Interbike Trendspotting – Just Plain Cool – Bicycling.com

Interbike heads back to the great indoors – VeloNews

Interbike Tradeshow Day 1 – Dirt Rag

Interbike 2006 to be The Largest in its 25-year History – dirtworld.com
Interbike 2006: A hands-on start to the U.S.’s biggest bike show – VeloNews

All 110 Interbike News articles

Starting at 8:30am on September 27th and on each successive morning of the expo, “Good Morning Interbike” will be broadcast live from the Media Center throughout the network screens in the upper and lower lobbies and on the show floor for 30 minutes. Hosted by industry veterens Mike Greehan and Richard Fries, GMI will be an informative and entertaining program for retailers, media and exhibitors waiting for the doors to open at 9am. Think “Today Show” or “Good Morning America” but more fun and about bikes.

Catch highlights of the upcoming day’s events, recaps of the OutDoor Demo and the previous day, footage from various after-hours industry happenings, interviews with celebrities, cycling advocates, other interesting show attendees and witty banter between these two entertaining hosts.

I’m really excited to see this take life on Wednesday morning. Mike and Richard are both great people and have the experience to make great hosts. Between the two them, they probably know all of the players in the industry and are creative, funny and down to earth at the same time.

You probably know Richard Fries from his stints as a commentator for OLN during recent Tours de France or – if you’re from the Northeast as I am, originally – as the former long-time editor and founder of Bike Culture (formerly The Ride) magazine. He’s also well known for his race announcing skills at cyclo-cross races, having MC’d them for years. He was recently named Marketing and Communications Manager for Pedro’s USA and has been a vital part of their recent campaigns to improve their company’s and our industry’s impact on the environment. Richard has kindly agreed to wake an hour earlier each day to do the show before spending a full day at his employer’s booth.

Mike Greehan, Interbike’s Advocacy Director, has posted here from time to time. While he’s based in Florida and we’re in California, I’ve had the pleasure of being able to spend some good time getting to know Mike this year at the Bicycle Leadership Conference in Phoenix and the National Bike Summit in DC. In prior lives he’s been the publisher of Bicycling Magazine, president of the League of American Bicyclists and the first president of Bikes Belong. He’s currently on the board of the LAB.

So wake a up little early, grab a cup of coffee try to make it to the Sands by 8:30 to catch the show. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it. We have a good list of topics prepared, but if you have any great ideas for them to include in the show, let me know. Pedro’s is right at the front of the main hall, so stop by and say hi to Richard, Chris and the guys at Pedro’s on your way in.

Giant Bicycles is the presenting sponsor of Good Morning Interbike and our technology partner, Cycling.TV will be manning the studio for us.

As the immortal Ron Burgundy would say, Stay Classy, Interbike. See you in Vegas next week.

That’s an illustration of the jersey – “Trainer”, actually, since it is long sleeved – above. I think it looks awesome. We went for a real vintage logo with the retro-script “Interbike”. Inspiration came from some old Merckx-era Molteni and Faema jerseys that are just classic and evoke romantic images of an earlier time. Sort of the same effect as an old Joe DiMaggio flannel Yankees shirt. They’re just cool. And now they’re comfortable, too, right Alex?. We chose long sleeve since that way they can be worn off the bike in the shop or around town. Feel free to ride in it, too.

At Interbike we’ve always had a strong relationship with the Bike Belong Coalition, so Alex and I started talking about doing a commemorative 25th Anniversary Interbike jersey that would benefit the BBC. The jerseys that he sent us as samples are gorgeous and super soft to the touch since they’re made of the latest Merino wool fabrics. You can even machine wash them. Nothing like what I remember my old wool sweaters were like growing up in New England.

The Trainers will be a part of our silent auction at the show to benefit the BBC and League of American Bicyclists. Since the retail price of these would be over $200 if they were made for sale, we only have 25 available in the auction. We’ve already had inquiries about reserving them, so make sure you get your bids in soon!

Make sure you check out the advocacy auction display case in the lobby that features some great stuff like the trainer, 2 custom Fender Stratocaster guitars, celebrity-signed Interbike jersey (another great, but contemporary, design made by Hincapie Sports) and many other unique items. The trainers will also be on display in the BBC booth and in the registration lobby.

Thanks to Ray Kang, Interbike’s art director for a great job desigining the shirt and Alex at Woolistic for helping make this happen. Make sure you check out the other great wool bike wear in the Woolistic booth at the show.

Taliah Lempert, bicycle portrait artist, paints and sketches the bikes of Gary Fisher and Davis Phinney for raffle to benefit Davis Phinney Foundation. Accelerade Booth 2425

Nothing like a little culture to class up the bike industry’s big gathering.

9 a.m.: Hangover Helper Giveaway (100 packets, while supplies last); product raffle. Honey Stinger Booth 4410.

You guys aren’t planning on drinking while you’re in Vegas, are you? Just remember: Liquor before beer, never fear. Beer before liquor, never sicker…

Sweet 16 Invitational Ping Pong Tournament; playoffs Wednesday and Thursday, final event noon Friday. Planet Bike Booth 1225.

Now, now. I think the proper name is Table Tennis.

All Day: Enter drawing for Thor Hushovd’s Look Dura Ace 585 race bike, autographed by Hushovd. Winner notified after show. Look Booth 4425.
Are Interbike staff members eligible to win?

Day 2

9 a.m. to 6 p.m.: Bring a photo of yourself bear-hugging a Bicycle Retailer & Industry News staff member, receive free sunglasses. Smith Optics Booth 3345.

Do Megan and the guys at BRAIN know about this?

He’ll be available from 11am to noon on Day One, and from 2–3 pm on Day Two.

For those that are familiar with Gita, they are a prominent importer and distributer of high end bikes and accesories such as Merckx, Pinarello, Pegoretti, Giordana and Deda Elementi.

And for those of you not familiar with Eddy, are you sure you’re at the right website?

Interbike 25 is just a short few weeks away and free retailer registration ends today.

Retailers register online here.

Working Media (writers, editors, editorial photographers) register here.

Media Advertising Sales personnel register here.

“Ten years after leaving and twenty-five after starting, I still miss it. I miss Interbike and all that it came to represent. I miss the industry, the travel, the sense of purpose, the excitement and even the anxiety. Most of all, I miss the people.

“When Herb Wetenkamp and I started planning the first Interbike show in 1981 we had a lot of youthful optimism, somewhat less common sense, and almost no money. The money declined at a steady rate while the optimism needle swung wildly in direct correlation to the daily output of our P.O. Box. In those days before e-mail and fax, the P.O. Box was our oracle and lifeline. Some days it would yield up good omens for the future in the form of a deposit check or two. On those blessed days we would reward ourselves by stopping at Carl’s Jr. for hamburgers on the way back to the office.

“At other times it was not so kind. One hot summer day it gave us three registered letters with similarly worded cancellation notices from our three biggest exhibitors. We didn’t have the stomach for hamburgers that day. In fact, neither one of us was man enough to face the P.O. Box again for several days. Finally, Herb, who was always the braver and more creative one, made the trip alone. He appeased the P.O. Box by uttering an elaborate chant as he approached it, then rattling the keys and dropping to his knees before opening it. There were no cancellations that day and the P.O. Box chant became an Interbike ritual. If you want to survive in the trade show business, we learned, you have to be willing to look foolish. In the years to come, fate would afford us many more opportunities to do so.

“In another spasm of creative fervor, Herb gave us the unknown show producer bag. A plain, brown paper grocery bag with two eye holes cut out and a cheesy jack-o-lantern grin drawn on it with a marking pen, the unknown show producer bag was to be carried in the producer’s briefcase and donned in case of a low attendance emergency. This was most likely to occur on a Tuesday afternoon. In those days the show opened on Sunday and closed on Tuesday. The idea was to open with a bang and try to hang on and close with something stronger than a whimper. I still have the unknown show producer bag and Lance Camisasca is welcome to borrow it, though from the looks of things, he’ll probably never need it.

“The first Interbike show took place in September of 1982 at the Las Vegas Convention Center with neither a bang nor a whimper, just a fairly steady hum of activity which trailed off by about noon on Tuesday. We sold 450 booth spaces to 135 exhibitors and dealer attendance was solid. At that time there were four other established shows for dealers to choose from, the NBDA show, The BDS Expo, The New York International Show and CABDA, so we were very grateful for their support. Our survival depended almost entirely on dealer support. The industry’s survival does too, although not everyone wants to admit it. The other four shows all took place between January and March. We positioned Interbike in the Fall, hoping that dealer input could be more meaningful earlier in the production cycle.

Our second show was somewhat bigger, 520 booths and 150 exhibitors, but we were in a larger exhibit hall and, to our astonishment, everyone thought the show had shrunk. This taught us another important lesson. In the trade show business perception trumps reality every time. A trade show is a temporary village and, like any small town, it can be a rumor mill. Over the course of three or four days the prevailing perception gains a momentum of its own and becomes the reality that will be remembered and reported.

I’m getting to an age where my own memory might be questioned, but following are a few of the more persistent memories and images that come to me as I look back on twenty-five years of Interbike. I remember the searing desert heat as MaryAnn and I drove to Las Vegas in the summer of ‘81 in my un-airconditioned VW pickup hoping to secure exhibit hall dates and room blocks for the first show. We drove most of the way with the windows open and wet towels around our necks. The ride home two days later, after securing the requisite rooms and dates, seemed a lot cooler and shorter.

I remember the empty feeling I had after selling my cherished ‘55 Chevy to pay the print bill for our first big dealer registration mailer. However, the exhilaration we all felt a few weeks later when those dealer registration cards started pouring back in, filled out in the dealers’ own handwriting, was indescribable. We handled them as if they were gold. They made it all real. They validated us. We’d count them, read them, copy them, sort them and stack them.

We hired a sweet and lovely woman, who we came to know as Ms. Efficiency to input them into our crude database. Ms. Efficiency could make the keyboard smoke with her blazing fingers. She probably typed 120 words per minute. After the first print run of badges, however, we discovered that she made about 90 mistakes per minute. Each badge showed the registrant’s first name in huge block type on the top line. Chuck Hooper, of Seattle Bike Supply, got a badge that said CHUNK. Fortunately, he has a sense of humor. I’m afraid we put it to the test more than once. Over the years we gained valuable experience. Experience, of course, is the ability to recognize a mistake when you make it again.

I remember the parties and the great entertainers like Jerry Lee Lewis, David Lindley, Bo Diddley, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, and my hero, the great Merle Haggard. I’ll never forget presenting Merle with a beautiful Yeti mountain bike custom built by John Parker. John was inducted into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame at Interbike a couple of years later.

Like a lot of the mountain bike pioneers, John was a bit of a rebel, an unconventional and independent thinker. Looking back, I believe that energy, that spirit has been behind all the best things to happen in this industry. In the seventies it was independent thinkers like Skip Hess Sr., Chuck Robinson, Scot Breithaupt and the Cook brothers, who encouraged and developed BMX. In the eighties Tom Ritchey, Gary Fisher, Mike Sinyard, Jacob Heilbron, and numerous others redefined the bicycle and the industry by bringing their entrepreneurial, engineering and design talents to bear on the mountain bike. From the mid nineties to the present a prodigiously courageous and talented former triathlete from Texas showed us that it’s “Not About The Bike.” It’s not, and it never really was. It’s about the people, and there has never been an industry comprised of a finer group of men and women than ours. In our industry, the name on the badge is very often the same as the name on the product. That encourages a deep and personal commitment, whether you?e Joe Breeze or Yoshi Shimano.

Early on, Kathy Newkirk said… “When people return to their stores after Interbike, we want them to feel a little better about the business they’ve chosen to be in.” Twenty-five years after kneeling before the P.O. Box, I’m still grateful to have been in the bicycle business. And it is immensely satisfying to know that Interbike still brings all those great people together every year.

Steve Ready
Retired

“Some great memories about Interbike were the Ice Hockey Tournaments. It started back in 1994 as an idea Jake and I had while talking about our love for hockey and wouldn’t it be fun to have a game. I arranged for the ice time and we had our first game at 6:30 AM at Glacial Gardens Ice Rink in Anaheim, CA back when Interbike was in SoCal. There were 2 teams…Canada vs. the World with about 20 guys total.

“The next few years in Anaheim saw the tournament expanding to four teams and over 60 players with Team Shimano, Team Canada, Team West Coast, and Team East Coast. Easton helped sponsor with aluminum sticks and other great prizes. When Interbike moved to Las Vegas we kept the tournament alive by finding ice at various local rinks in the area. My switch to Racer X magazine in 2000 did not stop my involvement, as there are so many bicycle companies involved in Motocross products.

“The Tournament lasted for 10 years with the final game in 2003. It was a wonderful 10-year run!

“The photo is Team Canada in red and Team USA in White. Ironically the last game we had ended in a tie!”

Does this bring back any memories for anyone? Kozo?

Steve is very flattered that Interbike is still thriving after 25 years. He has lots of fond memories he would like to share. Currently, he writes regularly for vintage motorcycle magazines, and true to his newfound craft, he would like to take some time to gather his thoughts and share some of his Interbike memories on InterbikeTimes. So, in about a week we will post Steve’s Interbike reminisces.

Enjoy the 4th of July!