The Handmade Show was a blast. We plowed through snowpocalypse 2.0 and about 40 Red Bulls to get there. After arriving late Thursday and scrambling to set up as much as possible before they shut down the convention center for the night; we took care of all the finishing touches Friday morning. We were finally ready to exhibit; and we exhibited the crap outta the place.
We want to provide an in-depth look at the bits and bobs that made our bikes stick out, the pieces that made our February the most stressful month of the year, and the ones that couldn’t have been possible without some amazing and truly innovative work from our friends.
First up: Bianca P’s Woodville
When we began designing a bike for Bianca to ride from Boston to San Francisco.. I’ll admit it, we geeked out a bit. We drew up some awesome plans for a beast of a touring machine with disc brakes, powder coated rims, and more. When it came down to it we realized that that wasn’t the bike she needed for her trip and it wasn’t the bike she wanted to ride. We linked up with Tom of Velo Orange Imports and with his help we moved towards a more polished aesthetic that oozed class.
After that we knew that this needed something extra to hold its own against the best of the best at the biggest bike show in the hemisphere. Enter Aaron Panone. You might remember a project from last year that also involved Aaron’s help- the introduction of our integrated chain tensioners at the 2009 NAHBS. His eye for machine work is inspirational to say the least. With the help of our in-house graphic designer Dan St. Germain– we designed the new Geekhouse cursive script that appears on Bianca’s bike; it shows up here, not only for the first time ever on any Geekhouse, but it also was realized with the help of Aaron in the form of a laser cut polished stainless down tube badge.
We instantly fell in love with the script and the aesthetics were really honed in from as many angles as we could conjure up.
Next came time to add the function. Joshua Wright, our go-to electrical engineer, alongside Aaron designed a unique one-off bit that was missed by anyone who just breezed by. With the help of Aaron’s machine work and Joshua’s fervor for LEDs we integrated two lights, one in the fork and one in the seat post, that are powered through the front generator hub. Using a capacitor so that Bianca didn’t lose her beams every time she stopped at a red light, as well as a cored out bass guitar string internally routed through the fork and seat tube.. Joshua and Aaron had put the finishing touch on that perfect harmony of fashion and function.
While it took a few late night to pull it all together the reactions at the show were worth all the work in the world. When someone would get close with a big fancy macro lens- it was a blast to approach them and know you weren’t going to let them down.
Stay tuned for our write-up on Jason H’s Rockcity later this week.
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