By: Whit Yost Mar 4, 05:31 AM |

It was Spring Break during my sophomore year of high school; some friends and I decided to hop on the train and head into Center City. Our destination was South Street, the cultural, alternative, artsy-fartsy, capital of Philadelphia. Home to the city’s first “designer condom store”, countless tattoo parlors, and several stores selling Nirvana and Pearl Jam t-shirts, South Street was the place to be young, white, middle-class suburbanites who didn’t quite feel like they fit-in with their peers. In other words: me.

The highlight of that day was my first step inside Tower Records, the now-defunct bastion of corporate record stores at a time when there were actually several corporate record stores. Sure, Tower’s employees didn’t maintain the condescending, yet cool indie personalities of the college record shop near my home, but what it lacked in atmosphere it more than made up for in grandiosity. Tower had everything—everything. And thus, upon entering I was immediately overwhelmed with a fear that I might not be equipped to see and do it all—in other words, a state of pure sensory overload.

In many respects, my first NAHBS experience was similar to my first Tower Records experience as my initial thought when I stepped into the showroom in the Richmond Convention Center was, “Holy crap! How am I going to have time to see all of this?” In the end of course, once my feelings subsided and I adjusted to my surroundings, I realized the show was smaller than I had originally thought to be—on a scale from my local record shop to Tower, it rated somewhere near The Wall or Sam Goodie.

First, you have your new releases, usually of the pop/rock variety, sometimes the newest buzz band finally hoping breaking through to wide-stream notoriety after several years of critically acclaimed, but low-selling albums. Case in point: Vanilla Cycles with their super-cool display and beautiful bikes. Sitting smack dab in the middle of show’s floor, Vanilla was truly one of the show’s highlights. Expect to be hearing more from them in the future as the new Rapha-Supervagen cyclocross team heads on tour to a town near you.

What about those artists making concerted efforts to revive their careers by reaching-out to newer, younger audiences? De Rosa couldn’t hire Rick Rubin to produce an album for them, but they could take their bikes to NAHBS—although it’s unclear why, as De Rosa’s haven’t been made by hand for quite some time now, I imagine.

How about electronic music—you know, the kind that sounds good on your headphones but is a pain in the ass to actually dance to? Japan’s Cherubim provided two of the most beautiful bikes on display—shiny, bright, and with superior craftsmanship and attention to detail. But, while aesthetically pleasing to the eye, it’s hard to see anyone actually riding them.

Don’t worry, Bonnaroo fans, there’s something for you too at NAHBS Records. Let the boys from Banjo Bikes size you up for one of their genre-defying jams. Want something new age? Try Sylvain, Calfee, or Boo, all builders who experiment with wood and bamboo in designing their framesets—even the classic rock stalwarts at Serotta took a stab at producing a wood-inspired concept bike.

Do you like jazz? Stop-by the Crumpton booth, where you’ll find smooth and relaxing carbon fiber frames waiting for you. No fancy logos, graphics, or pretense here, just the well-executed efforts of a master craftsman.

But in the end, my favorite artists were those producing some good, old-fashioned, handcrafted rock and roll. Mike Zanconato and his band displayed some pitch-perfect cyclocross and road bikes. New kid in the scene, Foresta, brought only one bike to the show—the NAHBS equivalent of releasing an EP. Ellis Cycles was another purveyor of some well-crafted rock and roll, presenting a mix of bikes integrating both the old and the new, including one sporting a full mid-1990’s Campagnolo Record group—with Delta brake calipers!

In the end, NAHBS has something interesting for everyone. No matter where your tastes lie, it’s a fun and worthwhile trip. And next year it’s in Austin, Texas—maybe you’ll get to hear some good music too!