Meet Our Stars of Inclusivity and Diversity!
In case you missed them on our Instagram feed, meet this year’s PBE x SRAM x Industry Nine Inclusivity Scholars, whose work is on show at a special booth in the expo hall.
Ashley King, Significant Other Bikes
Daniel Yang, Artefact x NMW
Eli Acosta, Básica Estudio
Sofia ‘Sal’ Torres, Shovel Research
This is the fourth year for the Inclusivity program, although the idea behind it goes all the way back to 2010, the first Philly Bike Expo.
As in previous years, the work product is nothing short of excellent, and you might wonder why you don’t already know more about these manufacturers. Well, creating high-quality products doesn’t on its own ensure financial stability or success. Over the decades, various factors have made the path of progress smoother for some societal groups than others. The good news here, and the purpose of this booth, is that elements in the cycling industry are pulling together to promote a transformation to greater inclusivity and diversity. Why? Because this benefits everyone. Having more diverse talent and figureheads leads to improved products and a broader customer base. In the grand scheme, this fosters a happier, more harmonious world – something we could all use more of these days!
This kind of change doesn’t happen on its own, it takes time, energy, and commitment. Philly Bike Expo in conjunction with key industry partners has, and will continue to shine a light on bicycle artisans from under-represented segments who not only produce fine work themselves but actively encourage diversity and inclusivity in their communities, thus bringing bikes and cycling to an ever-expanding population.
Since finishing a UBI steel TIG course in 2020, Ashley worked as a contract builder for brands near her home in Denver, Colorado, and built some 500 frames before launching her own brand, Significant Other (SigO) in 2023. She continues the contract work while building up her own brand.
Her Supersmash one-bike fixie, pictured, caused quite a stir at the MADE show last year and likely will be an eye-catcher at Philly too.
One of Ashley’s goals with SigO is revolutionary at a time when some of the biggest brands in cycling are struggling for relevance. “I want to break the stereotype of what people envision when they think about a custom bike client,” she says. To this end, she is a small-scale frame builder launching an ambassador program, and hopes to bring one of her customers to PBE to talk about their SigO ride.
Significant Other Bikes https://www.significantother.bike/
Daniel is part of a welcome redevelopment for the San Francisco Bay area: He is a new builder setting up shop again in this region where 20 years ago there were several, but now there are few.
Working alongside Nick Neuhaus in Novato he creates steel and titanium frames based on stock templates that incorporate custom fit geometry.
At times on his journey into frame building, Daniel says he noticed that it can feel like an arcane world that unintentionally excludes some groups of people, In response, he has created Custom Frame Forum, an online space for people interested in learning more about frame building, founded on the values of welcoming, support, and collaboration. This forum is moderated by some past PBE+SRAM Inclusivity Scholarship recipients.
Artefact x NMW https://artefact.bike
The cycling story for Eli Acosta begins many years ago when she started using a bike to get around in Mexico city. Gradually, riding became a lot more for her than just transport, but with that came disappointment in the quality of product and work in the bikes she had access to. Finally, with a belief that the bicycles in her world needed somebody with her drive and passion for excellence, Eli signed up as an apprentice in a frame building workshop.
That experience was good, but not great. Eli recalls feeling like an outsider there: that the others in that shop didn’t take her apprenticeship seriously, because she was a woman. Maybe then, it should be no surprise that today she cannot name another female frame builder in Latin America. But she is working to change this, and now, as co-owner of the Básica Estudio in Mexico City, has taken on female apprentices in her workshop – whom she takes very seriously.
Básica Estudio www.instagram.com/basicaestudio/
Sal Torres makes components and and frames. She has not yet developed her frame building skills to the point of taking orders, but the components and accessories on her bike are commercially available, and they look so good on her website, our bet is she’ll be taking some orders for these.
Following a background including art handling and bike shop wrenching, a few years ago Sal turned her considerable talent to a regular job making CNC components and accessories in her home, Portland, Oregon. This added an extra layer of skills to her portfolio, which empowered her in 2022 to launch her own components and accessories brand, Shovel Research. Since then has designed and produced several products for customers around the world, both retail and wholesale.
Even if you don’t plan on buying any of these parts, it’s worth checking out her website if only to read the amazing product descriptions.
Shovel Research https://shovelresearch.com
The origin of the inclusivity program dates back to 2010, when PBE hosted a panel of female framebuilders in its seminar schedule. A few years later, in 2019, the Philly Bike Expo collaborated with SRAM to expand the diversity concept and thus the framebuilder Inclusivity Scholarship program came about.
Brooklyn Fowler, technical marketing manager at SRAM was a driving force in creating this scholarship program. “I was super excited when I first went to PBE in 2018. For the 2019 expo, we at SRAM talked about ways to encourage a more diverse group of builders there, and I remember looking at the attendees and wondering why these weren’t more diverse, and what we could do to help empower a wider cross section of people to show up.”
The director, Bina Bilenky, sees this continuation of a founding principle of the Philly Bike Expo. “It has been good for the companies sponsoring the program, and for the scholarship recipients, but the big picture is what this is really about. It’s good for the entire industry both culturally and financially to make it known that everybody is welcome,” said expo director Bina Bilenky.
This year, Industry Nine joins SRAM as presenting sponsors of the scholarships. Freddie Kapel, the Industry Nine sales manager has led work on the booth where the scholars will present themselves and their work.
“On a personal level, I am genuinely excited about the idea of showcasing the collaboration among brands united in support of a more inclusive cycling community and industry. Bina and PBE serve as the glue that binds us all together. Our objective for our booth in 2024 is to create a welcoming and inclusive environment where scholarship recipients can interact with others, foster connections, and share their dreams and ideas in a comfortable setting,” said Freddie.
Scholarship recipients receive co-operative booth space at the Philly Bike Expo, travel, accommodations and shipping for the Expo as well as build parts and components for their show bike from the program sponsors, SRAM and Industry Nine. Paragon Machine Works plays a supporting role, providing materials for the builds.
Past scholarship recipients, as this year have included experienced builders that since attracted growing attention and plaudits for their outstanding work, so whatever else you do if you’re attending the expo, be sure to spend some time at this booth to enjoy and maybe learn new things about the industry.
Past Scholarship Recipients
2024
Eli Acosta, Básica Estudio
Ashley King, Significant Other Bikes
Sofia ‘Sal’ Torres, Shovel Research
Daniel Yang, Artefact x NMW
2022
B Vivit, HotSalad Bicycles
Eva Kloiber, Liberation Fabrication
Em Karau, WZRD Bikes
Katrina Leyden, Benevolent Bicycles
2020/21
Beth Morford, Frontier Bikes
Guy Stone, Relstone Cycles
Sam Scipio, Jubilee Manufacturing
2019
Julie Ann Pedalino, Pedalino Bicycles
Jackie Mautner, Untitled Cycles
Megan Dean, Moth Attack
Danielle Schon, Schon Studio
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