good.

Frances Cycles

Josh Muir, of Frances Cycles based in Santa Cruz, California, says a lot of his bikes are cargo-based, but according to us his repertoire is far wider than that. His presence at shows over the years is consistently unassuming and relatively low profile, yet the steady flow of orders for his bikes and FarFarer trailers suggests that those who've been paying close attention in the right places know the quality of his products, which may look unconventional but generally work very well for their intended purposes. And if you're looking for the best kitchen spatula, possibly anywhere on the planet, Josh has you covered - yes, he makes those too.

Hot Salad Bicycles

There's a story to how San Francisco native B Vivit named her company, and it's not related to the work she does in her kitchen garden. It's an amusing anecdote that's written-up on her website. 

Having worked as a bike shop manager in San Francisco, a frame builder at Seven Cycles, and Simple (a custom white label frame company in Portland, Oregon), and also as an instructor at the United Bicycle Insitute, around 2022 B decided it was time to set out on her own, making custom and batch bicycle frames. Her frame building education had started under the Canadian master Paul Brodie, and initially she worked only in steel, but at Made this year she brought an elegant minimalist titanium framed fixed-gear town bike, with beefy hex top and down tubes. "It's the bike I wish I had tooling around San Francisco 12 years ago, and I've been thinking about it ever since," she said. 

Side note: as is so often the case with bike shows, the show bike comes together at the last minute. So B hadn't actually ridden her dream bike prior to the show. She had three agonizing days of watching it in her booth! So on top of everything else, we know B has the patience of a saint.

Welsh Ventures

Justin Welsh displayed a prototype sprung crankset, and is hoping to find industry partners to bring it to market. The purpose of this crankset is to ease the pedal through the top and bottom dead spots of the cycle. A spring mechanism combines with partially decoupled crank arms to ease through this part of the cycle. For many cyclists, or would-be cyclists, this is a welcome development. It is not the first time we have seen this. Back around 2006 Rotor displayed a similar system at Interbike, which we tried and can recommend without reservation - as long as you're not racing under UCI rules.

While hardcore riders may scoff at this, as they do at ebikes, Welsh's crankset makes cycling more accessible to more people, particularly those suffering from knee complaints, also for people learning to ride it is beneficial. Remember when learning to ride? The point where you'd lose balance was the top of the stroke! If you need further convincing, look who provided a bike for Justin to demonstrate his cranks on.

Cherubim

It is five years since the Japanese master has displayed at a US bike show. With the elegant designs, and beautiful detail work in his finishes, Shin-Ichi Konno's booth is always a place to spend time, just be careful or you'll spend too much time!

HBG was eyeing up an elegant gravel bike, which Shin-Ichi's assistant, Keigo, explained is also a bike commonly used for pass hunting in Japan. Then we spotted the price tag of $7,000. One might have expected to pay that 10 years ago for a bike with this specification from a world-leading builder such as Cherubim. Some fortunate show-goer may go home with an amazingly good deal.

Shin-Ichi pointed to a small collection of CNC'd frame building parts he now makes in-house, which provide him with more design control over frame details. If you're not yet aware, he also produces a range of investment-cast lugs and other parts.

Among the many interesting items on the Cherubim table was the 2015 Keirin champion's jersey, which was won on a Cherubim track bike. Our only question about this was why we'd not seen it at shows prior. This got a laugh from Shin-Ichi and Keigo. Another was the 2025 brochure for the Tokyo College of Cycle Design. Since UBI in the USA, and the Bicycle Academy in the UK have ceased frame building courses, the Tokyo College is now the only major frame building institue, although there are several courses being run on in smaller operations. More on that in a forthcoming standalone article.

English Cycles

Looking into the English booth, at first glance you might think the bikes on display are special show bikes, but no, these are the type of bikes he regularly builds for customers. And if you want one, we suggest making a deposit soon, because for several years his wait list has ranged from 18 months to 2 years. 

A closer look at Rob English's creations makes it easy to see why demand is so strong. From the design concept to the finish, every detail has been carefully considered and planned. For many years now he has used a pencil-thin seatstay, which could be defined as a trademark. Some state that it looks flimsy, but according to Rob it has proved resilient in heavy crash situations and he's had no returns with rear triangle issues.

Speaking of rear triangles, his gravel truss frame features a truss rear triangle that both complements the truss fork and provides more tire clearance without increasing the outer dimentions of the frame. The Peugeot throwback paint theme is a fun touch to a bike that we'd be very curious to ride, just to see how it feels.

More brief show summaries will follow, along with videos and some in-depth coverage - including  interesting frames from Scarab as featured in our lead picture.

MADE 24 PDX, PART TWO