Close Up at the N.A.H.B.S.

A few weeks ago now the North American Handmade Bicycle Show happenend in Richmond, Virginia. It is always an interesting show because of the focus on consumers. I had the pleasure of meeting up with an online cycling luminarie (this is what I am calling bloggers from now on) by the name of Kyle Kelley. You may know his site Trackosaurus? Kyle does an amazing job of staying on top of what is happening in the cycling world at any given moment, especially on the interwebs. But the thing about Kyle that is even more amazing, is that he is a great photographer.

We talked for a bit at the beginning of the show about what we would cover together at the show. What we settled on was something a little more intimate, close ups. It is a way to literally get a little closer to the products, but also a way to focus on some of the craftier selections at the show. In this case, some handmade leather goods.

This handlebar and fashionable credit card holder was in the Denucci booth. The builder out of Sisters, Oregon had more than a few things placed within his booth that reflected his tongue-in-cheek relationship with not only the NAHBS show, but also the Oregon Manifest show that took place earlier in the year. The joke here being that he has everything he could ever need with him on the bicycle, or at least the means to purchase anything.

Dinucci was also the winner of the highly coveted “Best Lugged Bicycle” trophy at the show.

Crocheted gloves with leather accents would also make a nice addition to your cycling accoutrement. It is interesting to watch this style of glove continually go away only to come back year after year. Dromarti is a cycling clothing and shoe company producing leather goods in small quantities out of Italy. Le Grand Mitt Cognac.

It was evident that shoes make the man however as most of the attention in their booth was focused on the footwear. Their booth was continually packed with seemingly awestruck individuals who could barely comprehend how Dromarti had put together such a good looking cycling shoe. It will be interesting to see where this company is headed. The Race shoe.

Thanks to Kyle for the great photos. More to come.