EHBE

IF @ EHBE
Carsten's tribute
Owners' frames on display
Very slick Fixie Inc seatstay coupler for belt drive
Crisp w/ BB30 & Cannondale 2x9
Crisp Titanium
In a flury of activity, it is nice to have such a show as the EHBE in the middle. The European version of the NAHBS took place over the weekend in the sleepy community of Schwaebisch Gmuend near Stuttgart Germany. It was small gathering of not so big, small (and very small) frame builders, and companies focused on the bike.

For us, it is our tradeshow this year as we are passing on an official presence at Eurobike. Instead we are doing many more grassroots events, trying to give more back to the IF fans out there. For EHBE we have a delectable showing of our range of frames along with a couple of fresh customer rides (thanks to Conni and Carsten...). We also had some sweet eyecandy courtesey of Waridi and KING in our stand, creating a setting one could endulge themselves in sheer bike porn for a long time.

Attendees and other vendors poured over the love be exhibited, making note of the craftsmanship and detail of our rides and parts. So often I was told of how much people loved our bikes, and were IF fans, something very few other companies can boast. It was flattering to hear of the respect and positive feedback, and more so to hear the distances people traveled just to come and see us.

On Saturday evening, together with Waridi we threw a big BBQ with all of the fixens for over 130 party goers. There was an assortment of grilled meat with me be the Grill MC that evening, 4 kegs of beer were made empty and a good time was had by all. My new friends over at RetroVelo lit up the portable bike DJ turntable to provide the ambiance, and the conversations flowed over the whole setting like a spring flood, it was awesome.

Afterwards the fine people of Daily Bread, RetroVelo, Ulrich Vogel, Waridi and myself all went out for a nitecap on the Altstadt of SG. I heard other stories of even later nights, but I was glad to have found my way home by 1am...

With the prior evening consumption of beverages still lingering in my head, it was another great day of talking about all things bikes. It was interesting to meet and see the offerings of the European bike community, there is some definite talent and innovation happening here, and I have developed some ideas out of the show myself. The openess of the builders and open forum on the bike there was inspiring and great to see. Something you will get anywhere else I think.

We had a great show, and look forward to the next edition, and yes we will be back with the BBQ, but bigger, and better. For now, it is off to the states, bis bald.