The bike fair for bespoked bikes from some of the best frame builders on the planet came to Dresden for the first time. The setting was quite special:
The fair happened on the second and third floor of the Dresden Airport! That made for great views and confused travelers, nearly running into the check-in counters while trying to understand what was happening upstairs, supported by loud techno music and people pushing their bikes through the airport.
The main part of course were the frame builders and component manufacturers displaying their finest and most advanced products while the airplanes took off behind them. Some exciting new products were shown, impressive manufacturing and craftsmanship were displayed and good times were had.
Lets dive a bit in the most exciting bits!
Press and reporting made easy. Thx CRANK! and TwoTone!
It was a great atmosphere with a lot of familar faces! Jon Woodrof from the TwoTone Amsterdam crew and Bregan Koenigseker from CRANK! Communications took care of communication and press materials. Thx so much! It makes life so much easier for us to gain all the details and some nice pictures and having to talk to them is the best way to get your information. While probably getting stuck for another hours just chatting of course.
What happened at BESPOKED 2023?
For the first time, the Bespoked Handmade Bicycle Show graced the European mainland, unveiling a worthy spectacle of artistry, innovation, and craftsmanship at the Dresden Airport. Boasting 102 exhibitors from 17 countries, Day one, dedicated to the press and special guests as well as several hours for the general public showcased an exceptional ensemble of handcrafted bicycles, marking a milestone in the show’s illustrious journey.
- 🇩🇪 Germany: 50
- 🇫🇷 France: 9
- 🇬🇧 UK: 9
- 🇳🇱 Netherlands: 7
- 🇨🇿 Czech Republic: 6
- 🇵🇱 Poland: 4
- 🇮🇹 Italy: 4
- 🇧🇪 Belgium: 3
- 🇩🇰 Denmark: 2
- 🇨🇴 Colombia: 1
- 🇱🇹 Lithuania: 1
- 🇵🇹 Portugal: 1
- 🇺🇸 USA: 1
- 🇨🇭Switzerland: 1
- 🇪🇸 Spain: 1
- 🇺🇦 Ukraine: 1
- 🇹🇼 Taiwan: 1
The best bikes of BESPOKED 2023
The highlight of the show was the highly anticipated awards ceremony, celebrating the pinnacle of craftsmanship and innovation in bespoke bicycle creation. Each piece, a testament to the talent and ingenuity of its creator, stood as a considered work in its own right, yet as a bike show, it’s not without an aura of friendly competition and the Bespoked Awards motivate creators to go above and beyond each year.
Each bike was judged by teams of judges for specific categories throughout the day and each first-place prize was awarded based on various criteria including beauty, craftsmanship, functionality and innovation. Each recipient received a one-of-a-kind handmade Star Wars-themed sculpture & Engraved Dynaplug keepsake by event organiser Petor Georgallou.
Bespoked’s Best 2023 (prize judges in parentheses)
Best New Builder (Bikerumor): Project D
Best City/Utility Bike (Fahrstil): YAAD
Best Road Bike (GCN): Quirk Cycles
Best Finish (Bespoked): Jack Kingston for Quirk and Spoon Cycles
Best Single Speed (Rennrad News): Ballern Cycleworks
Best Cargo (Twotone Amsterdam and CRANK! Communication): Journeyman Cycles
Mike Burrows Award for Innovation (European Bike Project): Project D
Best Off-Road Bike (GMBN): Acto5
Best MTB (Schwalbe): Bordure
Best in Show (Bespoked): Drust Cargo Bike (images below)
In addition, in the “SQLab Build Off”, sponsor SQLab gave different frame builders 1000 euros to build and equip bikes with SQLab products, and the best builder, Supercycles, was selected due to the many options and variabilities to equip, change and individualize, fitting the brand mission to offer individual products and variability for all riders.
Bespoked organiser Petor Georgallou made a point to inform the large crowd assembled for the Awards that each year, it is only through the help of volunteers, sponsors and supporters that makes Bespoked possible. Some of these exceptional contributions were subsequently recognized at this years’ Bespoked:
Most Outstanding Contributor: Sour Bicycles
Most Valuable Community-Builder: Roman Elsner of Cycling Saxony & Qvist Hubs
Absolute Legend” Award: Bennet of Ballern Cycleworks
SRAM Scholarship Award Awarded to all 4 SRAM scholars
- Atelier Pariah - Swanee Ravonison www.atelierpariah.com – @swanee_swanee
- Driss Boucif - Boucif Custom Bikes @boucif_custom_bikes
- CJ McGovern - CMG Bicycles cmgbicycles.com – @cmgbicycles
- Tore Jørgenson - Star Fish Bicycles søstjernecykler.dk – @starfishbicycles
As we move into the main days of the Bespoked Handmade Bicycle Show, the high press response yesterday underscores the appeal and significance of this platform. The Dresden cycling industry and communities are not just helping us to host the event but, in essence have drawn the European cycling center to Dresden and provided an inclusive space where art, craftsmanship and passion converge, promising an unmatched experience for every attendee.
Petor Georgallou, Bespoked Organizer
My personal highlights from the BESPOKED Show
So far for the official part and yes: There are some awesome bikes that well deserved those awards but I had a lot of chats with people on the fair that I want to mention. Here are a few of my favorites for you to check out with some cheeky details.
Posedla and their custom 3d printed Joyseat
Instead of burying it in between other stuff lets get this out straight away: I am sponsored by Posedla and receive products from them, but I bought my first saddle and the Joyseat has really changed my season quite a bit! It is just an amazing piece of tech and the Posedla team are just lovely!
Their saddle doesn't come cheap but it will definitely make your butt more happy and also give you a more efficient position on the bike!
Check out the company and how they produce bespoked saddles! (How cool is that?)
As a little bonus Posedla gave me a pair of 3d printed MTB handlebar grips as a prototype to test. First impression is great, I will follow up soon! Although I am still behind with my feedback for the Joyseat saddle. But it will come I promise!
Nico Bonanno is loosing it!
You might remember hime from our "Ask A Pro" article "How do I find the right bike for me?". Rumoured to be the best looking frame builder out there and crafting italian passion in Berlin with funky Japanese product names.
He didn't have his own stand on the fair, however we did see his frames everywhere. At Lightwolf Studio I saw a very special Futomaki Disc roadbike! it used the new Columbus Fork and Cockpit with complete internal cable routing and a stunning glitter red paintjob.
Why is that special? When I interviewed him 2 years ago, he said he would never do complete internal cable routing. So what happened Nico? "I don't know I'm going crazy" was what he answered.
It looked super sleek and built up with Shimano Dura-Ace and Beast Component deep section carbon rims it will turn heads wherever you go... fast.
Columbus is going deep into Carbon
What? Columbus, the famous tube manufacturer from Milan, Italy is investing in Carbon parts?!?
Yes they do and you don't need to worry. They are continuing to produce some of the best performing and iconic steel tubes for custom frame builders and the dove will stay a symbol for bespoked steel bikes.
However they want to support frame builders to build the most clean and sophisticated bikes possible. Carbon forks are not a first for them, but the new one makes internal cable routing a breeze. The design is as simple as it is smart and accepts standard round tube shaped stems. In addition they displayed a carbon stem with internal routing as well as a carbon handlebar with a specific shape to complement your hands while being in the drops. Feels nice, looks nice. Definitely would like to try them.
One downside: Asking where the carbon parts were produced their represantative answered Myanmar. He stated that the reason is import taxes, but with labor getting more expensive in Taiwan and China as well with the well established carbon industry there this leaves a bit of a bitter taste. I hope I am wrong and I definitely need to invest more time in research. Hopefully Columbus are embracing fair pay and workplace ethics here.
of course there were tubes on display as well and I can't stop looking at all those beautiful shapes, the news for me were the carbon parts though.
The other end of the Carbon industry
BEAST components showed us their factory in Dresden. And I was surprised: They pulled blank.
Every step every detail of their production has been displayed. Super transparent and honest and of course very interesting and insightful. Mirko talked a lot about how the bike industry is using low cost labour countries to create giant margins off of carbon parts.
However I have to say that being deep in the industry you cannot generalise that across the industry and we as europeans have to accept that the pinnacle of carbon manufacturing is now in South East Asia. We need to catch up and build up the knowledge here again to reach similar quality and effective carbon manufacturing.
BEAST components showed us their factory in Dresden. And I was surprised: They pulled blank. Every step every detail of their production has been displayed. Super transparent and honest and of course very interesting and insightful. Mirko talked a lot about how the bike industry is using low cost labour countries to create giant margins off of carbon parts, however I have to say that being deep in the industry you cannot generalize that across the industry and we as europeans have to accept that the pineacle of carbon manufacturing is now in South East Asia. We need to catch up and build up the knowledge here again to reach similar quality and effective carbon manufacturing.
BEAST are one of THE companies that realize this in Europe. It was amazing talking to them and seeing the processes. They don't need to hide between large manufacturers and their products have the highest standards for sure. It built a lot of trust in their products and the brand. Well done!
Jaegher - Putting the customer in the spotlight
Custom bikes are all about being the perfect bike for their respective owner, right? I went to Jaegher to chat about their future employee Manu Cattrysse and because I was attracted by the fancy paint job their bike on display had.
Standing there and chatting I learned a lot more about the brand, their USPs and especially:
How they don't put the brand on the downtube but the customer's initials. That's quite nice if you ask me.
Apart from that I didn't know Tom Boonen now trusts Jaegher for his retirement rides and that there is more people on the team I know.
Keep it up! It was nice catching up.
Fo.Goods makes fixed bags the simple way
There were a lot of bikepacking bags on display and I chatted to the lovely people at Tailfin for example. They got quite a name through their rack system that promises to be a fairly lightweight system and aero. All while being a rack.
I did not know about the variable thru-axle system to attach the bag to the bike without bosses on the chainstays. Smart!
They also showed me their new panniers which have a clever attachment system and a handleber bag that comes with a mount on your handlebar and a neetly engineered locking system to adjust the height for clearance to your front tire and headtube. I forgot to take a picture but I'll try and snatch a pictures of one of the prototypes from their instagram. ;)
Shortly after, Florian from fo.goods came along and waved me to their stand. He claimed to have created a fixed front bag system from just a piece of bent steel tube.
Quite interesting and I was intrigued. I was just shown the super high-end engineered version of a handlebar fixed bag at Tailfin and now Florian shows me a steel tube he was able to cut and bend on location to fix his handmade handlebar bags in 3 sizes to the front of the bike. Headtube and cables protected, no rubbing on the front tire. Wow.
As the system is so simple it is probably even lighter then the Tailfin solution. That is not taking anything away from the Tailfin prototype. Its amazingly engineered and neatly done, but the contrast within a few minutes made me smile. Two guys in Stuttgart just took a totally different turn and achieved a very good solution. The Tube is a single piece bent so loops around your stem. The ends go upwards and the bag slots in from the top and then gets strapped to the handlebar with simple straps.
Really its easier then it sounds and i hope they are successful with this. Well done to both of the companies!
Quirk bikes brings the shapes of carbon to steel
Rob Quirk from Quirk Cycles is no stranger to me since years. We first met at the Atlas Mountainrace in Morocco in 2020. Since then we meet again and again. I was aware of his bikes and had quite a few chances to admire them in person at events. This time though we REALLY had a chance to chat and i could look at a lot of details on his bikes.
One bike that stood out was the Superchub MTB that Jon Woodrof rode during the Hellenic Mountainrace. I had to laugh as Jon used an Oldman Mountain Divide Rack with Panniers in the front. A nice and sleek solution without any rattling. He did regret this setup though because of the hike-a-bikes where the heavy frontend of the bike really slowed him down.
The bike is stunning. Internat cable routing is something you don't see often on a MTB. The cables go into the stem and then neatly to their respective components. The crank and other parts are custom coloured, matching the paint of the frame.
One thing stood out for me: How did he manage to have those sleek dropouts and tube junctions??? Usually something you only see with carbon bikes... "Yeah, I went all in and asked a friend at university to custom 3D print the seat cluster and dropouts from stainless Steel. It looks nice, no?" Holy... yes! It looks amazing.
The Durmitor roadbike next to it actually won Best Roadbike on the show. With Columbus XCr Tubing, Terrazzo Candy-Raw Finish 3D Stainless Steel Dropouts, Cluster and Head Tube, Chris King Bearings, Enve Fork and Cockpit and SRAM Force Rainbow AXS Groupset it surely will turn heads everywhere. It is crazy to see how far bespoke, custom frame building has come in the past years and custom 3D printed parts are just the beginning I feel!
Well done.
INGRID Components are everyones 3D printed darling
INGRID were the last company I went to. on the Bespoked show. All of the different color combinations look very nice and are definitely targeting people who are looking for a rather unique look of their bike without standard parts.
New to their range was a new rear derailleur with 3D printed parts and a MTB shifter.
Why should I buy the INGRID Shifter/Derailleur rather then any of the products of the big brands? - "We can 3D print different cable guides so our parts work with any shifter on the market. Also we can customize them to your needs and make your bike really feel like its yours and unique."
Fair point I like it and the components look cool. I can't tell much from just clicking them, but the Italian company sure has a nice product coming here.
Social Rides and Talks
The social rides and the talks were packed! A highly engaged group of people attended the fair and really made it unique for me to talk about the Hellenic Mountainrace but also about gravgrav as a platform and our educational bikepacking route "The Lynx Trail". Thank you really to the audience it was amazing to present in front of such a crowd. The other talks were great and interesting for me as well. A well thought out program for sure!
The Social Ride I joined was cool and led us through a lot of the little roads and paths I trained on in my childhood. The group dynamic was fun and I enjoyed every kilometer of it. Thx for organizing to The Gravel Club.
It was a weekend to remember with old friends, new friends and loads of familiar and friendly faces.
Please do it again Petor. Already Stoked for the next BESPOKED!