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Mark Norstad of Paragon Machine Works explains the intricacies of one of his bottle openers.

Moon's britches come in two styles, shorts and plus fives for men and women. The plus fives are shorter than pants and longer than knickers. The herringbone series Britches will cost $170.

Sheila Moon previewed her Herringbone Riding Britches at the show. She had her regular Riding Britches on sale for $100; they were a hit with the Portland crowd.

Fi’zi:k had three brown and black saddles at the show with matching brown Microtex handlebar tape. The styles fit the scene well.

The Brooks saddle booth had a fitting flat screen and the will, so the crowd grew.

Someone was looking for a good place to show a San Francisco-made messenger movie.

Nobilette also had a few customers’ bikes on display as well, including this custom white cyclocross bike.

Mark Nobilette, a builder from Longmont, Colorado, had a few frames on display. This one was built especially for the show.

SyCip's fixie sported matching tidbits, including the steel bar-and-stem combination.

The SyCip has a unique braking (or at least velocity-damping) system. It has a Formula Oro brake attached to its downtube and a rotor attached to the custom White Industries crank arm. Obviously, since the gear is fixed, the brake slows both cranks and the bike.

SyCip had one of the most-talked-about fixed-gear messenger bikes on the floor.

Actor and comedian Robin Williams was both admiring and admired.

Gravity racer Brian Lopes also visited, and he, too, seemed genuinely intrigued by the fine craftsmanship on display.

Lance Armstrong was in attendance, though there wasn’t a Trek in sight.

Hometown pride was on display for Portland, Oregon, and the builders who live and work there.

Exhibit hall C was packed to capacity with bike geeks for three days.

Monday's podium: from left, Won Jae Lee (Seoul Cycling), Mathieu Sprick (Bouygues Telecom), Anuar Manan (Letua Cycling Team) and Shinichi Fukushima (Meitan Hompo GDR).

Summer Fun in August 1975, A Day of Bike Races for U.S. Military Dependents in Frankfurt, West Germany Thanks to the USO, 7-UP, and AMF Bicycles

DeSalvo hasn’t had trouble keeping busy in the age of carbon fiber, Indeed, he says his titanium sales are growing. Just a few years ago it was a third of his business — now he estimates it’s up to half. He’s not afraid of the current carbon craze, saying his customers are constantly telling him that the “off the shelf stuff has no character.”

Mike DeSalvo could be found next door, behind one of his latest custom projects, a BMX-inspired 29er.

A Selle Italia saddle also gets the Vanilla treatment.

Sacha White, Vanilla’s proprietor, has a new paint booth in his workshop and isn’t afraid to make things match better — like this Ritchey stem.

Molly Cameron, a Vanilla Factory racer and owner of Portland’s VeloShop (in black behind the Speedvagen Project road bike), was just back from a European cyclocross campaign and hob-nobbing with attendees in the Vanilla booth.

Hunter's brake mount and stay junction is particularly smooth.

Hunter's single-pivot design rotates concentrically around the bottom bracket shell on four sealed cartridge bearings.

Hunter's bike also features a minimalist front-derailleur cable routing.

Hunter, hiding behind his latest creation. Notice the semi-integrated carbon seat tube.

Rick Hunter, who grew up racing mountain bikes, was proudly showing the first rendition of his "World Cup Level" full-suspension cross-country bike , which his wife will race on this year. The mostly True Temper OX Platinum steel bike weighs about 24 pounds and has 3 to 3.5 inches of travel.

The king of water bottle cages, King Cage, made by Ron Andrews in Durango, Colorado had special show stamps on the stainless steel and titanium cages he was selling.

Chris King is pictured in the center, with his collar up. He is in his early 20s in this photo.

The front end of the bike isn’t the only part that draws attention.

The fork crown is machined from stainless steel.

This frame is built with a 1-inch head that has a modified 1.125-inch Steelset headset brazed directly to its stainless lugs allowing a 1.125-inch fork steerer to be fitted.

Also on display in Chris King’s camp was a frame called Cielo. It’s a brand King started back in the ’70s, but took a backseat to the headset and hub business. King produced frames under the name as recently as ’96 but let it go dormant in the last decade. Now that King Components is settled and thriving in Portland, he hints at the possibility of bringing the bikes back to life.

Chris King also displayed a special “Sotto Voce” edition, named for its toned-down graphic. The standard-sized headsets were created just for the show, but the look was first unveiled on the 1.5-inch headsets. King wasn’t planning to release it to the retail market in the standard sizes, but seeing the overwhelmingly favorable response to its plans that may change in the near future.

The mahogany version of the special-edition 110.

Cane Creek makes a version of the 110 for integrated headsets called the 110 IS. The model pictured has a maple top cap and spacer.

A cutaway example of the internal workings of the 110. The headset comes with interlocking, hollow aluminum spacers, a captured compression ring — the key design element of the headset — and a split lip sealed bearing. The whole package weighs less than 100 grams.

Cane Creek has a new headset —the 110, named for its 110-percent design effort and 110-year warranty. It’s priced at $140. For the NAHMBS, Cane Creek made a special variation of the 110, replacing aluminum parts with titanium and featuring delicate wooden inlays. Only 50 were made, half with maple inlay and half with mahogany. Each costs $650.

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