At the end of February the North American Hand Made bike show was held in Richmond, Virginia. Make no mistake this is no Interbike, this is more like bike art. The countries finest custom bike builders gather once a year to show off their latest and greatest creations. This year was no exception, there were many entries that will take your breath away. It is hard to imagine that a bike can literally be a work of art, but what makes these works of art so great is their functionality. So many of these bikes not only look good but ride great as well.
There were a myriad of amazing bikes, including touring bikes, commuters, MTB’s, road bikes and so on. Our particular favorite was one of the featured touring bikes made by Coho bikes , a very traditional styled bike, but with all the extras that make a great touring bike. The design of this bike is very interesting, notice the distance between the rear wheel and the seat tube, enough to fit a forth water bottle. Not haven been able to personally ride this bike makes it hard to judge, but I would be very interested to feel how a wheel base of this length would affect the ride. Most likely the bike is super stable even with a weighted load and 26″ wheels. It kinda has a road bike with small wheels feel to it, alot like the Surly Long Haul Trucker. I would love to go on any bike tour with a Coho bike.
Here are a few pics from some of the other bikes that really caught our eyes. If you want to check out a full gallery of what was at the show, Dirt Rag has a full NAHBS photo album.
