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May
2
Should I Stay or Should I Go?
Filed Under BRAIN Column, Interbike | Leave a Comment
No, I’m not reminiscing about the Clash and their great song. But it is the time of year when people start thinking about whether they plan to go to Interbike. We know it’s a big decision for many retailers, and we want to make sure you have as much insight as possible as early as possible to help guide you. Of course, we want everyone to come to the celebration, but we know that there’s got to be a return on the investment that you make to attend. For many of you who may have stopped coming at some point, we would love to have you reconsider based on what we’re bringing to this year’s show.
Last year was a milestone for Interbike beyond just being a 30-year anniversary celebration. The 2011 show brought more energy and more momentum than we’d seen at Interbike in many years. Dealers and exhibitors universally agreed that Interbike once again lived up to its role as the industry’s premier event. Our goal for 2012 is to take all of that positivity and build on it. Many of the favorite initiatives from last year’s show will be back and will be even stronger, but look for some fresh additions for this year.
More Education
Every year dealers tell us they want more education on relevant topics to help them improve their businesses. Working together with the NBDA, we will be investing heavily in growing the educational content. Look for higher-level topics from engaging speakers. Also plan on being stopped in your tracks by dynamic on-floor seminars happening throughout the day on our street-level stage.
Industry Breakfast
For the first time, we will be hosting an industry breakfast for attendees and exhibitors on Wednesday morning before the show opens. Not only will we satisfy your morning hunger for great food and coffee, but we’ll also deliver an important message from a keynote speaker that will set the tone for an exciting week of activities.
The Lab
This new destination at Interbike is where new ideas and technologies are born and the next superstar companies are discovered. The Lab is the incubator for the next big innovations in cycling and a showcase for you to unearth exciting new products that will add to your bottom line and engage your customers. Celebrate the startups and find your next profit maker in this new product section. This is a big part of why you come to the show.
Enhanced lounges, new pavilions, more fashion, bigger celebrations
The on-floor lounges were an overwhelming success in 2011. Look for bigger and better areas in 2012: an expanded Urban Yard by Chrome Industries and Raleigh Bicycles; the new Triathlon Pavilion presented by the Triathlon America association; the pumped up BMX Zone guided by some of the sport’s leading brands; and an enhanced women’s lounge thanks to the OIWC. You can also expect better food options, a new beer Pub hosted by Raleigh Bicycles, and more fashion shows for all styles of apparel.
Viva Bike Vegas Gran Fondo
Stick around for one of the most unique Gran Fondos in the nation on Saturday morning. Take in the sights of Las Vegas and surrounding areas such as the Strip, Red Rocks Canyon and ride over Hoover Dam on beautiful 100 or 65 mile routes. Who says Las Vegas isn’t bike friendly?
This is just a taste of what we’re delivering to you at Interbike 2012. Show favorites such as CrossVegas, the Sinclair Party, Interbike’s industry party, the Tour de Lake Mead industry ride, and much, much more are all returning and round out an action-packed week.
So save the date, make your plans, and come celebrate all things cycling!
Sep
14
The Circulus Video 2011
Filed Under Interbike | 2 Comments
One more teaser video about what to expect starting Wednesday at Interbike. It’s a bit of history of the track and where the PDW guys hope to see it in the future. After a brief stop in Las Vegas, of course.
Check it out on the Street Level of the show near the Pub.
The Circulus Video 2011 from PDW on Vimeo.
Sep
6
SRAM’s pART PROJECT at Interbike
Filed Under Attendee News, Events, Exhibitor News, Industry News, Interbike | Comments Off
While there’s no shortage of things to see and do at Interbike this year, this is one that I’m super excited to see: The SRAM pART PROJECT.
SRAM gave 50 artists a box full of 100 components and asked them to create something with them. The finished pieces will be put on display at Interbike and then at a gallery in Chicago in October after which they will be auctioned off to benefit World Bicycle Relief.
Here’s a video short of one of the artists working on his creation:
Look for the pART PROJECT display lining the main aisle on the Street Level of the show next week – make sure to check it out.
Sep
20
Outdoor Demo SetUp Day
Filed Under Interbike | 2 Comments
Just a few quick shots from Bootleg Canyon on set up day for the OutDoor Demo that opens today.
Giant’s fleet all set and ready to go.
Specialized has a few bikes for people to ride.
Felt has the first booth you see when walking into Bootleg Canyon.
Part of Felt’s fleet at the Demo.
Didn’t plan to only focus on the big guys, but when I was taking pictures, they were the only one’s all set up and presentable. Lots of great looking other displays were in the works and should be ready and humming already as I write this on Monday morning in the press room at the Sands.
If you’re heading out to the Demo, make sure to drink lots of water and wear a hat. Not that it’s ever cool out there, but it hit 104F on Sunday.
Mar
5
The Bike Summit is On!
Filed Under Advocacy, Industry News | Comments Off
The National Bike Summit is in full swing today. Just want to wish all of our advocates there a productive day full of meetings with influential people.
A site to visit for coverage of the event is Jonathan Maus’ (or is that Maus’s?) BikePortland.org site. If you know of any others, let me know.
Lance, Robert and Andria from Interbike are there. Don’t be shy about going up to them and saying hi.
Update:
I found a nice list of bloggers that will be attending the Summit at the Commute by Bike site. Didn’t see any coverage there yet – just the “We’re heading off to the Summit this week” posts. Hopefully the posting will kick in soon.
Mar
4
SRAM: “We Are Porsche” in Business Week
Filed Under Exhibitor News, Gear, Industry News, Interbike | 5 Comments
In another of my non-original posts here, I’m going to reference and plug another’s work again here in scooping this story. This article is right up our alley here at Interbike since it’s a great bike industry B2B story that is playing in the national non-endemic media. If there’s any way we can help promote or facilitate more of that for our industry members, we’re all over it. This is a little late – I was hoping to get this out last Friday when I first heard about it, but well, sometimes life just gets in the way of blogging. Still worth mentioning, though, in case our little site reaches some corner of the world that Bike Biz UK’s does not…
The article that appears on Business Week’s website is titled: “SRAM – A Bike Parts Tour de Force.” Stan Day, the co-founder of SRAM along with his brother and a friend, is the focus of the piece. Obviously written from a non-endemic point of view, there is still plenty of interesting background information about the company (I finally know where the name SRAM came from).
Not to call anyone out here, but there is an intriguing quote from a product manager at one of the major bike manufacturers about SRAM’s place in the OEM market:
“They are not really credible yet.”
While I understand that, from a sales standpoint, Shimano still dwarfs them, I don’t see how SRAM could not be considered a credible player at this point. Now I’m just a marketing guy and have no experience wearing a product manager’s shoes, but I’ve seen plenty of great brands spec’d by people I know and have great respect for with SRAM OEM componentry. [Shimano: I still love my Dura Ace pedals and shoes 
] Plus, they’ve got a beer vending machine in the office! Instant cred right there.
By the way, we’re big fans of BikeBiz UK here. Carlton Reid – a great friend of the industry, and burgeoning internet cycling media mogul – got wind of this Business Week article about SRAM’s emergence as a player in the bicycle components game. Definitely worth the read. Check it out here.
Feb
29
Article: Year of the Bike in 2008?
Filed Under Advocacy, Cycling, Industry News, Interbike | 1 Comment
I hate to re-hash something that another site has already covered (very nicely, btw), but in this case I think the topic merits another mention in case anyone missed it – especially with the National Bike Summit taking over the Capitol next week.
The article that Jonathan Maus of the awesome bikeportland.org blog discovered recently was written with the Summit in mind by columnist James Peirce of the Washington Post Writer’s Group. Mr. Peirce goes through a list of issues that have been in the headlines recently that all point to a very favorable atmosphere for the growth of the use and acceptability of the bicycle as a legitimate form of transportation and dynamic solution to many of these problems. (That last point also eloquently brought up by Interbike show director, Lance Camisasca, back in 2006, btw.)
Jonathan does a great job of describing the article and has some nice pull-quotes, so I’ll avoid echoing here. Of course, you should read the whole article itself, but one snippet at the end where he describes the significance of Portland’s Bike Boulevards seems an important point, so I’ll excerpt it again here:
“But perhaps most importantly, they’ve marked a major shift from meeting needs of expert and intermediate cyclists. The focus, instead, is on making cycling welcoming for everyone — kids, families and novices included.”
We “expert and intermediate” cyclists in the industry can tend to forget the needs of the masses of non-riders (the 161 million, as I’ve often heard quoted as their number) that we are trying to encourage to leave their cars in the garage. It may be tough to paceline in a bike way or path, but that’s not really the point, is it?
Have fun at the Summit – and go do some good!