Most of our Bespoked Dresden coverage comprises multiple photos in carousel format, but in this article we present the companies of which we have one photo. Companies are presented in alphabetical order. Photos and intel by Rory Hitchens, words by Paul Skilbeck.

Part One | Part Two | Part Three (coming soon)

Alugear

Polish company Aluguear installed their purple crank arms and seat collar on this bike to give a bright spark to an otherwise monotonous visual. The silver chainring is theirs too, and we reckon it's a good call using silver there since more purple would've been overkill. The company includes a community of passionate off-road cycling engineers, and with the Sudetes and Carpathian mountains in the south there must be an abundance of amazing trails.

Amapola

Bikes on the Amapola stand were locked up by the time we got there, but we enjoyed the paintwork on this all-road model, which sports a front tire for dirt while the rear will be a lively ride in the loose stuff.

Arko

This utility bike from Arko looks like it might have won an award. It may or may not be the best utility bike in the show hall, that's highly subjective, but it would definitely get the job done. We enjoy a bit of retro, and this bike oozes it while incorporating some modern advances such as disk brakes and thru axles. We're thinking the triple cranks may be an aesthetic choice.

Charbon

Charbon is a project of the Anglo-French company Stolen Garage, which grew out of friends playing bike polo back in the days when it was quite common to see people playing bike polo, which it seems is still a going thing in Europe. We thought it might catch on in the US. Cycleball is better though, even if it requires a special bike. More on that below. Fun paintwork on this bike, and that rack is a Tailfin unit, custom painted. We first saw this rack design back in 1980 when friends were figuring out how to go bike/ski touring in New Zealand, needing to carry a large backpack, skis and poles on the bike. Nice to see that design validated by the professionals!

Dresdener Pulverei

Output from powdercoating shop, Dresdener Pulverei, located—unsurprisingly—in Dresden. While we at HBG love what can be done with wet paint, we're also big fans of the more durable, generally less expensive, powdercoat process.

Fernweh

Titanium gravel/light trail/bikepacking model from Fernweh, including titanium fork. The frameset comes in stock sizes. Needing to distinguish between 'Fernweh' and 'Wanderlust' we visited theawesomegermanlanguage.com: "The nuance lies primarily in the emotional tone and focus of the longing. Fernweh highlights the destinations, specifically those that are distant and unknown, and carries a more poignant, sometimes melancholic desire. Wanderlust, in contrast, emphasises the act of travelling and exploring itself, with a more positive, adventurous connotation."

Garage66

Marcin Marynowski chose Bespoked Dresden for the international debut of his brand Garage66, which custom-makes famous designs from the past, using modern components. This is his interpretation of the Copenhagen Pedersen, patented in 1894 by Mikael Pedersen. This design has been reproduced a few times over the years, and those that have ridden it say it's one of the most comfortable bikes out there.

Huettel

Self-describted hobbyist frame builder Jonas Huettel appears to be well on the road to transitioning from bike mechanic to pro frame builder, be it full-time or part-time. Others in his position have made a deal with the bike shop they work for, using it as a retail outlet for their frames while fulfilling mechanic duties when the frame building is slow. Just a thought.

Huhn

This sweet looking MTB from Huhn won Best MTB award. HBG doesn't cover show awards (too subjective and exclusive) but what an eye-pleaser this is! They've done a nice job with the frame building work, the paint and choice of tire color. We like the neat Intend for this bike, and the Ingrid drivetrain too. Most likely we'd be scared to take it offroad and scuff it up though.

Huhn

Another offering from Huhn, again a showcase of modern German bicycle manufacturing and engineering excellence. Intent forks, Pinion gearbox, Schwalbe tires, frame bags by ReiseFix, and a Huhn frame. This one would be great for early detection of bears and mountain lions while out riding on the trails in the vicinity of the HBG HQ. You know how it is: Normally things are fine, but you don't want to come tooling around a bend and surprise a mountain lion with its prey, or a mama bear with her cubs. Nope, that's not going to go well. This bike would help avoid things like that.

Kobel

A few years ago, Kobel founder, Quirin Helme, took a frame building course in Frankfurt, set up a frame building workshop in Freiburg, near Germany's Black Forest, and left his job as an engineering project manager to work in a bike shop, maybe not quite in that order but close. This year he went part-time as a professional frame builder making custom steel frames, and is now offering a range of design concepts, each of which can be customized. Notably, this includes a Bike Polo design— which suggests that the sport is alive and well in Germany (We're not seeing it so much these days in US metro areas). We'd actually like to see at least one Cycleball model at next year's Bepsoked Dresden show. It's a better spectator sport, but it takes longer to learn the skills.

More Bespoked Dresden24 coverage...

Part One | Part Two | Part Three (coming soon)