As with many framebuilders this year, Quiring is seeing a waxing of interest in both Ti and steel for frame materials, and a waning of enthusiasm for aluminum. Like the phases of the moon, material trends come and go. "In the end," says the first-year NAHBS exhibitor, "It's best to build a quality product first and foremost, not become a specialist in any one material or a slave to fashion." For the record, Scott Quiring loves titanium and building his strong, durable bikes from this newly-rediscovered "wonder" material. Mention titanium to many craftsman, indie framebuilders and they cower in fear. Even the venerable Eddy Merckx left the construction of his Ti frames to a certain American company in Tennessee that once held a virtual lock on the market. Quiring Cycles may specialize in titanium, but like many full-custom framebuilders, they work with a wide-range of frame materials, including steel, stainless steel, aluminum and carbon. "It requires a fair amount of special equipment", explains Quiring. "Good welding skills and a very clean environment for TIG welding." Quiring has been honing his skills with Ti and other materials for over ten years from his shop near Lansing, MI.  His roots as a framebuilder are deep and his interest in building bikes has spanned a lifetime. Visit Quiring at: www.quiringcycles.net [1] [1] http://www.quiringcycles.net

With pre-show ticket sales of 2,000+ up more than 100% over the previous high, and the website so inundated with NAHBS traffic that the server was down for several hours on Thursday 25th, the Shimano NAHBS is enjoying record popularity in the final run-up to the show. 21 international exhibitors at the show represents an increase of 75% over the next best year, and journalists have come from all over the world too. A wide variety of unconnected cycling events, parties and fundraisers are taking over the weekend, and the energy surrounding the Shimano NAHBS is building to a fever pitch. Our pick of the parties is the COG Magazine Love Your Bike photo exhibition [1] on Saturday night. Show-goers are advised to consider attending on Friday and Sunday, rather than Saturday which is expected to fill the show hall to capacity. We hope you can make it! [1] http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=320170689291&ref=mf