Philly Bike Expo 2014 Part 1

Last weekend we flew to Pennsylvania for the fifth annual Philly Bike Expo, put on by the folks at Bilenky Cycleworks. It had been a couple years since we have attended this show, and it has grown even bigger than previous years, drawing more builders and component makers from all over the country.



We flew out from Oakland with three bikes, including one of the new Ventana El Gordo fat bikes. Thankfully we didn't have any troubles getting everything checked in and our flight left on time.



Flying over the Nevada desert, we saw some huge parabolic solar mirror arrays.



The skies were mostly clear, and we didn't have much turbulence.



After a stop in Burbank we flew on to Denver, landing just in time to see the sun going down behind the mountains.



We finally got to Philly around 1 am, got the bikes unloaded and caught a taxi to our hotel across from the convention center downtown.





We forgot to bring a tire pump, so the first order of business was finding the nearest bike shop to fill our tires so we could have some transportation. Neil rode his new Ventana El Gordo and we took a spin around downtown.

Thanks to Frankinstein Bike Worx for the air!

The weather was a little overcast, but thankfully it didn't rain on us.









Next we stopped by to say hi to Dave and Simon at Firth and Wilson, a shop that specializes in cargo and transportation bikes.



When you have so many cargo bikes in the shop, you have to make the most of the floor space.



The crew from R.E. Load Bags was also there with a full assortment of packs and messenger bags for the show.



The folks at F&W really practice what they preach, so of course they brought their booth to the convention center by cargo bike.



We had a big group, including several different kinds of front loading bikes.



Taking the lane is easy when you've got this much cargo!



We rolled straight into the convention center and couldn't help taking a few laps around the empty show floor. More pictures coming in the second post from our trip!

Neil and Xan MTB Road Trip: Part 3 – Colorado and Utah

After some epic rides in the Springs, it was time to pack up the car and start the real adventure. I crammed all of my stuff into the van and we headed north to do one of Neil's favorite rides in Golden back from when he was in college. Even though I've spent plenty of time in Colorado at this point, I still sometimes go on a ride that totally blows my mind. Golden Gate Canyon was absolutely one of these rides.

Cycle Monkey Attends the North American Handmade Bicycle Show

Katie, Neil, and Aaron at our booth

A week after the Seattle Bike Expo, some of the Cycle Monkey team headed east to Charlotte, North Carolina for the ever-impressive North American Handmade Bicycle Show, also known as NAHBS. The show is a chance for small and mid-size framebuilders to showcase their artistry and craft to consumers and fellow bike builders. The show is full of the most exciting customized bikes you’ll ever see, where no cost is spared in producing beautiful and functional works of art. Cycle Monkey has been exhibiting at the show for the last five years, and this year we were excited to have a larger booth space to showcase some of our most popular builds from the Monkey Lab.