What should a show bike be?

[Carl S]

I struggle with this every year as I prepare for NAHBS. Do I stop everything and build some crazy thing I'd never normally sell in order to attract attention. Or do I keep on building customer bikes and bring an examples of what I regularly build?

I've decided I should be who I am and bring the bikes that are moving thought the queue at the time. I'm selling myself as much as I'm selling frames. Sure I'll put a nice build together and be sure to take a frame with a cool paint job but overall they are exactly what I'm selling. The problem is I feel like I get lost in the glare of a bunch of "concept" bikes.

Anyone else struggle with this?

[e-RICHIE]

Anyone else struggle with this?

no atmo.

from day one nahbs was supposed to be reality based. if others stray and
wanna pander to the please-look-at-me stuff, well - that genie is out of the
bottle. sad. the show, or maybe even the trade, is at a shark jumping point
atmo. it has grown to a point that its consuming its own and could possibly
get vegas-y in a new york minute. how to defend against this? listen to your
inner framebuilder atmo. i said this from day one - the awards thing and the
desire to individuate (these) are deal breakers. my ideal was a display, not
a competition of sorts. a museum atmosphere rather than a trade show one.
before anyone fires a salvo at me, all of what i typed here is consistent with
my atmos since houston nahbs one point oh.

[Archibald]

I've considered this a lot more than I should. I don't like the idea of "show" bikes or other contraptions for the sake of the competition.

But...

If Einstein would have just stuck to being a patent clerk because that's what he did everyday the world would be a poorer place for it.

[e-RICHIE]

If Einstein would have just stuck to being a patent clerk because that's what he did everyday the world would be a poorer place for it.

let him go to interbike atmo.

[Archibald]

let him go to interbike atmo.

Get your genres straight.

[e-RICHIE]

Get your genres straight.

i meant "...an interbike for patent clerks" atmo.

[Archibald]

i meant "...an interbike for patent clerks" atmo.

Too late. You ruined the mood. Now what am I going to do with this for the next 4-hours?

[Too Tall]

What should a show bike be?

Clean.

[e-RICHIE]

What should a show bike be?

Clean.

you want sex or love?
it's a rhetorical question atmo...

[suspectdevice]

What should a show bike be?

Clean.

I disagree.

[steve garro]

the only bike/frame i ever brought that WASN'T a customer's bike was denise's new bike last year. i want a representation of what is offered. super far-out stuff seems........desperate. Denise is already telling me what she wants next, and that she doesn't want to wait until NAHBS 10' for it. her current 3 coconinos will have to do:). she hasn't ridden her 26" bike since she got her 650B but she won't sell it either..........steve.

[Chance Legstrong]

it should be an ah-ha, not an ooh-ah

[Dave Kirk]

I don't know what anyone else should do I only know what I'm comfortable with.

All the products I bring are sold and on loan by their generous owners. I don't make show specials and frankly I don't really like that the show has become a place to bring your unrideable shiny bikes made from leather and wood. I like to think that any of the bikes at the show could be wheeled out the door and taken for a long hard ride and used in their element. Don't get me wrong, I respect the skill it takes to make a fantasy show bike. It takes real skill and time to make something special that will stand out from the other special show bikes there but in my view that isn't way we are there. In my view these bikes would be better shown in the Art-bike show.

I'll be bringing one bike this year that isn't sold but only because I didn't have a fillet bike in the proper place in the queue. But it is just what I would make for a customer and it designed to be used hard and put away wet.

So if you were to ask me I'd say bring what you sell.

Dave

[jim d]

I'll be bringing one bike this year that isn't sold but only because I didn't have a fillet bike in the proper place in the queue.


Dave

:)

jim

[Dave Kirk]

what size is the fillet bike going to be? :)

jim

It's a 51.5 cm c-c. It's got a 5* slope so it fits like a 56 x 56.5. It will be shown in the raw and it's new owner just needs to pick a colour (spelled the continental way for ER's benefit).

dave

[Don Walker]

I dont do "show" bikes, other than the paint that goes on them.
If anyone recalls, my tartan track bike, the only thing about it they will remember is the paint, not the mega oversize lugs or tubes.

Since most all of my bikes are made for racing, it seems to me that the only thing I can do is dazzle them with fillets, design and paint... but nothing is out of the ordinary.

DW

[swoop]

i know this is you builder's guys discussion... so don't listen.
this consumer sez: just be you. no show bike.. just do you. you're carl fucking strong.
i thought that multi materia bike was cool too.


maybe wear tight pants.

[Tom Kellogg]

a few years ago, I knew that I could not afford to make a bike just for the show, but I also knew that I wanted to show a Brevet type bike since we do so many of them. I brought the frames we had recently finished, Sarah Uhl's refinished World Champ bike and a "stock" Brevet bike. That was the only one made for the show. I designed it to be easy to fit for a average sized fella'. Fortunately, we did sell it pretty quick.

In any case, we decided that we would not show anything we would not build for a customer. That cut out a lot of things that we might have done to get attention, but as most of you know, our stuff just does not come across that way. I am too old to spend time trying to get attention for things that don't make a bike better. No broomstick frames for us. Sorry.

[Dave Kirk]

No broomstick frames for us. Sorry.

Dude! Broomsticks are so old school that they are preschool. Shovel handles are oversize and therefore more better.

Stay at the front or get out of the way.

Dave

[rphetteplace]

So this whole discussions to me begs the question that I've been curious about: Have polished lugged frames now jumped the shark?