At times, covering trade shows like MADE feels like a race to get content out into the ether. The builder’s bikes and booths are the focus of the event, being the newest and shiniest things on display, but when we were planning our coverage, we thought it would be fun to set aside some time to photograph bikes belonging to everyday folks. Handmade bikes are amazing, but the MADE event is just as much about community, and this is our way of getting the attendees involved. A new tradition has been born.

Neil and I set up near the line for the bike valet area at MADE on Saturday, ready to capture photos, video, and a short interview with anyone willing to share. It started a little slow as riders trickled in, but we ended things with a queue of folks stoked to get their photo taken and meet the host of our YouTube channel. It turns out Neil has a few fans out there!

Without further ado, we’re happy to showcase our first official Rigs of the 2025 MADE Bike Show: Attendee Edition. We included participants’ bike portrait, what bike they’re riding, their favorite part, and what they were most excited to see at the show. You can scroll through the bikes and watch the video interviews down below.

If you’re included in the roundup and we spelled your name wrong, sorry! Make sure to let us know in the comments below, and we’ll get it fixed.

Kristen

Fernie, British Columbia

MOST EXCITED TO SEE: We were here yesterday morning, that was amazing. I’m just excited to do another lap and talk to people.
BIKE: I’m riding a Kona Sutra!
FAVORITE PART: I built it around the Super Yummy tires and pink cables, but I think as a whole I love the entire thing.

Tyler

McKinleyville, California

MOST EXCITED TO SEE: I’ve always watched it on YouTube, and this year I said, I’m coming and seeing it with my own eyes.
BIKE: Surly Cross-Check purchased from an estate sale, which I don’t normally go to, but I saw this bike outside and thought, I gotta make this dude’s bike live on.
FAVORITE PART: My Salsa saddle, just because I’ve never seen one before.

Colton

Bend, Oregon

BIKE: I built this as a lifer along time ago, in 2018 or so. It’s a Jamis Dragonfly frame, but I broke the frame six months in and got it warrantied with a black frame, but it wasn’t my favorite, so I got it powder-coated purple. I built the bike to go to the Baja. I’ve done a bunch of it, but not the whole route yet.
FAVORITE PART: My Carbon Jones H-Bars, which are flipped upside down for a little drop, instead of rise.

Michael

Beaverton, Oregon

MOST EXCITED TO SEE: Seeing all the eye candy, and this afternoon and tomorrow I’m volunteering.
BIKE: Jones Short Wheelbase Plus Spaceframe.
FAVORITE PART: I fell in love with the fork. It’s remarkably rigid in all the directions you want it to be, and it’s surprisingly light.

Kevin

Portland, Oregon

MOST EXCITED TO SEE: Everything. This is such a cool thing. It’s blown up so quickly and such a rad thing for the city. The people!
BIKE: This is my Masi Special Randonneur. It’s pretty old. It was under $1,300, and I love it to death.
FAVORITE PART: The Tiagra groupset. So simple. My frame bag was made by my friend Quinn. I like it; there’s a lot of stuff in there.

Dylan

Portland, Oregon

MOST EXCITED TO SEE: Pretty much everything. I really want to see Rare Earth Cycles, Pine, Black Cat if they are here, and any other pretty stuff that’s laying around.
BIKE: This is my Stridsland Beachcomber. It’s basically my dad bike or a really big BMX bike that I ride around town or take bikepacking, all that sort of stuff.
FAVORITE PART: Other than the frame itself, probably the handlebar from BTCHN’ Bikes.

Sara

Beaverton, Oregon

MOST EXCITED TO SEE: I’m curious! I saw you guys, and thought I better ask them what’s going on.
BIKE: I rescued this bike from the garbage three years ago in Northwest Portland. My friend Chris, who owns a bike shop, put on new brakes and yellow fenders, and I bought this beautiful basket and a bell.
FAVORITE PART: It takes me everywhere. It brings me places, and I love it.

John

Portland, Oregon

MOST EXCITED TO SEE: I’m looking for a replacement for this bike. I’ve got a Wilde Earth Ship at home, and this, and I want one bike that combines them both.
BIKE: This is my Elephant NFE. I’ve had it since 2015. I’m running 650B, and it has seen everything.
FAVORITE PART: My SON dynamo hub.

Amar

Austin, Texas

MOST EXCITED TO SEE: I actually went in yesterday, but I’m excited to see more silver parts.
BIKE: This is a Surly Midnight Special.
FAVORITE FEATURE: I like my electronic shifting with mechanical brakes.

Nick

Portland, Oregon

MOST EXCITED TO SEE: So much. I really love looking at the different paint jobs.
BIKE: This is my Ritchey Ultra Team Edition.
FAVORITE PART: I just put these Jones bars on, and they’re so comfortable, so I would say those are my favorite at the moment.

Brendan + Vivian

Portland, Oregon

MOST EXCITED TO SEE: Whatever Viv is most excited about.
BIKE: All-City Space Horse with a bunch of parts bin components and stuff from friends.
FAVORITE PART: I think the right gold Paul brake lever, which is a color they haven’t done in a long time.

Porter

Portland, Oregon

MOST EXCITED TO SEE: I just like meeting people. I like talking to people who share what I love, which is bikes, bike parts, bike culture, and bike everything.
BIKE: Titanium Omnium Mini Max that I ordered the frame and built it up with a bunch of shiny bits.
FAVORITE PART: There’s too much!

Dylan

Fernie, British Columbia

MOST EXCITED TO SEE: Not spending as much money as I spent here yesterday.
BIKE: This is a Specialized AWOL. I got the frame from a friend a couple of months ago and just kinda threw it together.
FAVORITE PART: The Ritchey Comp Beacon handlebars. I have them on all my drop-bar bikes, and they are the best.

Seth

Fernie, British Columbia

MOST EXCITED TO SEE: I’m not sure. Roly Poly Coffee at this point.
BIKE: I think it’s a Trek 850 from the late 90s that I retro-modded into a gravel bike.
FAVORITE PART: I think it’s the chainring. I had this Aarn chainring for a while, and it’s been on a lot of builds. I really like how it looks on this one.

Sylvan + Amy

Corvallis, Oregon

MOST EXCITED TO SEE: Amy: I don’t really know what to expect, I’ve never been to this show before, so I just want to see a lot of cool stuff. Sylvan: I want to see the King Cages getting made.
BIKE: We got our Bike Friday Two’sDay tandem maybe seven or eight years ago. We got it used, so we don’t know its full history, but Sylvan has done a lot of work getting it to how we like it.
FAVORITE PART: I swapped out the timing chain for a timing belt, and although the fit and tension are a little weird, but it might be the only Bike Friday Two’sDay with a Gates belt drive timing belt.

Joseph

Phoenix, Arizona

MOST EXCITED TO SEE: This is my third year coming to MADE, so I’m looking forward to seeing people I’ve seen before, No.22, Crust if they’re here, and I just met the people from Wilde a couple of nights ago. I’m just looking forward to seeing good stuff.
BIKE: Vanilla long-tail cargo bike from Sacha White.
FAVORITE PART: Everything on here is amazing!

Cedric + Carmella

Portland, Oregon

MOST EXCITED TO SEE: Carmella: I don’t know what to expect. It’s my first time at a bike show. Cedric: I just want to check out all the handbuilt bikes and meet industry people like you.
BIKE: Cannondale Topstone Lab71. I bought every individual piece over the last year, got laid off from my job, and the first thing I did was bring it to Sellwood Bikes and paid them to put it together for me.
FAVORITE PART: My favorite component is probably, hilariously, the Wolf Tooth gold titanium bottle cage.

Summer

Seattle, Washington

MOST EXCITED TO SEE: Being inspired by creative people in the bike world, and seeing cool builds, cool paint jobs, and honestly, the parking area is my favorite, to see what people are really riding.
BIKE: This is my 1999 Gary Fisher Alfresco.
FAVORITE PART: My handlebars! They are Nitto/Rivendell bullmoose bars.

Richard

Seattle, Washington

MOST EXCITED TO SEE: Picking up more goodies. So many stickers and little bits and bobs.
BIKE: Surly Bridge Club, with some Jones Bars, a Crane bell, and some cool bags. I love riding it.
FAVORITE PART: Probably my bars. They are super comfy, kinda unique, and give the bike a little style.

Cara

Seattle, Washington

MOST EXCITED TO SEE: Looking to see what people come up with. It’s so exciting to see what people make and how they make things better and cooler.
BIKE: This is my Specialized Crossroad. It’s my little project bike.
FAVORITE PART: I mostly got it because I thought it was a really cool frame with a really unique color scheme.

Bailey

Bellingham, Washington

MOST EXCITED TO SEE: Oh I don’t know… fillet brazing. Seeing people, seeing stuff, shiny stuff.
BIKE: This is a Flicker, which is a bike my friend made when he was learning how to make bikes. I don’t know if he’s making bikes anymore, but this one is fun.
FAVORITE PART: This U-lock holster I made, which attaches to the Old Man Mountain basket.

Dominic

Berkeley, California

MOST EXCITED TO SEE: All the pretty bikes, and hopefully I leave here with some money in my pockets.
BIKE: Falconer Adventure Bike in a Peach Ice Cream color.
FAVORITE PART: I’m going to have to say the Pass and Stow front rack.

John

Portland, Oregon

MOST EXCITED TO SEE: I’m interested in seeing more cargo things, I didn’t see many yesterday, but hopefully I’ll see more cargo bikes.
BIKE: This is an Omnium Mini.
FAVORITE PART: I loaded up a 20L cooler with popsicles, and I’m just handing them out to all of my bike friends.

Rick

Bainbridge Island, Washington

MOST EXCITED TO SEE: Just connecting with community and people I haven’t seen for a while, meeting new people, and seeing what’s new.
BIKE: This is a Heron, which was one of Grant Peterson’s early production frames. I’m the original owner, and I’ve had it for over 20 years.
FAVORITE PART: I love Overland Equipment bags. They were one of the first quality bikepacking bag manufacturers.

Hase

Portland, Oregon

MOST EXCITED TO SEE: I’m just gunna spend so much money on sick merch. T-shirts, hats, stickers.
BIKE: This is a Radavist x Sklar Super Something that I just picked up a couple months ago and just finished building up. It’s the most fun I’ve had with my clothes on.
FAVORITE PART: Probably the Paul Klampers. This is my first set, and I actually set them up wrong at first. My local bike shop set them up properly, and I now I get what the hype is.

Julian

Portland, Oregon

MOST EXCITED TO SEE: I think just seeing all the wild designed bikes that tend to be at these shows.
BIKE: This is a CHERUBIM track bike that I had custom made for me by the folks in Tokyo.
FAVORITE PART: Maybe the fork? It’s got some nice details, such as a little C and a heart on the other side.

Dan

Port Townsend, Washington

MOST EXCITED TO SEE: I want to talk to Tyler from BTCHN’ Bikes a little bit more about what he’s up to.
BIKE: This is my Rat King Lost Highway.
FAVORITE PART: The Cable Cherries that I make are personal, obviously, but probably the cranks from my friend’s parts bin.

Mara

Seattle, Washington

MOST EXCITED TO SEE: Just looking at all the cool bikes.
BIKE: This is the Kona Sutra LTD.
FAVORITE PART: I really enjoy my frame bag from Field and Forest out of Vancouver, British Columbia.

Ben + Margo

Olympia, Washington

BIKE: This is an Esker Japhy that is my trail bike and doubles as my kid hauler.
FAVORITE PART: I really like my Forager Cycles steel handlebar, which you can’t get anymore.

Cameron

Anchorage, Alaska

MOST EXCITED TO SEE: The BTCHN’ Bikes 32er. We built those wheels too! Tyler is just the coolest guy.
BIKE: Defiance Frameworks HyperFat bike based on the Surly Moonlander wheels.
FAVORITE PART: I’m obligated, since I work with Wren, to say that these wheels are it. They use a singlespeed, 197mm hub, and they are the only ones in existence.

Bird

Anchorage, Alaska

MOST EXCITED TO SEE: Just seeing the weird and wacky stuff they’ve got going on. The weirder the better!
BIKE: This is a Wyatt Maverick fat bike with a Wren Sports inverted suspension fork and San Util bags.
FAVORITE PART: The inverted suspension.

Alyssa

Boulder, Colorado

MOST EXCITED TO SEE: All of the cool handmade bikes. I own a bike shop, so I like geeking out about this stuff.
BIKE: This is my Otso Fenrir Ti.
FAVORITE PART: Probably this little flower twist I bought yesterday from Sim Works and GHOOOST, and all my green Wolf Tooth bits.

Andre

Sao Paulo, Brazil / Seattle, Washington

MOST EXCITED TO SEE: I’ve never been to MADE. This is my first year here, so I’m just excited to see what people put together.
BIKE: This is my Wilde Rambler.
FAVORITE PART: My fenders. Seattle is notoriously rainy, and they keep my butt and bike clean.

Beija

Seattle, Washington

MOST EXCITED TO SEE: I just like seeing all the different colors, all the different paint jobs, and the anodizations.
BIKE: This is my titanium Otso Fenrir.
FAVORITE PART: It’s this tiny little pink crate water bottle holder that I got from NFJ Export on Etsy.

Mel

Seattle, Washington

MOST EXCITED TO SEE: It’s the people. Everyone is so passionate about the bikes, components, and bells and whistles. Going in and chatting with people is just so fun.
BIKE: A custom Ti Slug, built in the Bay Area.
FAVORITE PART: The Flight Attendant Fork. It’s probably overkill for what I do, but it’s so fun to use, especially while bikepacking, which means one less thing on my handlebar, and it’s just super nice.

Rigs of the 2025 MADE Bike Show (Video)

In our latest video from the 2025 MADE Bike Show in Portland, we stepped just outside to the bike valet on Saturday morning to meet attendees and check out their rides. Neil spoke with 36 cyclists, highlighting the incredible diversity of both the riders and the bikes they brought to the show. Watch it below…

Further Reading

Make sure to dig into these related articles for more info...