Chris Bishop’s style is one of painstaking detail and workmanship applied to lugged, fillet brazed frames. Mostly road and track bikes, even he’s been bit by the gravel bug as evidenced by this gorgeous candy apple red metallic bike.
Shaped, thinned lugs are his trademark, but those aren’t the only details hiding on his bikes.
Note the points on the dropouts, the perfectly shaped ridge around the direct mount derailleur hanger, and the ultra-clean Di2 wire exit port.
New stainless logo pieces adorn the seatstay bridge, left in place for looks even though the brakes have moved down to the hub.
Bishop’s also known for bringing bright, glossy paint and chrome, with perfect finishes.
Besides taking home the award below, Runner Up ribbons were thrown about his booth on several bikes.
Not shown in its entirety, Bishop also won for best Fillet Brazed Frame. As required, this road bike was left otherwise unfinished so judges could see every detail without paint to hide anything. If classic steel bikes are your thing, head over to BishopBikes.com for more.
TRITON BIKES
Taking home the award for Best Cyclocross Bike, Triton’s single-speed racer was hard to track down. I grabbed it while builder Dmitry Nechaev was trying to talk SRAM into setting up a wholesale account for them in Russia (apparently there’s some issues with selling parts into that area).
Need motivation? This roughly translates into “Don’t be a wussy”.
Excellent tire and heel clearance comes from heavily shaped stays, plus a special design on the driveside shown further below.
A machined half yoke on the driveside gives it the stiffness they need while adding chainring and tire clearance.
The beautiful welds are present even on the smallest details. Where many bikes are content to simply shape a hole into a tube and provide a rubber grommet, the artisan bikes at NAHBS take it a step further. Here, a tiny tube is welded into place as a hose port.
Their Russian military winter cap was one of the more unique pieces of schwag any brand was selling.
Titanium step-thru commuter bike, anyone?
Mostly, titanium bikes are left unpainted so show off that warm gray metal we all love. But they they do get paint, it better be special, and Triton didn’t disappoint with this digital red camo theme on their road bike.
The gravel bike was left bare, and its thin tubing and all black components lent it a very sparse, minimalist aesthetic. We interviewed Dmitry in our 2016 and 2017 Road to NAHBS series, giving you an inside look at their build process and story. Check them out at TritonBikes.com.
