Josh Kerson, president and CEO of RunAbout Cycles Inc.

BY DAVID YOUNG • Originally published in the Fort Collins Coloradoan — March 4, 2010

A new exhibit at the Art Lab is a bit off the wall. It's so off the wall that the artists can ride their works of art home when the exhibit ends this weekend.

A dozen local custom bicycle builders, or artisans, have banded together to display their unique bicycles at the Art Lab in Old Town.

Josh Kerson, president and CEO of RunAbout Cycles Inc., 517 A N. Link Lane, which designs, builds and sells electronically assisted recumbent tricycles and bicycles, conceived the idea as a way to showcase some of Fort Collins' more underground bike builders.

"Nowhere in town is there a place for all these bikes to be shown," said Kerson, whose own creations are included in the show. "People have never been able to see all these under one roof."

The collection includes a wide variety of bicycles and styles from New Belgium Brewing Co.'s 2010 cruiser to Black Sheep Bikes' titanium cycles. The bikes on display range from functional - bikes that break down for easy storage - to fantastical - a "Jet Bike" that shoots fire.

Jacob Castillo, co-founder of Panda Bicycles, which creates handmade bikes out of bamboo at its headquarters in the Rocky Mountain Innovation Initiative, or RMI2, incubator, said the publicity has been great for the small company.

"Visibility is always a good thing," said Castillo, whose unique bikes sell for $2,500 to $4,500. "What's really nice is we build bikes we view as pieces of art. ... It's nice to showcase functional pieces of art in a nice art-based environment. We love it."

Renold Yip, owner of Yipsan Bicycles, creates handmade-to-measure bicycles that retail starting at $1,600.

"These bikes are like my babies; I make them by hand," said Yip on Wednesday morning, motioning to one of his bikes on display.

The "Art of the Bicycle" show, in its third week at the Art Lab at 239 Linden St., has received a strong response.

Dawn Putney, the Art Lab's "fairy godmother," who coordinates the space, which is owned by the Bohemian Foundation, said the response has been "huge" and is their most popular show.

"To me, it just feels like the perfect Fort Collins art event, because it's bikes and it's handmade," Putney said. "The core mission of Art Lab, and this is the perfect Art Lab project, is to get people to test the waters and ... allow someone to do a first show."

The show has been so popular that it extended its run through Friday night, and Kerson has plans to do it again around New Belgium's Tour de Fat festival.