Sep
29
Wired: As America Implodes, The Bike Industry Booms
Filed Under Cycling, Exhibitor News, Industry News, Interbike | 1 Comment
“The nation may be wracked by collapsing banks, foreclosed houses and a tanking economy, but there’s no sign anything’s amiss here at Interbike, the bike industry’s annual trade show. In fact, it’s party time as a perfect storm of eco-conscious consumerism, health-conscious lifestyles and wallet-sapping gas prices conspires to get people out of cars and onto bikes — especially electric ones.”
I enjoyed meeting a bunch of the Wired magazine team that attended Interbike this year. As I mentioned in a previous post, I’m a big fan of the publication and was excited to see my quote in the article. I don’t know if that was my exact quote, but I can see some of my comments worked into the rest of the piece. Read the rest of the article with the dramatic headline here. They also posted a ton of other content on their site from the show. See their Interbike coverage here.
When I was back in my hotel room each night after leaving the nice little bubble of the bike industry, I would brush my teeth while watching CNN or some other news of the real world. The title of the Wired article may be a bit dramatic, but given the dichotomy between the positive vibe on the show floor and the news of the collapsing financial institutions and the debate over the government’s proper response in the news, I can understand where it came from.
How do you see the two disparate situations affecting your area or business?
Sep
29
CrossVegas Video
Filed Under Attendee News, Cycling, Events, Industry News, Interbike, Racing, Video | 2 Comments
From Markus at Cyclefilm, who I met at the show, here’s a nicely done highlight reel of the racing at CrossVegas last week. Lots of Lance Armstrong footage. Thanks for sending me the link and nice work!
Lance Armstrong Returns – Las Vegas Cyclocross from CYCLEFILM on Vimeo.
Sep
25
CrossVegas, Armstrong and Museeuw
Filed Under Attendee News, Cycling, Events, Industry News, Interbike, Photos, Racing | Comments Off
Just a quick post tonight since I’m dead tired after trying to fit in every event on the calendar it seems.
Well, Brook, Chris and their team pulled off another stellar event tonight at CrossVegas. I’m certain there were significantly more people at this year’s party, – I mean, race – and all seemed to be having a great time. There was plenty of mexican food and beer and some hot racing.
Speaking of racing, the buzz on the floor and online today was whether Lance Armstrong would be racing and sure enough, all the rumors were confirmed. I caught Lance at the Trek trailer getting his number pinned on. Took a bunch of shots, but with absolutely zero light, my point-and-click camera was only able to get one of them slightly right:
He looked pretty fit and strong in the race despite finishing far back from the leaders. I also noted that the bike industry crowd in attendance was very supportive of him and cheered excitedly for him on the whole.
Another pro (ex) rider in attendance was Johan Museeuw. I saw him chatting with someone in the VIP area (yes, I play a vip occasionally) and when there was a pause in the conversation, I introduced myself to him and invited him to be on Good Morning Interbike on Thursday morning. He’s here showing off his line of carbon/flax fiber bikes – which I haven’t had a chance to go look at yet. He said yes AND confirmed that he will be racing Thursday night at the USA Crits Finals race at Mandalay Bay – continuing the tradition of the ex-superstar pro in the race. Minor thing I noticed,was that Johan’s got a really firm handshake and is taller than I expected.
Alright, that’s all I got for now – gotta crash. So much more to to post and talk abot from day 1 that will have to wait.
Sep
24
Lance
Filed Under Attendee News, Cycling, Events, Exhibitor News, Industry News, Interbike | 3 Comments
There are a lot of rumors floating around the show and online universe about Lance Armstrong and his possible appearance at Interbike this year. Here’s a brief rundown:
Yes, Lance will be at the show this year. Following his event with the Clintons in New York earlier today, he hopped on a plane for Las Vegas. He is on the start list and confirmed for the CrossVegas event this evening. I got a call early this moring from Brook Watts the promoter of CrossVegas with the confirmation from Lance’s agent that he was definitely racing. Shuttles are provided from the Sands for badged show attendees and exhibitors.
On Thursday morning at 9am he will be holding a press only event in one of the Venetian ballrooms adjacent to the show halls. Yes, it is a media-only event. If you are not media and have some tie (legitimate or otherwise) to Lance that you feel necessitates your attendance, please ask his people for permission. Thanks.
At this point, I’m not sure what his plans are for after his press conference.
Hope you’re enjoying the show so far!
Sep
24
SRAM T-Shirt Giveaway
Filed Under Attendee News, Events, Exhibitor News, Industry News, Interbike | 8 Comments
This is for a good cause so I thought I’d plug it a bit.
SRAM T-shirt off your back giveaway – Day 2 of Interbike:
Stop by the SRAM booth while supplies last.
SRAM employees will be wearing a commemorative T-shirt Day 1 of Interbike’s indoor show (Wednesday September 24th).
If you want one and are willing to wear it in exchange for the shirt off your back, here’s what to do:
- Stop by the SRAM booth on Wednesday, Sept. 24th to check out the shirt and see how cool it is.
- Come back on Thursday, Sept. 25th wearing a shirt your willing to part with.
- take off your shirt. (ladies you can head to the restroom around the corner)- we’ll give you a new shirt!
- wear it proudly
- we’ll donate all your old shirts to a local Vegas organization that can benefit from them.
That’s it.
Too bad I’m not wearing a t-shirt today myself…
Sep
24
OutDoor Demo Day Two
Filed Under Attendee News, Cycling, Events, Exhibitor News, Gear, Industry News, Interbike, OutDoor Demo, Photos, Rides | Comments Off
Day two of the OutDoor Demo started in the most glorious way that any day could: with a beautiful bike ride with over 300 of your closest industry friends. Left the hotel at 6am to head out to Boulder City with an awesome Felt AR2 (with new Dura Ace group) in the back seat. Ride started easy with police rolling closure and then turned onto the insanely fast downhill to Lake Mead Park. Happy to say i wasn.t dropped on the descent like last year. Stayed with the lead Wayne Stetina (of Shimano) group to the turn around at the lake. They just spun around and headed right back but I stopped to have a drink and mingle with other riders on the ride. Good times. Refreshments at the turn around courtesy of Hutchinson Tires.
Camelbak was serving up their Elixir hydration drinks to attendees in a fun loungy tent with great music all day.
One of the big stars of this year’s show will definitely be the new electronic Dura-Ace. While we were setting up to film a video presentation of the new group by Shimano’s Wayne Stetina, Zap and the guys from Road Bike Action stopped by for a demo. Prediction: the (very) cool sound that the front derailleur makes when shifting to the big ring will be one of the reasons people will buy it. It sounds like a high tech Star Wars sound effect and just screams “I’m riding electronic Dura Ace” to your riding buddies(for you geeks out there, think AT-AT leg moving sound in Empire Strikes Back). Big crowds in the booth at the Demo for eDura-Ace.
You’ll see tons of photos of the new DA group all over, but I had never seen one of the control panel under the bars. Monitors battery life and allows you to trim the derailleur ala normal barrel adjusters.
The DA group is great, but the SRAM Hammer schmidt was awesome. Really wasn’t expecting to be be floored by it but was convinced after a test ride. The planetary drive system (don’t ask) allows for 2 “virtual” chainrings with just one small cog. What you get is near instant shifting even under pressure. Shift speed and eases felt like shifting to a smaller cog in back. The small cog allows for much better ground clearance. You have to check this out if you haven’t seen it yet.
Michael Zellman of SRAM showing off the new SRAM wheels for our camera crew. Look for our videos soon on the site.
Wandered the show floor at the Sands for a while doing final setup at the Media Center. Saw all the exhibitors doing their final building and decorating of booths. Noticed that Campagnolo have a totally new (and huge ) booth this year. Met with Cervelo guys and they said they will be having a big product launch ceremony in their booth today at 9:30.
Good Morning Interbike show kicks things off this miorning at 8:30. If all goes well with our systems, it should be live on interbike.com’s Media Center Live page for all to see around the world.
Gotta go to the Sands now. I’ll leave you with the Michelin man (did you know his name is Bib?) welcoming all to the show. Hope you enjoy following along back home if you’re not here!
Sep
23
OutDoor Demo Day 1
Filed Under Attendee News, Events, Interbike, OutDoor Demo, Photos | Comments Off
Finally was able to score a bike for the Tour de Lake Mead industry ride Tuesday morning. I say finally since it was tougher than I expected. I’m 6′2″ and normally ride a 62cm c-c bike (84cm from center of bb to seat top) so I’m at an understandable disadvantage in trying find a bike that fits. Look had some, but couldn’t commit till the end of the day, the Italians didn’t seem to have anything larger than a 58 on hand and Giant wasn’t loaning bikes for the ride. Felt wasn’t either, but they let me borrow one of their new AR2 aero road bikes (it’s sitting in the corner of my hotel room right now). I got the whole pitch on that bike from the man himself, Jim Felt. Good guy. It was really an honor to meet him finally. The AR2 is supposed to be just about as fast as their TT bikes but in road geometry and with drop bars. Also looking forward to trying out the new Dura Ace parts on the bike. This is definitely one of the cool parts of the job. It’s one fast looking bike.
Shot of the Demo area from the top of our RV near the end of the day. The new venue we started using last year for the Demo is really working out well again this year.
Chris King’s booth was as classy as his parts. Their parts display case are hung with bike chains for a nice touch. Notice the CK bottom brackets display on the table in the center. I’ll have to head back there tomorrow to spend a bit more time with them.
This next one is turning into a great little tradition here at the OutDoor Demo: the fi’zi:k saddles Italian gelatto stand with vintage Italian romantic tunes playing in the background. When I stopped by after lunch for some desert, the ‘gelatista’ told me that they had already served 1,500 cups of gelatto to hot and dusty attendees so far.
Hutchinson is sponsoring toomorrow morning’s Tour de Lake with their tubelsss road wheel system. I’m hoping to snag a set to throw on the Felt for the ride. Hutchinson’s Steve Boehmke is Mr. Tubeless.
Camelbak hosted drinks throughout the day as their sign below indicated. Fat Tire Ale was was the dehydration drink of choice.
The Fat Tires’s were served under the brand spanking new Interbike pop-up. Pretty, huh? Good times, good times.
Ran into SRAM’s Michael Zellman and had him recount the crash at last year’s industry cup crit that took him out and launched his bike over 6 rows of spectators. I know he feels passionately about denying the rumor that Cipollini crashed or even caused the crash, since he was right there. Michael seems to take it as a personal mission in life to dispel that rumor so make sure never to suggest to him that Cipo may have seen the asphalt up close and personally.
In a moment that reminded me that Interbike is a face-to-face event, I had lunch with fellow bike industry social media evangelist Neil Brown of Road Magazine. I know him from the online world but never really sat down with him in person. Had a good chat and we sympathized with each other’s efforts to promote the benefits of social media at work. And then in a bizarre – yet somehow appropriate – moment, he whipped out his iPhone and Twittered about our meeting…
Sep
22
Photos From OutDoor Demo Setup Day
Filed Under Attendee News, Cycling, Events, Exhibitor News, Interbike, OutDoor Demo, Photos | 1 Comment
Just a quick post with a few photos I took at setup on Sunday. It’s brief since I’m rushing to head out to the Demo this moring for the opening.
Check Campagnolo’s company VW wagon’s license plate:
Cannondale looks to have the largest fleet of demo bikes again this year. This photo doesn’t do just to the quantity that are packing their tent.
The commuters are in attendance too. Here’s Civia:
Pashley from the UK:
I guess there’s something to those 29″ inch bikes. Niner’s got a monster presence:
Trek is back with a bigger booth this year:
Sep
19
Complete Interbike Schedule of Events
Filed Under Attendee News, Events, Exhibitor News, Industry News, Interbike, OutDoor Demo | 1 Comment
I received the complete schedule of events that Bicycle Retailer & Industry News compiles every year for Interbike. Looking over it, it always amazes me with all the awesome events, signings, giveaways and other happenings that our exhibitors put together for all the retailers that are traveling out to the show. You can see the whole list in the “2008 Schedule” link above orhere.
Here’s a few (very few) highlights to whet your appetite (if times aren’t listed, check the schedule as they may happen on more than one day):
OutDoor Demo:
- Free Gelato [served with the biggest Italian smiles] courtesy of Fi’zi:k Booth D2179. All Day, both days.
- Free massages for women demoing Giant bikes. Giant for Women tent. All Day, both days.
- Group rides with Chris Van Dine, Aaron Chase and Tinker Juarez. Cyclocross Clinic with Cross Champion Tim Johnson. 3 p.m. Day Two – Tuesday. Booth D3309.
Interbike:
- The Awesome Dudes Printing guys will print Interbike T-shirts off their screen press track bike, which was created as part of Fuji’s Rolling Canvas Art Collective. Fuji Booth 1825. See schedule for times.
- BMX Olympians Mike Day and Jill Kintner sign autographs in USA Cycling’s Booth 6225. See schedule for times.
- Canari Cyclewear will have two graphic designers doing free jersey design. No obligation to order. Booths 1381 and 1581. [Ed: sorely needed service in the bike club community...]
- Guess how many Dahons fit in a Toyota Prius. A Prius will be at the booth stuffed with Dahon Curve D3 bikes. Guess correctly and win a Dahon Mu XXV. Drawing will be Friday morning. Booth 3541.
- “Do You Have a Dream of Starting an Inner City Cycling Team in Your Town?” clinic at b.i.k.e. Booth L4.
- Meet Giant team riders Olympian Adam Craig and Singlespeed World Champion Carl Decker. Mountain Flyer Magazine/Secret Agent Publishing, LLC Booth 403.
Not on any schedule:
Possible very large press conference on Thursday morning. Details to come.
Sep
18
And Now a Word From Our Sponsors
Filed Under Exhibitor News, Gear, Interbike, Photos | Comments Off
Just wanted to send a little blog love to a few of the great sponsors of our little get together.
Hincapie Sportswear has been making our jerseys now for at least the last 4 years. The jerseys are really first class in materials and quality of the sublimation with really sharp vibrant colors and Richa dn his team there translate our art director Ray’s designs beautifully. I’ll be wearing one on the Lake Mead ride on Tuesday. I highly recommend them if you need custom apparel for your shop or team.
This is the second year that Park Tool has made these custom laser etched IB-2 multi tools for us. I’ve used these as schwag when doing retailer visits or at events like Sea Otter. They’re always well received and have saved a ride for me more than once.
I think I have a fetish for bags. Don’t know where it comes from, but I can really appreciate a well made bag like the one’s that Crumpler custom embroidered for us. Every self-respecting member of the bike industry has a collection of messenger bags in their closet and Crumpler makes some awesome updates to the standard designs. This first one is the Seedybar as modeled by Robert.
The model below takes the cake for the best name of any bag in history: The Dreadful Embarrassment. Don’t ask ’cause I don’t know. Sweet bag, though. Love the oversized IB logo.
Brian here is showing off the Beer Back (along with the super slick flex-fit ball caps made by AfterburnerFX)
And how could we call ourselves a member of the bike industry and not have socks in our schwag arsenal? Sock Guy makes ours and they are one-size fits all. I was skeptical, but they fit great on both my 13’s and Julie’s 8.5’s. No more worrying about how many smalls or XXL’s to order…
Again, thanks to all our awesome sponsors. We’re really lucky to have some of the best quality products from some of the top companies in the industry on our side like these. There are many others, but just wanted to take a moment to highlight some of our product and staff sponsors. Thanks!
And to all our other friends from other companies in the bike industry, we love you too.