NAHBS, Mini-bike Winter, New Painter

As usual, I rarely make the time to post to my blog. I do post pictures regularly to my Flickr site, so that will always be the place to see what I'm up to.

Here is a rundown:
The 2008 North American Handmade Bicycle Show was here in Portland and it was an astounding success. Attendance jumped from about 4000 last year to about 7000 this year. My good friends and very first "customers" Jeff Bates and Alex Hamory came out from Salt Lake to help me out. These guys are the roots of Pereira Cycles and it was a huge treat to have them there. Here's the rest of my NAHBS photos.

A week later the Zoobomb crew had their annual "Mini-bike Winter" competition. This is a weekend of parties and events culminating with races in the hills above Portland. The Zoo-crew is a vibrant part of what is often called "Portland bike culture". They are some of the friendliest, funnest, craziest people I've met here and I love hanging out with them. Chariot Wars, Derbies, piggy-back racing and, of course, gravity events. Here's my account in photos.

I've got a new painter and they have changed everything. The guys at Coat, Jason and Kevin, are top-notch pros and are doing some great work for me. Better yet, they consistently turn around my frames in two weeks, allowing me to deliver frames in a more timely fashion. As most of my customers know I've been lagging behind for a little while now. With the new painters I expect to be able to hit delivery dates more consistently. They have also just gotten a powder coat system set up, so I will be offering this more durable finish starting now. I should have pictures of my first powder-coated frame in a couple of weeks. Here are some frames that they have painted:
Doug's Fixie
Ron's 29er
Kevin's City Bike