North American Handmade Bicycle Show

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Can you have a crush on a bike?

Ok, dumb question. Of course you can. When I first looked at the website of Jonny Cycles, based in Madison Wisconsin I started getting... um... excited. Jonny's frames are lugged, steel, and minimal. Among the many au courant track style bikes, there are some touring frames and road bikes – each made to measure for its intended rider. Jonny, aka Jon Kendziera, uses a simple five-pointed star as a head badge. His frames are custom painted to client specifications by Jason Sanchez. Jonny's bikes are sexy – especially the ones with polished stainless steel lugs Mmmm!

Jonny Cycles will be among approximately 70 bike builders displaying their talents at this year's North American Handmade Bicycle Show. The event is a consumer showcase of artisan created bikes and biking products (including components, clothing, nutrition etc.). This means that exhibitors handle all elements of production, from design to shipping, in their own workshops or factories, without outsourcing. Several of the builders are one-man operations – most notable among these is the legendary bike builder Richard Sachs, whose frames are so sought-after that he has a 40-month wait list.

Why would someone wait for up to three years to get a custom bike? Those who ride them love to write testimonials on builders' websites. Here's a sample from Erich Norris, a happy Sachs customer: Think of the heroine in a James Bond movie – a stunning beauty who turns out to have hidden strengths and the ability to kick some serious ass when the need arises. Handling, comfort, stability at high speed – all can be improved with the craftsman's skill, attention to detail, and yes, love. Darren McKay, owner of Dream Cycles on Commercial Drive in Vancouver, mentions the motto used by builder Joseph Ahearn: He's got little stickers on his frames that say 'hand-built with love and fury in Portland Oregon.' I get goosebumps thinking about a bike that's hand-built with love and fury! There's some pounding going on there, some energy, and it's positive.

Since the bike is built to the rider's measurements, people who have unconventional body proportions can have a comfortable ride. Supporting a custom frame builder also means breathing life into an art form – and this is not a work of art that sits idly on the wall (though some do – for shame!). This is a hopeful machine which daily affirms your sneaking suspicion that humans can make something efficient, appropriate and right. The artist's creation supports your journeys and collaborates with you to find adventure. Along the way you may also turn a few heads.

By last year, the fledgling handmade bike show's size had more than tripled. Its first year (2005) in Houston Texas saw 23 exhibitors and 700 visitors, while in 2006, having re-located to San Jose, California, NAHBS counted 90 exhibitors and 2,700 visitors in attendance. Show organizers expect to exceed that this year, projecting 10,000 visitors. Jay Townley, a bike marketing trend-watcher and 25-year veteran at Schwinn, has cited the growth of NAHBS as an example of a growth in customization on the cycling landscape. Certainly, looking at the work of Portand's Sacha White (Vanilla Cycles), Montana-based Kirk Frameworks, or John Kendziera, one senses a renaissance of traditional bicycle artistry.

Ed Luciano, owner of Mighty Riders in Vancouver is somewhat skeptical that there's been an increase in handmade frames. He says he sees about the same number of builders locally as there were 15 to 20 years ago, when he first got into the business. Granted, many of those builders were making mountain bikes – and the North American market for mountain bikes appears to be in decline. With some builders dropping out over the years and new ones cropping up, it would be interesting to measure the number of bicycle designer/builders active in North America – and whether they are building more frames than in previous years.

Don Walker, organizer of NAHBS and also a bicycle builder himself, cites the number of frame building classes being held at the United Bicycle Institute in Ashland, Oregon as an indication of the numbers of new builders. UBI holds a frame-building class every few weeks and with eight to ten people in every class, if one of them hangs a shingle, saying they're going to be a frame-builder after the course, that's 25 new frame builders every year.

Jay Townley offers, I am told the best source of information on custom and hand-made frame builders are the suppliers of the frame tubing - but I have not yet had the time to tap into this potential source of information. Townley is also careful to point out that there is some ambiguity between a bike actually brazed or welded specifically for an individual client's order and one that is simply as close to a custom fit as you can get, but still produced within certain fixed parameters – and painted to order.

Darren McKay says it's all a matter of supply and demand – and as he sees it, demand for customization and individuality in bicycles is growing. With the world wide web, people can see what their choices are. 15 to 20 years ago, all you had were the bikes available in your local bike shop. Now you can look at anything that's being made, all over the world.

McKay is a fan of the American builder Alternative Needs Transportation – or ANT. ANT's founder, Mike Flanigan, based in Holliston, Massachusetts creates sleek city bikes with a minimal, utilitarian aesthetic. Among the first bikes Flanigan built as ANT was a compact cargo bike, the frontalloadontome. Darren McKay wants one: I could just sell my truck and haul all my stuff with it!"

Prices for basic custom-made frames start at around $2,000 and can reach the tens of thousands with the range of custom components available. Although the huge majority of the bike market is made up of sports and recreational riders (around 95 per cent), when you're riding your bike every day for transportation and comparing the cost to that of vehicles, gas and insurance, a hand-crafted frame seems like a practical investment.