Thread: a roll of the dice.....

i meant to post this last week but forgot.......or ate too much and fell asleep........

i will be out on vacation from Monday Feb 23rd and will be back at the shop on Friday March 6th......






when it was announced at NAHBS last year, that the show in 2009 would be held in indianapolis indiana the reaction from the crowd, gathered at the portland convention center, reminded me of the time.......

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there had been talk that the show would move (the show takes place in a different city every year) east, after two years in san jose and that monumental year in portland......people seemed to assume that a move east meant the east cost. rumors started to surface about philly, dc, new york, chicago....

when it was announced that the show would move the indianapolis....in feb/march, most people at the portland show, confused and irritated by the choice, began to talk about skipping the 09 in protest to choice of city.

some of the fabricators shared the same sentiment and commented that it was a strange enough choice that they would not attend in 09.

of course, with the show a bit more centralized, there were several builders from the east coast, who's wallets wouldn't have to take as huge a hit on transportation and shipping costs (most builders take and average of 5 bikes), so maybe there would be a bit of a shake up in the exhibitor list.

one note of interest is that don walker (fabricator and dude who runs the show) moved from waco, tx to speedway, ind.......but don was quick the mention that "NYC, Boston and Philly are great cycling cities, but are too pricey with hotels, expo hall and union labor."


from wiki i gathered.....it's a bit smaller than SA....cold as FUCK....there are several highly regarded steakhouses downtown (one being a mortons so there's something to fall back on)....and the near impossible chance i may see this guy playing live that weekend at some local club......









i wasn't sure if i wanted to go....seems like a bit of a hassle......but what the hell........might see some cool bikes......

I was in Indianapolis this past week and thought of the show and your upcoming trip.

As I drove through the city the highway signs read: This way to Chicago, This way to Columbus, This way to Detriot, This way to Louisville, This way to St. Louis, This way to Dayton, Columbus, Cincinatti. I got to my hotel and looked at Google maps and saw how centrally located Indianapolis is. 2 hour drive or less from those places listed above. 5-7 hour drive from DC, NYC, Boston.

If I had a business that needed to have good distribution to the North Central/North East part of the USA, I would setup shop in Indianapolis.

I didn't have time to eat while I was there, but I did see lots of advertisements in the plane, hotel and billboards for some high calibre steak houses.

i know a guy who was probably displaying his stuff there. he's originally frame Indy, as am I, so he was probably stoked to see his family on a "business trip."

Toobin' Tobin......steaks and bikes and steaks and bikes and steaks and bikes....




mack_turtle.....is it jordan huffnagel? he's from indiana. super nice guy and a talented builder who's been perfecting his craft for a few years now.

he's one of a few builders that's been able to do something that most have not.....find a distinctive and immediately recognizable style.....










sometimes it seems that too many builders get sucked into doing "show bikes" which seem to ruin the whole point of the show......

there's also the danger that the builder creates something wild and outside of his normal range and then gets tons of orders for weirdo stuff....

That Rigormootis is awesome. I want a 29er wth 4" wide tires. It'd be heavy as hell, but it would be like a monster truck, nothing could stop it.

Carlos, I am sure you will have plenty to look at in bikes. Just the western contingent bitchin'. One thing to remember, it is is cold as dog shit in Indy in the winter. Be prepared.
And have good time. I know you will post up plenty of pics.

Originally Posted by Tex Mex

One thing to remember, it is is cold as dog shit in Indy in the winter. Be prepared.

Second that C...

It's colder than a well-diggers ass up there...not quite Buffalo cold (where I grew up), but cold enough to freeze your thoughts if you don't have Mukluks with cleats...

Lookin' forward to a Carlos "After Actions Review"




.

Avoid making conversation with bums on the bus.

bogeyman....well.....at least the ones with guns....

Say hi to James at the Alchemy booth for me.

Jeff....you got it....

Say hi to Ernesto if you see him. He'll be the one smothered in Mayonnaise.

well...it's fucking cold here in indy.....i think i've been here long enough that i can abreviate indinapolis....

anyway.....yesterday was pretty tame....noting too rowdy....except the bikes on show with are amazing....pics of those when i get back.....

the weather seems to keep people from being able to much of anything.....a dryer cold and the wind goes right through most things....probably even hookers...and their a hearty bunch.....

as for the show....there is a LOT of a relly cool stuff.....the pics will show most of it as there is....as in portland ad sa jose....almost too much to see......

i'm taking the rest of today to take pics (it tooks me 2 hours to get down one row yesterday) and that leaves me with lots of time tomorrow for more detailed stuff......

steaks on!

pls send more pics of the beautiful ones.

Also, anyone know what bar tape that is on the pegoretti? Thanks in advance.

Originally Posted by Blammo

anyone know what bar tape that is on the pegoretti? Thanks in advance.

Alan appears to be Brooks leather tape

Originally Posted by fat bob

Alan appears to be Brooks leather tape

Your right! After a second look, I see that it say's brooks near the white brooks end plugs. And so the search for a cheaper alternative continues.

with an industry pass i was in at 10 (would have been earlier but the ribeye kept me up late) and it wsa about as slow as friday.....

then they opened the doors to the public.......people streamed in a for a solid 20 minutes and began to pack the place......great news for all the builders....

i did see some non-buiders pusing stuff that they did not make....kinda disappointing to see the entire point of the show compromised.....since this show is about NOT compromising.....but whatever.....

after i finished wth the pics....as before.....i took my time and passed my eyes over everything......there is a lot of interesting and well thought out stuff.....one only needs to pass they eyes along a top tube or stem or most anything else to find something badass.....

sadly there are show bikes on display.....flash flash flash....

the real gems are the not the easiest to see in the crowd.....there is a really filthy sachs cross bike here.....stems with all sorts of cool solutions to cable routing problems and some impecable craftsmanship (delicately softened edges so they don't scratch bars and steerers) and some really cool directions in tub manipulation from black sheep fab (unreal stuff).....

for now....it's anothe trip to mortons. checked out several other places like shula's and st.emo's but it seems they're all pouring some kinda sauce on the steaks or trying to fudge things with pats of butter.......

pics in a few days....

Originally Posted by car!os

after i finished wth the pics....as before.....i took my time and passed my eyes over everything......there is a lot of interesting and well thought out stuff.....one only needs to pass they eyes along a top tube or stem or most anything else to find something badass.....

.

Read some brief updates about the show on the web...really interesting story was that Moots made a $8750 commuter bike with a bunch of cool gadgets on it like the internal geared hub and complicated/sophisticated back end:




And another thing I noticed was...Chris King himself is making bikes?



c!'s pics should be very exciting..!

Originally Posted by jsalbre

That Rigormootis is awesome. I want a 29er wth 4" wide tires. It'd be heavy as hell, but it would be like a monster truck, nothing could stop it.

Looks like you can get that AWD too...take it to GC and it'll be a WORKOUT!

Originally Posted by jsalbre

It'd be heavy as hell, but it would be like a monster truck, nothing could stop it.

except for gravity......they roll like piss.......

on the bright side....you'll _always_ be pedaling.........




bru!sin....pics are loading.........