By no means am I a bike snob of any sort. There are however things that annoy the piss out of me when it comes to a build. After combing over hundreds and hundreds of photos from this past weekends NAHBS, there is an all too common occurrence when it comes to single speed builds. Chain slack and master links. Perhaps I’ve been going about it all wrong all these years? I always found the best luck by not using a masterlink as well as only allowing for roughly a half inch of vertical play in chain tension. Apparently this is not the norm.

I got thinking about this after Michael’s post at Presta vs Schrader regarding some of the odd component choices he noticed over the weekend. This I commented on feeling that some of these buildes seem to be thrown together with whatever the builder may be able to afford and understandably so in some cases. After all, for the most part NAHBS is a majority of frame builders, not components. That said, I’m not sure which would be a better route given you don’t have the resources for a preferred component group to go with your one of a kind frame set. Some of the builds I’ve seen pictures of I think I would have had more appreciation for as a frame, fork and headset alone.

So, I suppose perhaps this could make me a bike snob in the sense of it’s all in the details when you’re putting it on display for the world to see. I didn’t want to post any pics with this post simply for the sake of not calling anyone out. The amount of hours that go into these bikes is amazing and I’m always blown away by the craftsmanship. Everyone there, and even those that aren’t deserve huge credit for doing what they do. As for your bike, if you’re happy with it then I say fuck everyone else. Enjoy the ride and piss on the rest.

Lastly, there is no doubt in my mind I’ll be attending NAHBS next year as it will be taking up camp in my beloved Austin, Texas! See you all then.