Dino's Shows Well at Las Vegas Bikefest
SEE MORE PHOTOS IN THE GALLERIES
One of Colorado’s nationally known custom bike builder’s is even more well known after diving into the Artistry In Iron Bike Build-Off at Las Vegas Bikefest in October, 2008.
Ruben Guerra of Dino’s Custom Cycles in Lakewood, Colorado, rolled into Vegas with a new build, and put on a show that put a spotlight on Colorado bike builders.
“It was a lot of fun,” Guerra said. “I was honored just have been invited to be part of the Artistry In Iron show. Just to be in the same show with some of those guys was pretty cool, but I wanted to have a good showing too.”
Guerra was one of 25 invitation-only competitors--including slated to participate in the $25,000 winner-take-all show and competition. According to Guerra, only 17 of the invited builders showed up; the other eight bowed out before the show.
“It was a very upscale show,” Guerra said. “It was first class all the way. They really make that a great show. It was awesome…probably the highest quality show I’ve been in. There were a couple bikes I wasn’t too impressed with, but overall, the level of craftsmanship was great. It was cool being a part of it. I’d definitely do it again.”
Guerra said 13 of the 17 bikes in the Artistry In iron show were styled after the old flat-track and board-track racers. The other four were fat tire machines. Roger Goldammer won the competition with the bike he set a Bonneville record with—a board-track inspired bike. People’s Choice went to Tempest Cycles out of Florida with a fat-tire bike.
“The builders picked the winner,” Guerra explained. “We each talked a little about our bike, and then we all voted for our top five. The winner was chosen from that. That happened the first day right after we moved in. They didn’t tell us who was second or third or anything. The winner took the whole prize, there was no second or third. That was OK with me—one guy won, the rest of us were also-rans.”
The People’s Choice award was another matter.
“For that, we had to wait until the whole weekend was over so people could vote,” Guerra said. “It was kind of fun watching which bikes people were spending time looking at. Whiplash was getting a lot of attention, but I guess the Tempest bike got more. It was interesting though, that the builders picked a board track styled bike, and the people picked a fat tire bike. Who says the fat tire bike is dead?”
Whiplash wasn’t the only Guerra built bike getting a lot of attention. Guerra and his crew brought Twisted, which won the 2004 Colorado Bike Build Off. Twisted was not displayed in the Artistry In Iron show, but was displayed outside along with a few other custom builds. The champion bike turned more than a few heads.
“Twisted was getting a lot of attention…lots of people asking about it,” Guerra said. “It was a popular bike. A lot of people really liked it, and they would tell us. It was a good show that way. It was a first-class show and the people who came were really into the bikes and really appreciated what they were seeing. People here in Colorado appreciate the bikes, too, but this was a whole different group of people…from California, Arizona, Nevada and where ever else. It was nice to get their take on what we’ve been doing—get some different feedback.
“Like I said, it was a nice trip, we had a great time, got some good feedback and met some great people. The show was great; something other shows should look at for ideas. We’ll certainly go back if we’re invited again.”
