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Whatever your feelings are regarding the Interbike bicycle trade show, I am pleased to report that there most certainly was an undeniable Kustom presence exhibited at this year's Vegas extravaganza. Right alongside all the lightweight  racing gear, robotically-built of the most recently declassified aerospace materials, were some fine examples of good old-fashioned craftsmanship, innovation, creativity and style.

This being the first time I had ever attended, I was a bit overwhelmed at the sheer scale of the event- drawing vendors from all around the globe to hawk their wares to shop owners looking for the next new thing in pedal-powered gear. After getting my bearings, my trusty photographer and I (OK, it was my Dad) put on our Kustom-tinted glasses and proceeded to methodically scan the aisles for the products that will define next year's gear available to builders and modifiers alike. We were honored to have this opportunity to attend for those of you who may have never experienced an inside look into the bicycle industry, and hope that you are as pleased as we were to find plenty of creative and quality gear for your perusal- and perhaps for purchasing, this coming year. . We would also like to thank the vendors for their cooperation in helping us with photographs, answering our questions, and for generally being very kool to us.

3G Bikes:

Erik and Gary Silva (right) chatting.

3G's booth was quite a sight to see, the incredible amount of gear they had packed into their booth was spilling out into the aisle, much like the owner Gary Silva himself- a man whose ideas flow out of him like a cornucopia. Gary was very helpful, showing us all his latest gear, including one of the most impressive electric-powered choppers I have seen. This chopper came with its own scientist! Louis Shih, of EV-Plus, and Gary were working together on a kit that anyone can apply to electrify a bicycle. Gary wasn't satisfied with a simple, sluggish motor. Utilizing technology such as Lithium Ion Polymer battery cells and a custom performance hub motor, barely a twist of the throttle and this machine wants to get up and GO! Gary's love for speed was demonstrated in the video he played showing him doing over 60MPH on one of his bikes with no hands! If that doesn't speak stability to you, and Gary's faith in his own design, nothing does!

ChoppersUS made quite an impact at the show. Their being just about the only US company offering a full line of customizing parts, as well as complete bikes, only added to the attraction of their booth, which featured custom diamond-plate counters and revolving displays! Alan and Rick were there to answer all questions, as was Mike Lewis of Quickspeed, whose wheels were on display in all their polished billet glory. Sweet stuff!

ChoppersUS:

Mark O'Leary, CEO of Deuce, traveled all the way from Booth #5765 to invite me back to see the awesome spinner wheelsets he was offering. These smooth-spinning and finely-finished wheelsets are strong enough that professional freestyle BMX pros are riding them. If you like your wheels to stand out in a crowd, you can't go wrong with the quality built into these beauties- made to be ridden hard, in style.

Deuce:

Dirty Dog:

Although, in essence, a mountain bike-focused manufacturer, Nick Debeer of Dirty Dog MTB had some surprisingly intricate and creative CNC-machined parts, such as disc rotors, stems and cable guides in exotic patterns and shapes, appropriate for Kustom applications as well as MTBs. Because these are designed, tested and ridden by hardcore riders, they aren't just another pretty face with no backbone, but quality parts safety-tested for performance bicycles. I look forward to seeing what else they come up with.

Electra: Electra has come a long way in just a few short years. Previously perceived by many as "that company with the funky lookin' bikes", Electra's focus on making bikes that are a pleasure to ride has paid off in greatly increased sales, and having one of the larger and well-traveled booths at Interbike demonstrated this. Their "Townie" series has won several design awards for changing the comfort level of the average cyclist, and I can attest to this, having sold our shop's entire inventory of them, predominantly based on the ride impression by the customers. Way to get folks riding Electra!

Felt: Felt also drew a large crowd. The enormous line of bikes they carry was part of the draw, but traffic seemed to be centered around the "speed bike" built by Bryan Fuller, a builder  previously featured in BR&K. Eye-catching in its shaped brushed aluminum fairing, it was trying very hard to overshadow the great line of cruisers and choppers, that I feel is the strength of Felt's lineup- crafted in so many styles one attendee claimed, "There's a bike here for any taste". Brian Wilson, Felt's Director of Product Development  gave me a tour, pointing out the crisp graphic treatments and fine details to be found throughout. Top quality, beautiful and yet still affordable. Check out Felt's lineup in person if possible, as pictures do them no justice.

GT: I was surprised to see that the cool custom cruisers by GT, seen in previous years, were being represented at the show by just one model, the "Double Down". Sporting a playing cards/skulls motif, it was probably the closest to a full Kustom that a production bike can get, with a paint job and details that were of such depth and intricacy, I failed to get good pictures of them.

Madwagon: Although I hadn't seen any of Madwagon's bikes before the show, a few of these caught my eye, mostly because they look like other bikes I've seen. If you're looking for an inexpensive base bike to modify and trick out, you may want to give Madwagon a closer look.

Mongoose: Mongoose had quite an array of electric bikes this show, and it's obvious that is the main focus of their lineup. Mongoose did use a well-respected brand of electric motor, so they should function as well as they look. The tough part may be choosing between the many  interesting adult and kid's models and styles.

Nirve: Nirve was probably my favorite stop of the show. Aaron Bethlenfalvy spent a good amount of time with us, talking about the bikes, accessories, and design features of their diverse and creative bikes. Nirve also focuses hard on producing a bike with value; and ride quality is something they understand well. Little details, such as the 18" wheel on their kids Clutch chopper (right) to make it fit even smaller children, show that Nirve really wants their bikes ridden, not just hung in the garage as art.

Phat: Phat had a great display, with all the bikes on show-quality stands; and the bikes were well worthy of such a throne! My favorite bike of the show was here at Phat, a polished aluminum chopper with a super wide 100MM rim. The tricks used to offset the chainline were impressive, but the details all added up to a real beauty in my mind. Phat is all about details too, with fishnet stockings on the "Femme Fatale", formed tanks integrated into the structure of the frames, beautiful paint jobs, and just plain sex appeal.

Kenda Tires (Rambikes): Used as a grabber for the Kenda tires booth, this Rambikes chopper had some real presence. Fat aluminum raw tubing, one-sided rear end, impressive length and a solid feel just screamed macho, especially with a top female mountain bike racer sitting on it. Kenda tires were, of course, featured on it; though the rear was a motorcycle tire.

Rohloff: For those of you who dabble with mountain bikes, Rohloff may be a name you might associate with Downhill racers. As the world's only producer of a 14-speed internal hub, Rohloff cannot afford to produce anything but quality; but it does come at a price. Available with or without disc brake mounts, these powdercoated or polished hubs are the top of the line.

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Nirve Electric Chopper

Schwinn: Schwinn will just not sit on their laurels after producing their million-seller Stingrays last year. All of the line has been changed, in my opinion, much for the better. Wider front tires can be seen on the Spoiler and Stingray models, and a new and very cool suicide shifter alongside the seat shows that Schwinn still wishes to lead the design pack and set the trends. A chat with their lead designer foretold even more innovations to come in the form of wider 26" tires, and perhaps even the much-desired 24"X4.25".

Schwinn Aero Sport

Sturmey-Archer: For those of you who remember their classic 3-speed internal hubs, Sturmey still produces them, and a whole lot more besides. The new 8-speed internal holds much promise, and as far as my research tells me, is the only 8-speed that is available in brakeless, coaster, disc or drum equipped. The finely-polished finish should appeal to show-quality builders. As for the quality, Sturmey-Archer needs to send me a set for thorough testing- over, say 50 years? OK, perhaps it's my attraction to shiny things, but they also had a very nice front dynamo hub also available in drum, disc or brakeless. Thanks for all the choices!

Surly: I won't let the fact that I own a Surly Steamroller affect my coverage of their booth; they didn't even have one on display! What they did have was their own distinctive style. Surly takes the back roads and alleys into account in their designs, producing such beasts as the Pugsley, with Surly Endomorph 3.7's, the biggest tires available to fit 26" rims anywhere.

Sweetskinz: We happened by Sweetskinz toward the end of our tour, and were pleasantly surprised to see what they had to offer. Sweetskinz has been spending the last few years developing the technology to produce tires with embedded colored patterns actually molded into the tread. The colors and patterns are intricate and impressive, but so is the fact that these tires are retroreflective! Fanny Berry, VP of Marketing told me that they are in the process of having them approved for stringent  European reflective tire standards, making these a great choice for style and safety.

For kicks, they created a unicycle based on the Endomorph tires and Large Marge rims for those crazy enough to freeride on a unicycle. If you're looking for something for riding on the fringe, check out Surly, it's likely they'll have what you need.

Retroreflectivity:

Without camera flash- and with camera flash.