For a fourth year, the artistry and craft of making bicycles by hand (whatever that looks like to you) is being celebrated at MADE bike show in, where else could it be, Portland, Oregon. A few Canadian bikes are on display this year, celebrating two very different sides of cycling and of the handmade spectrum. They are also from two different sides of the country.

From Hamilton, Ontario, Forma Bikes delivers a stunning road build with a B.C. connection. From the rugged coast of B.C., Quadra Island’s Naked Bicycles forges into the future of mountain biking with a very trick 32″ titanium trail hardtail (showing off a few secret-ish parts).

Michael van den Ham’s Forma. Photo: Max McCulloch
Forma Bicycle’s high-end road build with a B.C. connection

Forma, formerly known as Framework Bicycles, may be based in Hamilton, Ontario, but this stunning all-road build is heading west. It will, after being shown off at MADE, make its way to Abbotsford to carry Michael van den Ham around for his growing coaching business.

If you’re not familiar with Forma, it is the brainchild of Jonathan Hornell-Kennedy. Bringing manufacturing expertise from outside the cycling world together with his love of all things two wheeled, Hornell-Kennedy puts an intense focus on designing and building bikes that wildly exceed the standards of even the high-end side of what is commercially available.

(All Forma photos: Max McCulloch) 

Using CNC machines and winding carbon tubes in-house, the bikes are entirely created by Hornell-Kennedy even if this new version of hand-made looks a little different than the classic idea of bending and welding metal tubes.

Forma doesn’t stop with the frame. Van den Ham’s bike includes a stem and seat post also from Forma, making for an incredibly clean look to this all-road machine.

Van den Ham’s Forma is rolling on 35mm Challenge Strada and NOBL wheels. He’ll push on Easton’s new EC90 ALX cranks and combo of a massive Wolf Tooth chainring and the Minnesota brand’s ultralight Del. pedals. That pushes Shimano XTR Di2 (operated by Shimano GRX Di2 controllers). There’s a Reform custom-moulded saddle on top of that Forma seat post. FSA K-Force bars are held up by Forma’s own stem, with integrated computer mount. r

Photos courtesy of Naked Bicycles
Naked Bicycles pushes 32″ beyond XC

Sam Whittingham is no stranger to handmade bike shows. His bikes have travelled from Quadra to various shows in the past, often coming home with ribbons, awards and recognitions for their artistry and for their distinctive designs that frequently diverge from the trends of the day.

For MADE 2026, Whittingham’s taken on a more practical challenge with the latest trend: 32″ wheels. Not content to make another XC bike in an outrageously large size, and having already explored what the big wheels can do in gravel with Canadian legend Geoff Kabush, Naked Bike’s 32″ is a proper trail bike made how Whittingham envisions it might end up making its way to consumers. That mean’s no boutique fork, with a 120mm prototype from Fox in place of the expensive inverted forks most custom builds have used up to this point. It also means a design that works for a rider closer to the 5.5 foot range in height, without looking absurd.

The result is this singlespeed hardtail that, despite appearances, is in fact using 32″ wheels. Designed around Schwalbe’s new Radial 32″ Romi tires and that 120mm fork, this ti frame rolls on Industry Nine / We Are One’s Hush 32″ wheels. That combo brings the 32″ in at almost exactly the same weight as Whittingham’s current, 29″ hardtail. Through some fancy bending, Whittingham keeps the rear end to an adjustable 435-445mm chainstays.