One doesn't normally think of utility bikes being beautiful but Rob English might have bucked that trend with this entry - James Huang/Future Publishing
The huge front rack is rigidly fixed to the frame and doesn't turn with the front wheel - James Huang/Future Publishing
The parallelogram-style stem is adjustable in height via the single bolt located just ahead of the steerer tube - James Huang/Future Publishing
English covered the front and rear racks with carbon fiber decking from Ruckus Composites - James Huang/Future Publishing
The polished stainless steel seat tube is clamped in place with pinch bolts at the bottom bracket and seat cluster - James Huang/Future Publishing
The rear rack sports some serious surface area - James Huang/Future Publishing
The requisite Gates Center Track belt drive. Builders had their choice of electronic drive units and English went with Bosch - James Huang/Future Publishing
The heavily reinforced frame looks reassuringly solid. Total bike weight was around 62lb - James Huang/Future Publishing
English did a fine job of hiding the split in the chainstay - James Huang/Future Publishing
Surface-mount LED flashers are used front and rear - James Huang/Future Publishing
See and be seen - James Huang/Future Publishing
English's novel front-end treatment clamps the steerer tube and preloads the headset bearings from the bottom, not up top - James Huang/Future Publishing
AluBoo showed up with this bamboo-and-aluminum townie retrofitted with SRAM's e-bike system - James Huang/Future Publishing
Tired of climbing? Ti Cycles has your solution, courtesy of a few hundred battery-powered watts from BionX - James Huang/Future Publishing
The rear end features Ti Cycles' signature seat stay wishbone design. The split in the chain stay for the belt is nearly invisible - James Huang/Future Publishing
Another bamboo townie with SRAM's E-matic system, this time from Booganda - James Huang/Future Publishing
Dean's Bosch-powered townie was an curvaceous titanium steed - James Huang/Future Publishing
Co-Motion's CityView, augmented with a SRAM E-matic battery and hub motor - James Huang/Future Publishing
Shamrock Cycles' Gates entry was a battery-powered bike of a different kind, built with a Shimano Alfine Di2 drivetrain - James Huang/Future Publishing
While some builders choose to hide the rear triangle split, Shamrock Cycles decided to make it a design feature - James Huang/Future Publishing
A Shimano Alfine Di2-equipped runabout from Independent Fabrications - James Huang/Future Publishing
The outer guard makes for a very clean-looking crankset - James Huang/Future Publishing
Kent Eriksen built this up as a Bosch-powered e-bike commuter for himself - James Huang/Future Publishing
The rear rack may bolt on to the chassis but with a perfectly matching finish, you can barely tell - James Huang/Future Publishing
Not content to use a standard tripod kickstand, Eriksen built his own - from titanium, of course - James Huang/Future Publishing
This rack probably took longer to weld than the frame - James Huang/Future Publishing
Bosch's motor unit is designed to be an integral part of the frame and not an add-on like hub-based motors - James Huang/Future Publishing
Connor's wooden frame is so striking that it's easy to miss the giant SRAM E-matic battery hanging off of the back - James Huang/Future Publishing
So pretty - James Huang/Future Publishing
By including a Bosch e-bike system on this tandem, Co-Motion killed two birds with one stone. The motor-assist gives an extra push when needed but given the nuances of the Bosch system, the captain can coast on demand, too - James Huang/Future Publishing
Beautiful polished stainless steel dropouts on Co-Motion's Bosch-powered road tandem - James Huang/Future Publishing
Dual Gates Center Track belts, a Bosch motor system and an internally geared NuVinci rear hub for this Co-Motion tandem - James Huang/Future Publishing
Calfee showed this wooden moto-style 29 bike for the Gates display - James Huang/Future Publishing
Calfee built this wild fork with wooden legs and crowns - James Huang/Future Publishing
The massive seat has tons of room for passengers but we can't help but wonder how much weight the cantilevered design can really hold - James Huang/Future Publishing
Sycip arrived at the Gates display with its usual hyper-creative brush. This cargo bike can not only deliver the goods, but can cook them upon arrival, too - James Huang/Future Publishing
This rack is designed to carry some serious weight - James Huang/Future Publishing
Sycip has a long history of using coins to cap off its segmented seatstays - James Huang/Future Publishing
Dual telescoping struts keep the load stable. Can't have hot dogs rolling off of the grill after all - James Huang/Future Publishing
Lunch is served! - James Huang/Future Publishing
Mike Flanagan of Alternative Needs Transportation (ANT) went with the BionX system because he liked the way the shape of the battery would fit into the main triangle - James Huang/Future Publishing
While many motor-assist system can look decidedly added-on, ANT has done an excellent job integrating the BionX system into a cohesive package - James Huang/Future Publishing
The rear dropout is an awfully busy area here - James Huang/Future Publishing
ANT built this linkage-style springer fork from scratch - James Huang/Future Publishing
This ain't no standard Paragon Machine Works dropout, kids - James Huang/Future Publishing
Classy - James Huang/Future Publishing
The stick shifter for the Shimano rear hub is tucked away on the seatstay, behind the rider - James Huang/Future Publishing
ANT builder Mike Flanagan says that this bike can go home with anyone with US$5,000 to spare. But otherwise, it conveniently also just happens to be his size - James Huang/Future Publishing
Dean built this curvy cantilever titanium frame for the Gates display - James Huang/Future Publishing
Pointy! - James Huang/Future Publishing
Dean welded the rear-mounted battery cradle directly to the cantilevered frame - James Huang/Future Publishing
Go on, run into the back of me - I dare you - James Huang/Future Publishing
Gates Carbon Drive sponsored a themed display at this year's North American Handmade Bicycle Show with just two requirements: the use of its increasingly popular belt drive system and the inclusion of some type of e-bike system. Roughly a dozen builders bellied up to the bar with their own interpretations of the genre and the results could have earned a show of their own.
“Electric bikes can get more people out of cars and onto two wheels, and we want to expose more Americans to this efficient, affordable and healthy transportation solution,” Todd Sellden, global director of Gates Carbon Drive, said in a press release. “Our goal with the Custom eBike Showcase is to allow top custom builders to present an American interpretation of the eBike movement that is sweeping Europe.”
Never thought an e-bike would be for you? Given how clumsily motor-assist systems are often built into – or on to, as the case may be – we can't blame you. But take a look at the gallery at right and then ask yourself the same question again. We dare say some of these builders might change at least a few minds.
One doesn't normally think of utility bikes being beautiful but rob english might have bucked that trend with this entry: one doesn't normally think of utility bikes being beautiful but rob english might have bucked that trend with this entry - James Huang/Future Publishing
James Huang is BikeRadar's former technical editor. After leaving BikeRadar in 2016, he worked at CyclingTips and Escape Collective. He now runs the Substack cycling publication N-1 Bikes.
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