Andrew R Stewart 

Just returned from the Philly show. I attended all day Saturday (a mix of seminars and walking the displays) and for a couple of hours on Sunday.

I have to admit that I was not impressed by most of what I saw. The bikes seemed so similar to each other, whether TI, plastic or steel (very little AL). Fancy paint jobs abounded. Quite a few frames showed common details of less then best building with stay crimps not well centered or off rotation, undercutting of tubing next to nice looking fillets and stay ends that didn't fully flow into the drop outs (even on a few builders who have a stellar reputation)

One low cost booth had the builder's first frame (made the year before) as the display bike. Rough fillets with uneven amounts of braze about the joints. I pondered the reason why they were even displaying at the show. I would not consider having a frame made by this builder because both the lack of building experience and the willingness to show such rough work as an example to what they can do.

Another builder had made their lugs from Damascus forged blanks. The finished lugs were left bare of paint to show off the layering/pattern. But between the lack of distinctive pattern "colors" and the nearly same color painted tubing the results looked more crude then cool, IMO. I do give them credit for experimenting though.

I did see more segmented fork crowns then in past years (and this is something I will be exploring myself soon on a unicycle build).

There were a number of small company bag makers showing their bikepacking offerings. Some wildly colored, some muted. But the bag that caught my eyes was a small handle bar bag with a plastic top that integrated with a bar/stem clamp that also allowed other mounts for lights, phones and such. The bag had additional mounting points on its sides.

Lots of little trinkets about like stem top caps with various artwork/text on their tops. Carry along tools is cool kits (that I would never use as I like shop grade tools). And the usual booths for bike organizations that were pretty empty of onlookers.

I go to these shows every few years for a few reasons. I like to get ideas of building details. Stay shaping WRT tire and ring clearances. Braze on types and positions. Seat cluster styles and their binder bolts. I like to reacquaint with those who I've known and talk with the builders about their methods and experiences, this I did and enjoyed a couple in particular. I spent almost two hours talking with the wife of Alex Meade, she's someone how could be a good friend if we lived close by. But I am not at all the audience the show is targeting. From the overheard discussions I think most attendees were impressed. I found the seminars to be more interesting than most of the show was.

Perhaps the highlight on my trip was Friday's ride. I stopped at Allentown and moteled Thursday night then did a self made route north of town on completely new roads for me. 38 miles with 2400 feet climbing. Andy

unterhausen

I wish I could have gone. Maybe next year. Sorry I missed you, I was wondering if you were going.

There is a lot of nice riding around Allentown.

Andrew R Stewart 

Eric- I have pondered on a BF Framebuilder gathering over the years. When Don Walker created NAHBS I had hoped for a less public and more congenial meet up then what the Huston show (and every other since) was. But if I say too much about it then I have the obligation to do something about it Andy (who gets annoyed with people who complain about politics but don't vote...)