Last year I attended the New England Builders’ Ball. My first show and definitely a great experience and show. Having gone through the experience, and realizing the importance of having a show that is focused in New England which reflects our rich framebulding history, I decided to offer my design service’s to the events organizer, Eric Weis PRO-BONO. That’s work done for the betterment of the public good btw. AKA no fee. I believe in this show, and want to throw the full weight and design armament of the Dept of Shred behind it. So Eric and I rolled up or sleeves, and got to work in the new year (2013). What resulted was this logo:
And subsequently this show poster:
Also were a series of graphic interpretations of the show poster for ads, marketing materials and also an adaptation for a promotional t-shirt to be screened on sight at the show. What was important was getting Eric all the pieces to market and get the word out as soon as possible so he can focus on promotion of the show and not attempting to promote the show and throw together promotional pieces at the last minute. With this goal reached early on in march/april of 2013, he had all he needed to crank up the heat on getting the event going.
And I have to say: the show went off without a hitch on my end/perspective. Great turnout from bike geeks, and the exhibitors had their best work on hand. It was wonderful to get to meet and put names to faces of many builders as well as connect to fellow cyclists and bike nuts like myself. The reaction to 44 Bikes was good and I was happy to indulge in answering everyone’s questions. This bike always seems to draw people in and seemed like a highlight for many:
I also had many inquiries about a mountain bike I had on hand in full endurance dress complete with mud:
I spotted “Shoogs” was giving this bike more than just a quick glance! Like I said earlier, it was great to catch up with fans and friends alike and Shoogs is always a welcome sight (I helped him get his rig race ready at last years Hampshire 100 – but missed him at this years finish line – he rode the 100 mile while I rode the 100k). We had a great chat on endurance race setups. Looking forward to future endurance races in the coming seasons.
Also on hand was a 1×10 “Road” bike. I put that word in quotes as roads are relative around this neck of the woods. I’ve been getting a lot of inquiries and subsequent orders for the “Huntsman” builds. Basically a bike where you can run skinnies, but have room for 35c+, maybe a rack or two, fenders… not too steep in the angles and numbers, but one with rock solid stability and just a fun bike to ride. Basically a mountain bikers road bike if you will.
Some highlights of the night was realizing that Both ENVE, Thomson and Cane Creek’s rep’s were in my booth at the same time and gathering them all together and pointing to each of my bikes and being able to state: All of the bikes you see have Thomson, Enve and Cane Creek spec’d and all of my bikes built to date have sported Thomson, Enve and Cane Creek components. I take a lot of pride is spec’ing my OE’s components. Also spotted was Big Dave of long time hero’s over at FBM BMX! Out of no where, I spot this big guy with sleeves and a beard and I’m thinking “man that looks like Big Dave?” I called out his name and he wheeled around with some surprise. We had a great chat and it was nice to pull him asside and let him know how much of an inspiration his work and FBM has been over the years to me. The message being “Stay stoked. Ride your bike!” Simple and effective but also their spirit sticks with me. So it was great to meet him. Also nice was getting to meet and speak with Mike Zanconato. We had a nice chat over fat bikes and tig welding among other things. Also nice to see was catching up with my friends Tyler, Jamie and Kevin atFirefly and Chris Bull of Circle A Cycles. A memorable quote from the night being Jamie from Firefly declaring: “I don’t want a fat bike… but after seeing your fat bike, I want a fat bike.” Thanks Jamie.
So let’s make next years show even better than this years! Looking forward to next years show already. I did not go to the Crossfest this past weekend due to prior commitments, but I’m looking forward to it next year and maybe I’ll even enter a cross race too… Seems like something up my sleeve. As fast as you can go, as many laps as you can do in X amount of time. GO! Till next year… thanks again to all!
New England Builders’ Ball : 2013 Post Show Roundup
Last year I attended the New England Builders’ Ball. My first show and definitely a great experience and show. Having gone through the experience, and realizing the importance of having a show that is focused in New England which reflects our rich framebulding history, I decided to offer my design service’s to the events organizer, Eric Weis PRO-BONO. That’s work done for the betterment of the public good btw. AKA no fee. I believe in this show, and want to throw the full weight and design armament of the Dept of Shred behind it. So Eric and I rolled up or sleeves, and got to work in the new year (2013). What resulted was this logo:
And subsequently this show poster:
Also were a series of graphic interpretations of the show poster for ads, marketing materials and also an adaptation for a promotional t-shirt to be screened on sight at the show. What was important was getting Eric all the pieces to market and get the word out as soon as possible so he can focus on promotion of the show and not attempting to promote the show and throw together promotional pieces at the last minute. With this goal reached early on in march/april of 2013, he had all he needed to crank up the heat on getting the event going.
And I have to say: the show went off without a hitch on my end/perspective. Great turnout from bike geeks, and the exhibitors had their best work on hand. It was wonderful to get to meet and put names to faces of many builders as well as connect to fellow cyclists and bike nuts like myself. The reaction to 44 Bikes was good and I was happy to indulge in answering everyone’s questions. This bike always seems to draw people in and seemed like a highlight for many:
I also had many inquiries about a mountain bike I had on hand in full endurance dress complete with mud:
I spotted “Shoogs” was giving this bike more than just a quick glance! Like I said earlier, it was great to catch up with fans and friends alike and Shoogs is always a welcome sight (I helped him get his rig race ready at last years Hampshire 100 – but missed him at this years finish line – he rode the 100 mile while I rode the 100k). We had a great chat on endurance race setups. Looking forward to future endurance races in the coming seasons.
Also on hand was a 1×10 “Road” bike. I put that word in quotes as roads are relative around this neck of the woods. I’ve been getting a lot of inquiries and subsequent orders for the “Huntsman” builds. Basically a bike where you can run skinnies, but have room for 35c+, maybe a rack or two, fenders… not too steep in the angles and numbers, but one with rock solid stability and just a fun bike to ride. Basically a mountain bikers road bike if you will.
Some highlights of the night was realizing that Both ENVE, Thomson and Cane Creek’s rep’s were in my booth at the same time and gathering them all together and pointing to each of my bikes and being able to state: All of the bikes you see have Thomson, Enve and Cane Creek spec’d and all of my bikes built to date have sported Thomson, Enve and Cane Creek components. I take a lot of pride is spec’ing my OE’s components. Also spotted was Big Dave of long time hero’s over at FBM BMX! Out of no where, I spot this big guy with sleeves and a beard and I’m thinking “man that looks like Big Dave?” I called out his name and he wheeled around with some surprise. We had a great chat and it was nice to pull him asside and let him know how much of an inspiration his work and FBM has been over the years to me. The message being “Stay stoked. Ride your bike!” Simple and effective but also their spirit sticks with me. So it was great to meet him. Also nice was getting to meet and speak with Mike Zanconato. We had a nice chat over fat bikes and tig welding among other things. Also nice to see was catching up with my friends Tyler, Jamie and Kevin at Firefly and Chris Bull of Circle A Cycles. A memorable quote from the night being Jamie from Firefly declaring: “I don’t want a fat bike… but after seeing your fat bike, I want a fat bike.” Thanks Jamie.
So let’s make next years show even better than this years! Looking forward to next years show already. I did not go to the Crossfest this past weekend due to prior commitments, but I’m looking forward to it next year and maybe I’ll even enter a cross race too… Seems like something up my sleeve. As fast as you can go, as many laps as you can do in X amount of time. GO! Till next year… thanks again to all!