An idea that was hatched back at Interbike has come to fruition. FairWheel Bikes has officially opened the HetFairWheel Podium gallery. This is a new space devoted to displaying rare bicycles, as well and high end, lightweight components. To be clear, this is not another high end bike shop. Don’t bring in your race machine expecting to get a tune up. Although, you will find a large selection of Tune components on display.
Why is FairWheel Bikes starting a gallery such as this one? Well, lets let Jason, from FairWheel, tell us.
“We’ve been asked quite a lot, how come we are doing this. I’ve tried to think of a good justification for it but really it comes down to the simple fact that it sounds like fun. We’ve spent years testing installing and customizing the worlds best components and we’d like to create a space where you can come in and simply, “check it out.” Plus, we can do it, so why not. This is in mind we’d like to thank all the people and companies that have made this possible. We look forward to working with every single one of our current partners as well as meeting a lot more along the way.”
At The Podium, they are not shy about letting you pick up, touch, and examine the parts and cycles on display. I strongly encourage anyone in the Portland, OR metro area, or anyone visiting, to swing by and visit the gallery. It really is a fun experience. Besides, where else can you hold a 6.28lbs road bike that is worth more than your car?
The HetFairWheel Podium is located at 600 NW Natio Parkway in Portland, OR. Their hours are Tuesday – Thursday 9am – 6pm, and Sunday 3pm – 6pm.
I had the opportunity to swing by Saturday afternoon before they opened and snap some photos. Head on past the break for eye candy galore.
This bike (photo at top of post as well) is a custom Parlee TT frame that was sent to artist Geoff McFetridge. This is the second bike he has done for FairWheel, and he was given total freedom on the design. Geoff started off by putting a resist material on the frame, followed by a layer of matte white. Once the process was done (over 100 hours of work later), he carefully removed the resist material, leaving the design in nude carbon. I have to admit, this 3 speed fixed gear bicycle was my favorite thing in the gallery, and Geoff McFetridge did an amazing job with the artwork!
Here we have the worlds lightest road bike, coming in at a mind boggling 6.28lbs! Picking this thing up really throws you for a loop. The darn bike weighs less than my chunky laptop even. Semi-Specific dollar amounts have been suggest as to what this bike is worth. However, so many parts were one off “as a favor” productions, that until it sells again, I don’t think we can really say what its worth. Detail shots below.
Rob English, of English Cycles had this slick custom bike on display. Head on over to his site for full details. Rob built this bike up using Shimano’s Di2 drive train, and managed to get a hold of the super rare Di2 Sprint Shifters as well.
There it is, poking out of the bar tape like a little fang.
To keep with the super rare theme, this bike has brakes from Far and Near as well. I was told this is one of only six sets in the US currently.
I think that is enough photos for this post. We have more images form the gallery however, so stay tuned for a second post coming soon!
