It was hard to know what to expect with attendance this year but any worries that folks might stay away due to the economy or location of the show were certainly unfounded. It was busy all day today with mid afternoon the busiest. It stayed that was until they turned the lights out telling us it was time to get some food and drink.

One of the frames in our booth certainly got a lot of attention. It’s a JKS with a paint job that is hard to describe. It’s stunning really – Joe Bell rocks. I’ll get some photos of it up soon or maybe after the show

I got a chance to walk the aisles this morning and it was good to see so many I’ve known for so long. In walking around it appears that the overall quality has taken a step up which is very good in my opinion.

Tomorrow should be the busiest day and it’s time to get some sleep and save some energy for it.

Thanks to all the forum friends and customers that stopped by. It’s good seeing you all.

Tomorrow I’ll have a few photos from the show posted here so if you have a chance to stop by please do so.

Later,

Dave

Well we made it to Indy safe and sound, the booth is all set up,and we’ve gotten reacquainted with some old friends. It’s good to finally be here.

I want to take a moment to tell you about a new group that has been launched recently. The Framebuilders’ Collective made its public debut today and I’m proud to be part of the group.

Here is the official press release that was released today. Much more about this soon.

Dave

For Immediate Release
26, February 2009
Indianapolis, Indiana

Eight professional framebuilders from three countries have spent the last 24 months working behind the scenes to create an international organization which they expect will galvanize the trade, pay homage to its past, and work towards ensuring that its future is bright and profitable. The Framebuilders’ Collective is a now a reality. The group includes Curt Goodrich, Sacha White, Nick Crumpton, Dave Kirk, Carl Strong, Dario Pegoretti, Darrell McCulloch, and Richard Sachs.

A website http://www.framebuilders.org is the holding place for the group’s mission statement and FAQ list.

All founding members are enthusiastic about the Collective’s potential and are now looking forward to finally being a public entity after 2 years of planning. Efforts are underway to expand the names involved so that the The Framebuilders’ Collective will be a true representation of the talent and the commitment that is part and parcel of the professional framebuilding trade.

Well it’s just about that time. We think about, prepare and plan for the NAHBS event for nearly a year and now it’s almost here. Karin and I get on a plane tomorrow morning and with any luck will be in Indy early afternoon.

 In years past we have been able to drive to the show but this year it’s too far to have it be a reasonable drive so we are flying. One thing this complicated was getting all our stuff to the show. As some of you know I travel and show with my good friend Carl Strong and he and I have display fixtures we’ve made. The problem is that the fixtures were not designed to be shipped but to be tossed into the back of Carl’s truck. So we had to spend considerable time modifying the displays so they would fit into Fed Ex-able boxes. We were able to modify all the fixtures so that they would fit into standard bike frame boxes. We have lots of frame boxes.

 One nice thing about flying to the show is that it forces you to be ready early so the boxes can be shipped on time and once they are shipped there’s not that much to be done. It gives a few low key days to get a ride or two in, to get a haircut and regroup in preparation for spend a day traveling and setting up, 3 days on your feet shaking a few thousand hands and another day tearing down and traveling home. Once home the pace doesn’t let off for a few days as there are always a good number of calls and emails to return not to mention shipping all the show bikes off to their new homes.

 There is one thing I’m sad about and that is that Mr. Jack Brunk will not be able to come to the show as planned. He owns two of the bikes I’ll be showing this year and he’s only seen photos of them and was looking forward to “meeting” them. We will miss your company and energy Jack. Be well.

 More from the show,

Teaser of Jack Brunk's JKS

Dave

View from the Frameworks shop

First Blog Entry –

Well as you can see there is now a Kirk Frameworks blog and this is my first entry. I hope that you the reader will find this interesting, informative and at times even humorous. I can’t guarantee any of the above but that’s what I’m striving for.

I’ve noticed that some bloggers post something new every day into their blog and in some cases more than once a day and frankly I don’t think that will happen in my case. Not because I don’t have anything to say (as anyone who knows me will agree) but because I’m busy with the business of framebuilding. I’ll be using this space to share my thoughts on framebuilding in general, to show what is in the shop at the moment and to share stories of things I’ve experienced during my 29 years in the bicycle business and 20 years of working as a professional framebuilder.

As you may know I like to spend time on cycling forums online and most of my posts are not particularly notable but there are a few that I’ve written over the years that I think have some merit and I will be cutting and pasting those into this space on occasion. A greatest forum hits if you will.

My writing is far from perfect and I think you’ll find I write in a conversational tone despite my best efforts. I have a very sarcastic and dry sense of humor, which at times has gotten me into hot water on some online cycling forums. I’ll do my best to be sure that you know when I’m attempting a joke but I don’t think you’ll find any smiley faces or dancing bananas to let you know for sure.

Over the next few weeks I’ll be writing about the NAHBS event as well as some history of how and why I got into the bike and framebuilding business. I’ll also be posting photos of my work and shop so you can get a feeling for what it’s like to be here.

This format is very new to me and I’m sure I’ll make some technical mistakes so please bear with me as I learn something new.

Thanks for reading.

Dave