The world’s largest custom handmade bike show, MADE, held its first Australian edition over the weekend with nearly 50 exhibitors showing off their craftsmanship.
A vision of industry veteran Billy Sinkford, MADE is an international handmade bike show that's proving that the interest in handcrafted bicycles is alive and well, despite the bike industry's struggles in recent years. When MADE made its debut in August 2023 in Portland, Oregon, USA, it instantly became the world's largest handmade bike show, showcasing the art of 200 global bike builders and brands and attracting over 5,000 consumers over the course of the three-day event. See our favorite builds from the 2023 show here.
Before dust had even a chance of settling on the debut event, planning of a second edition of the MADE show was already set in motion and a surprise expansion opportunity soon emerged.
"It was not our plan from the get-go, but rather a good opportunity for us to work with people that we care about in the market that makes sense with a vibrant builder community and an extension of what we're already doing," Sinkford told Cycling Weekly.
"But I am thrilled. [MADE] has been our dream for years, and to see our dream growing to be able to feature and highlight more builders and more brands on a larger global scale is fantastic."
This expansion came to life over the weekend thanks to a partnership with FYXO and the community’s 17th annual Melburn Roobaix cycling event.
While smaller than the US event, the one-day Australian edition still drew 1,000 visitors, who came to admire the dozens of drool-worthy, custom bikes. For those of us not fortunate enough to attend the event in person, feast your eyes on a sampling of the bikes on display.
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Wondercross - Rambler
(Image credit: MADE)
This beautiful plum-coloured titanium all-road steed is called the Rambler and is made by Wondercross in Melbourne, Australia.
The Rambler is built 'for long days on the road and punchy adventures offroad' alike and features S-bend seatstays to seamlessly blend road and trail compliance for a smooth ride while accommodating tyres up to 38mm. This frame was built with a beautifully matching Enve fork, fender and cockpit; a 1x SRAM Eagle drivetrain; and Zipp 303 hoops wrapped in Rene Herse Stampede Pass tyres.
Red never goes out of style, does it? And this Prova Integrale LW sure is a head turner.
Siblings Mark and Kelly Hester are behind the Melbourne-based Prova Cycles, and together, they design and manufacturer stunning steeds from a blend of carbon, titanium and CNC machined parts.
The Integrale is Prova's take on the clean aesthetic of the hidden cable bike. It features Prova's in-house butted 3/2.5 seamless tubing, in-house designed and manufactured internally butted carbon ISP and in-house designed and 3D printed titanium dropouts, seat and headtube lugs. It pairs the frame with an Enve integrated fork and cockpit, Partington R-SERIES MKII R31/31 wheels and a Dura Ace Di2 groupset with a SRM powermeter.
The rim brake bike isn't dead yet! This carbon stunner is the Palmer Fast Road hand-crafted by Chris Palmer in the Macedon Ranges of Victoria, Australia.
The Fast Road is a pure road bike designed around 30mm tyre clearance, rim brakes and a large headtube, downtube and tapered chainstays for pure speed. Stiff and light and fully custom, it's meant to climb with the best of them. And just look at that beautifully exposed weave.
With the tagline of "dare to be different," the titanium steeds of Simpatico bikes sure stand out.
The model shown here is the Bunyip, the Brand's drop bar adventure bike featuring its so-called titanium "TrussCage fork." The fork not only offers a smooth ride, it can also carry a fair bit of cargo and accommodate tyres up to 29 x 2.6”.
This build consist of a GRX 1x12 mechanical gruppo with a Unite MTB Crankset and a 36T Garbaruk chainring. The weelset consists of NVISAGE MTB rims laced to Son Dynamo hub in the front and NVISAGE ratchet hub in the rear.
This Enve Fray sported some extra-special decals. These pink accents were made for Enve-sponsored rider Tadej Pogacar after his win at the Giro d'Italia this year.
"A lot roadie, a little groadie," the Fray is Enve's answer to an endurance bike, one that aims to meet the demands of the modern road rider by pairing a road racing pedigree with all-road features like wider tire clearance, in-frame storage and a fit comfortable for all-day adventures in the saddle. Cycling Weekly had the opportunity to test ride the bike in the spring and you can read that review here.
Some special Giro d'Italia decals to celebrate Pogacar's win
(Image credit: MADE)
Curve AIR Belgie
(Image credit: MADE)
Curve Cycling designed the Belgie series of road bikes to bridge the gap between race and endurance bikes. The Belgie AIR was co-founder Steve Varga's birthday present to himself with the aim of exploring innovation while showcasing the Melbourne cycling culture and celebrating his 40th birthday.
The AIR is meant to celebrate sophisticated artistry, performance, and a bike for those wanting something elegant and decorative. It features a carbon seat tube with a beautifully visible weave and a 3D printed titanium topper by Australia's Bastion.
This steel standout is Wilde Bikes' Dream Engine, a drop-bar adventure bike made to go-anywhere and do-anything. It was designed with the Tour Divide in mind and is hand built in the USA.
It features clearance for 29 x 2.6" tyres and mounts everywhere, including: three pack mounts on top and bottom of the down tube, bottle mount on the seat tube, top tube bag mounts, rack and fender mounts.
The steel frame is built around the Salsa's carbon Cutthroat fork which, in addition to offering a smooth ride, features three-pack mounts on each leg and internal dynamo and brake routing. This bike is built with a Shimano GRX mechanical groupset with a 1x White Industries crankset.
'Why not both' Is the tagline of this bright Baum Orbis+, which was built to tackle road and gravel with equal ability.
"Taking the latest – wider – rims, we designed the Orbis + around the demand for a platform that would allow for bigger tyres while still maintaining the soul of a road bike," the renowned Australian titanium brand says.
This quiver killer features a semi-integrated headtube, an Enve road disc fork and was built around a road groupset. Yet it also accommodates tyres up to 40mm and was built around wider bars and a shorter reach for greater control and tyres. The build featured here has a Shimano Dura Ace Di2 groupset and Enve 3.4 wheels wrapped in Goodyear Connector tyres.
This steel beauty is Lost Workshop's Cento road bike. All Lost Workshop bikes are completely custom, designed from the ground up and built one at a time. This roadie is built from Columbus Cento tubing, fillet brazed and sports a very clean, minimalist aesthetic and a paintjob that cannot be missed. The built includes a Shimano Dura Ace 9270 groupset and Creative carbon Ultra 45 Wheels.
While made for rugged, off-the-beaten-path terrain, the Woods Nomad couldn't look any cleaner. With no cables in sight and the brand's distinct polished brass head badge proudly on display, this is one elegant yet modern steel steed.
The Nomad is made with Columbus tubing and a Columbus Futura Cross fork and features a tyre clearance of up to 43mm. The build on display featured a Shimano GRX 12-speed mechanical groupset complete with the Shimano RX870 carbon wheelset and finishing kit and Panaracer GravelKing SK tyres.
Woods Bicycle Company is a family business driven by bike-obsessed brothers Josh and Zac Woods, and based in Northern Rivers, NSW, Australia. Each bike is made to order.
Cycling Weekly'sNorth American Editor, Anne-Marije Rook is old school. She holds a degree in journalism and started out as a newspaper reporter — in print! She can even be seen bringing a pen and notepad to the press conference.
Originally from The Netherlands, she grew up a bike commuter and didn't find bike racing until her early twenties when living in Seattle, Washington. Strengthened by the many miles spent darting around Seattle's hilly streets on a steel single speed, Rook's progression in the sport was a quick one. As she competed at the elite level, her journalism career followed, and soon she became a full-time cycling journalist. She's now been a cycling journalist for 11 years.
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