‘Artisans, Activists, and Alternatives’ Meet at the 2022 Philly Bike Expo
The Philly Bike Expo (PBE)—an annual two-day event featuring exhibitors, seminars, presentations, and events representing the spectrum of cycling—returned to Philadelphia’s Convention Center over Halloween weekend, filling the space with an impressive array of handmade bikes. But it wasn’t just bikes and gear on display. There were also movies and a community dinner, educational seminars on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and mountain bike history, a cyclocross race with a costume contest, and group rides that celebrated cycling and all its quirks.
Founded in 2010 by Stephen Bilenky of Bilenky Cycle Works as a way to promote cycling culture, twelve years later, the expo remains a family-friendly event where radical thinkers and cycling gurus share their work and knowledge with cycling enthusiasts from all over the United States. With an exhibitor list of 160 brands, up 40 percent over last year’s post-pandemic expo, today, the PBE has grown to be one of the largest cycling trade shows in the country.
Today, the event is run by Bilenky’s daughter, Bina Bilenky, who continues the efforts of putting more people on bikes while celebrating craftsmanship and small-scale manufacturers. “These artisans are the small builders, bag makers, and boutique component manufactures who make up a large part of our exhibitors,” explained Bilenky. “We strive to support the individuals who fabricate bicycles and products on a small scale, by hand in their home country.”
The PBE’s “artisans, activists, alternatives” tagline means the event is more than beautiful steel bikes and the latest gear. This year, the expo hosted 39 seminars and events touching on diverse themes. “The seminars are always a joint effort between my dad and myself as well as folks who submit some great topics. We come up with a wish list of important and interesting topics ranging from culture and lifestyle to tech clinics and bike design,” said Bilenky.
The seminars, presented by community members and industry professionals, covered endemic topics like “The Secrets for Better Hill Climbing” and “Yoga for Cyclists,” but there also was a Ride for Racial Justice Q&A, an urban mobility seminar focusing on e-bikes, and an adaptive cycling seminar targeted at bike shop owners to educate them on how to accommodate the needs of exceptional or non-traditional cyclists. “We aim to have something for everyone no matter where you are in your cycling journey and interests, and we make it a priority to have diverse presenters that represent all backgrounds and communities.”
Held in conjunction with the PBE, there was a film festival on the Friday preceding the event, a cyclocross race, and seven group rides to join—including a gravel ride led by Wahoo’s Ian Boswell. SRAM also came back for a third year with their Inclusivity Scholarship in partnership with the PBE, awarding four builders that got to present their projects at the show. Here is a quick look at some of the events we attended.
Dinner and Movies Night
The events kicked off on Friday night with dinner and a film festival at PaperTrail Bike Cafe in Historic Rittenhouse Town—where the first paper mill in America was built in 1867. The shop, owned by Paul Daniels, is surrounded by the woods and trails of the Wissahickon River Valley, a popular destination for mountain bikers and outdoor enthusiasts. Guests gathered under dimmed lights and warm blankets to enjoy some great food from Sojourn Philly, short films from brands like Ridge Supply, Quoc, and Rodeo Labs, and pastry boxes from Café Tinto to enjoy the following morning with a cup of coffee as we got ready for the expo weekend.
The following night, PaperTrail Bike Cafe also hosted an unsanctioned cyclocross race where participants rolled out in Halloween costumes and gathered around the shop to enjoy some Slyfox beer, hot chocolate, empanadas, churros, and even Belgian Frites that characterize cyclocross.
DEI and Knowing Your Rights While On the Road
The seminar presented by Malaku Mekonnen from the Bicycle Coalition Youth Cycling (BCYC) program and Philadelphia lawyer Joe Piscitello (Piscitello Law) discussed the intersection of DEI and cycling. I’m sure you have heard of “driving while Black,” but what about “riding while Black”?
Mekonnen and two graduates (or All Stars as they call their program graduates) of the BCYC program shared stories about being stopped by police during rides, getting coal-rolled by drivers, and receiving insults while riding on the road. These experiences led the organization to partner with Pisticello Law to educate BCYC cyclists about their rights and how to deal with difficult situations that many BIPOC cyclists face. Rather than brushing off these uncomfortable interactions, Mekonnen encourages acknowledging them without allowing them to ruin your ride and doing the work to keep everyone who wants to enjoy cycling safe.
Making Bikes Accessible For All
With access and inclusivity becoming more critical for many cycling communities, it was great to attend an “Adaptive Cycling–Making Bikes Accessible For All” seminar by Daniel Horne of Maverick’s Square Adaptive Cyclery. In his talk, Horne discussed many ways bikes can be adapted to suit riders with disabilities, and how nearly any bike shop can accommodate exceptional riders.
Horne’s presentation touched on tricycles, recumbent bikes, step-through, two and three-wheeled tandems, plus adaptive gear that could allow riders to adjust their pedal stroke for uneven limbs and custom handlebar configurations to accommodate riders that only use one arm.
I was surprised by the diversity of non-traditional bikes that exist for this purpose and the creative solutions Horne can offer his clients thanks to radical thinking and innovation from big and small brands.
2022 PBE X SRAM Inclusivity Scholarship
Within this theme of societal advancement, another highlight of the PBE weekend was the PBE x SRAM Inclusivity Scholarships for Framebuilders, which came back for the third year. These scholarships are intended to assist entry into frame building for under-represented sectors of the population. In collaboration with SRAM, the scholarship recipients were provided with booth space, food, travel, and accommodations for the duration of the event. SRAM also provided products for each recipient to complete their show build.
These years’ winners were Em Karau (she/they) of WZRD Bikes, B Vivit (she/they) of HotSalad Bicycles, Katrina Leyden (she/her) of Benevolent Bicycles, and Eva Kloiber (she/her) of Liberation Fabrication. You can read more about their builds in Dan Chabanov’s gear coverage of the expo.
MTB History Seminar
Tasshi Dennis’ (from Vintage Mountain Bike Workshop) “Origins and Design Evolution of the Mountain Bike: Part 1” seminar traced the roots of the modern mountain bike to road bikes, BMX bikes, motorcycles, touring bikes, and klunkers dating back to the 1940s through the 80s. Attendees learned about the creations of Craigh Mitchel, Geoff Apps, Victor Vicente, and other radical thinkers, but also about Ritchey MountainBikes, Univega, Murray, Raleigh, and all the different brands that saw an opportunity and innovation in mountain biking.
Dennis even brushed on the histories of events like the 1950s Velo Cross Parisien, groups like the Rough Stuff Fellowship (which still exists today), and the Buffalo Soldiers Expedition, where a group of twenty African American infantry soldiers was commissioned in 1892 by the U.S. Army to travel throughout the country, to collect geographic and topographic data, and other information that could be useful to the military. A seminar on this topic was held at length by Erick Cedeño (aka Bicycle Nomad) the following day.
The biggest takeaway from this mountain bike history seminar was its parallels with gravel cycling today, particularly in its evolution and many controversies surrounding the discipline. Borrowing bits and parts from BMX and motocross (plus questionable suspension designs and geometry), many of the early mountain bikes projected onto the screen resembled some of the modern gravel rigs that are such a buzz now.
When asked which brands or sectors are continuing the tradition of counterculture and innovation that mountain biking is known for, Dennis responded, “I think what I saw upstairs at the expo today is counterculture, and that’s great. But, when you go into your Trek dealership, your Trek or Specialized concept store, it doesn’t seem like counterculture anymore. But I think the handmade community in shows like this one feature that.”
The entire series of MTB History was made of three parts, and, along with all other seminars in the expo, it will be available on PBE’s YouTube channel.
‘Artisans, Activities, Alternatives’ and the future of the PBE
While frame builders and other bicycle industry artisans will always play a large part in the expo, Bilenky underlined that “activists are all the advocates of cycling, from policy and infrastructure to charities and DEI initiatives. We couldn’t host an expo without them.” Lastly, “alternatives represents the bicycle as an efficient, fun and healthy transportation alternative.”
Putting together an expo like this is monumental and highly rewarding for Bilenky, “It’s a lot of work, and it always feels a bit sad when it’s over, but I start right away on improvement and plans for next year. We start working on Squad applications and exhibitor registration almost immediately, so while the work is not as urgent, there is very little downtime.”
You Might Also Like
