Another Philly Bike Expo is in the books, and it never disappoints. It's one of our favorite shows, packed with energy and good vibes. The crowd is always a mix of passionate cyclists, curious gearheads, and folks who just love bikes — exactly the kind of people we love talking to. This year was no exception. From eye-catching builds to clever components, there was no shortage of inspiration.
Be sure to check out the gallery at the end for more photos — but first, here’s a rundown of the bikes and gear that really caught my eye!
I haven't seen Peter in a number of years, so it was really nice to reconnect with him. He is just the sweetest, most genuine human and I don't think he's aged a day. He brought the fire this year with a Rinko Randonneur, Italian-style road bike, and a Mixte.
Rinko is a way to pack your traditional, full-size bike for train or airline travel. There are some really trick features including a specific threaded headset, hubs, and fenders that come apart. Peter prefers using our
650b Zeppelin Fenders for Rinko because of the fluting as it makes the fender very stiff and assemble very reliably.
All of his bikes have impossibly thinned lugwork with crisp shorelines. Simply stated each of his bikes are elegant, precise, and masterfully thought out.
I loved this color.
I've always been a sucker for Mixte-style bikes. They make excellent city and touring bikes. Hmmmm.....maybe we should make one in VO style?
Absolutely gorgeous intersections.
I've featured Chris' bikes here many times, but they've always been custom bikes for his clients. That is, he is building something for them rather than for himself - I mean, you gotta pay the bills, right? Right before the show, he somehow managed to sneak in this low-pro style transformer cx track bike - that's a mouthful. While it is seemingly a very simple bike, it's absolutely loaded with details and very trick stuff that you don't notice until you get right up on it with a very keen eye.
Most low-pro track bikes have a handlebar that is mounted directly to the fork crown or a steerer tube under the lower headset bearing. Inspired by this bike from a Japanese magazine, this one uses an inverted quill that goes inside the steerer under the fork crown.
He had some of these old Gilco tubes sitting around - so heck yea he's going to build a funny bike out of them. The seatstays and chainstays use these neat hexagonal tubing. Why? Why not?
The headtube and lug webs run into each other. Incredibly clean and crisp.
The fork uses Columbus aero "Air" fork blades and a matching fork crown. I've seen him use these on lots of fast bikes.
And check out this vintage SR seatpost. That fluting is stock.
Éliane always has the most artful and fun bikes. This hardtail has a crazy amount of details everywhere you look.
Sooooo many neatly hand-filed lugs all over the bike.
There is so much ornamentation and fun in this bike. There are hidden threaded mounts on the laser cut brace and the curly tube that goes up and around the tire. I'm telling you, hidden details everywhere.
Brian brought two bikes that, I feel, are a perfect blend of what makes his style so cool. They aren't super traditional, they aren't super modern. They live just outer edges of each world in some other post-grav plane.
Pearl paint, fully lugged, straight headtube, oodles of clearance - yes please!
I also really dig the vintage-style paint lines and logos. You can see matching paint fills all over the lugwork. These are the details that really make a bike whole.
A quote from Brian about the paint: "It represents the optimal packing density for colloids used in optical transistor research. A 2D representation of the future of quantum computing. Or so I'm told! It's for my dad and that's his research at NYU. The pearl color is also the color of the colloidal suspension. Science bike!"
Personally, I am a bit more partial for the pearl bike, but HOT DOG the paint matching on this one is next level.
Lots of gold foil!
I've talked to Dickson for a number of years, but it was nice to finally meet him in person! He's a super nice guy and a ridiculously good builder. He made the bike for Giancarlo Esposito that had a bunch of our stuff on it!
At the show, he had a bunch of bikes featuring some trick stuff including the Nivex shifty bits, but the one that I had my eye on was his personal roadie.
He built this bike using a lug kit from Richard Sachs. As I understand, Richard sends you a random handful of lugs and you build a bike out of them - super fun concept!
Dickson got one seatstay lug, so one side is lugged and the other is fillet brazed.
He's a huge fan of our
Long Reach Brakes because of their stiffness and tire clearance, so of course his is wearing a set. Peep that brake bridge, love the art deco design.
The fork crown is super clean! It's a plug style that is then filled in. It's the right amount of angular and smooth. I really like it.
Brian brought the goods! This sport tourer with classic champagne paint was an absolute marvel. Custom racks, brakes, integrated lighting, and little things all over.
While you might have seen him making these brakes on instagram, it's so cool to actually see them in person. So clean and beautiful. And the amazingly minimal cable hanger!
Did I mention he does all of his own paint and lug lining? A true constructeur.
I didn't get a chance to say hi to Johnny this show, but I did get a few pics of his modern Rando! I think this might be the most modern bike I've seen him make and I'm here for it.
I love the slotted, thru-axle dropouts. A very cool mixture of old and new styles.
The green bike he's photographed with below is a work of art, but let's talk about the red one - that is a nerd's nerdy bike. Obviously, this sport tourer beautiful. The amazingly deep paint, contrasting cream, and crisp box lining is a sight to behold. In addition, the parts selection is deeeeeep.
What are those?! These are one-year only Shimano touring cantis made for the Japan market only. They were purchased NOS NIB from Japan and mounted on this bike. Even vintage Shimano connoisseurs haven't seen these before.
The Dura-Ace crankset was modified to fit a triple chainset. And the rear derailleur was modified to work with the chain capacity needed for the triple.
The paint theme is next level, with matching ornamentation throughout!
This machine has some amazingly bright paint that needs to be out in the light to really appreciate. I think it's the perfect color for this Aero Monster Grav bike by King Fabrications out of San Fran.
I really liked the fairly slender fork. Much too often, you see big carbon fork blades or suspension, but seeing this makes the bike more lively and organic.
Simona Dwass
I didn't get a good chance to talk to Simona, but her trad-grav bike did a lot of talking. Good and simple with a bunch of VO including Removable Faceplate Stem and Zeste Brakes.
Shane's Yakimono Neutrino
Shane brought his Yakimono Neutrino! People absolutely loved it and it had some fresh pottery in the display.
Thank you for another awesome Philly Bike Expo!! See you next year.
I vote YEA for a VO mixte frame – esp if you make it internally geared hub friendly ;).
Your recaps of the Philly Bike Expo are always the best. I look forward to them, and the show itself, every year. You definitely catch things I missed!
Like he said, its jest like bein there- 3000 miles away….Thanks
It was fun chatting with Peter about that mixte, which isn’t a new bike. (He called it a women’s bike rather than a mixte because it’s modeled on a French frame that was called a women’s bike.) I asked him if he makes these frames. He said he’s not taking orders, and he pointed out how hard this one was for him to make: getting the slanted angles just right for the lugs was a real challenge. What a gorgeous, unique bicycle!
He told me it was also his idea to designate an area to be “Rando Row,” so exhibitors with similar build-interests — “rando” or touring frames — could be together in the Expo.
It was my first Expo since moving to Philly a few months ago, and it was a blast. It was great chatting at the VO booth and seeing the Chessie prototype, as well as visiting all the other exhibits. A friend of mine had me halfway talked into joining RUSA, so maybe I’ll be shopping for a rando bike soon
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