[Closed] Cycle Show 2011 - Worth going?

cheap tioga DHs

sorry this is the [i]CYCLE[/i] show i was thinking of the BIKE show. 😉

The one in london? Yeah, it's alright if you've got nothing better to do. Lots of shiny shiny. I'd rather go for a bike ride though. Especially if it's 2 hours of driving each way.

Dont they have a test track out of the NEC so you can have a play on the shiny new stuff as well.

I wanted to go but im at Britcar all weekend 🙂

Definitely the Cycle show at the NEC

[i]We look forward to welcoming you to the show this week,

The Cycle Show Team [/i]

Yes I'm going esp to test ride some bikes - looks fun and much better than when I went in 08' in London 🙂

As above 1km test track and also a purchase area !!! 🙂

I'm going easy to get too, looking for a new bike so ideal place to have a donder about 😀

I'm going, I'm working near there anyway. But somebody told me not many trade people are going and lots of brands had boycotted it, nobody wanted to go to the NEC , budgets have been cut, they had a better time in London and there's a new show there at the same time as the Boat show..

I fancy it, but I don't know if they actually have any bikes available to demo that t'husband or I are interested in. Which is a shame, as he's broken another bike (whilst his 2008 Meta is still going strong...)

nobody wanted to go to the NEC , budgets have been cut

Saying that, it's a well run show, I enjoyed exhibiting the past two years.

in London and there's a new show there at the same time as the Boat show

Wait until saturday and u might see me +/- depending on ur point of view, good for star spotting too, I met sheldon last time I went

[i]That sounds great! You must really enjoy doing such worthy things..[/i]

No, it is a real drag, you should see some of the people I have to deal with. I just wanted to throw a party and let everyone do stuff for fun. Turns out I was naive. 😉

good for star spotting too, I met sheldon last time I went

What?? THE Sheldon??

If you go on Thursday can you bring a black coffee to the ZipVit Sport stand for me? No sugar. Ta.

i'll be there thursday and friday. if its rubbish like at earls court i wont bother again 🙂

always come away thinking what a waste of both time and money that was. I also kind of get that 'once you've seen one bike you've seen them all' feeling after a while.

MrSparkle - Member

good for star spotting too, I met sheldon last time I went

What?? THE Sheldon??

and Mrs Sheldon

I guess I might head up on Thursday. Anyone want a lift from Southamtpon area?

Share the petrol and I can get you in for free.

I'm going going to get my pedaling analyzed by [url= http://wattbike.com/uk/ ]wattbike[/url]and want to get a new sadddle for my road bike so planning on getting measured as I get discomfort. Probably try a few bikes on the road & mountain bike test tracks so plenty to keep me occupied for the day.

It was shambolic at Earls Court last year, no wonder many boycot it this year and chose eXcel instead. If tickets were free and no serious traveling to be done, maybe.

popster - where are you based? I can get you a free ticket and if you are between Southampton and Brum you can cadge a lift...

Heard that the show had low attendance for the Thursday trade day - so much so that I've now had two phonecalls reminding me to go this week.

its not even Thursday yet 😆

You know what I mean! :p

lateo - I have had 4 'special' invites. I suspect they are struggling. Should be good for freebies I hope

I'm going on Saturday with the kids. At least they now have an under 12's test track - although my 10yo rode the test track last year having lied about his age.

I'll be carrying a bright orange Chrome messenger bag, wave or say high if you see me.

WorldClassAccident any more free tickets?

that video makes me laugh.................

Show them how it should be done Jedi 😉 😆

Hopefully see a few of you tomorrow, Please say Hi if you see me. - Light blue Polo shirt with mtbbatteries on it 🙂

Its fun for shiny things (or at least it was when it was in london) and they had a couple of more 'boutique' brands on display last time I went which was nice. My abiding memory however was the crushing disappointment of not being able to buy any of the shiny things, that and snagging far too much energy drink from stands and ending up confused and jittery.

i'm just having a coffee before i make my way up there. 🙂

Have personally decided not to bother with the trade show this year. Whilst NEC is central it's still a mare of a drive.

The Excel Bike/Boat/Outdoor show thing last year was hardly a 'cycle show'. Just a few bike related stands in the corner of a show hall.

So who's there today and what's it like...worth the £15 admission?

I might pop down tomorrow, but I'm only really interested in demoing some bikes (what's the selection like) and maybe picking up a bargain or two...either of these likely?

Ta,
R

Just back from it. There are lots of bikes and things. Wouldn't travel far for it, found the road bikes more interesting than the MTBs, rode a Pivot 429 which was nice, and had a nice wee chat with WCA/BBB. Maybe I'd go if I was looking to buy a new bike, otherwise, not so sure. Does that help?

Cheers iDave...yeah, helps a bit, sorta. I'm close, so travelling is not an issue and although I'm not necessarily looking to buy a new bike, after spending this year on a 5-Spot I can't say I've fallen in love, so I'm just curious to try a few different bikes for fit & feel etc..

Ta,
R

cheers for the info WCA 😉

oh well still going to go on Sunday, worth a look and a day out 😀

Went for work on a free ticket. Marginally more stuff to look at this year. Disappointed Pashley weren't there as I needed a new lunch bag 🙂
Test rode lots of electric bikes, required by work, the Storch one was very quick. Tried a fixie for the first time and some lovely carbon and titanium framed road bikes.
Wasn't allowed on the MTB test track 🙁

Is there much to buy??

Wasn't allowed on the MTB test track

Well you were pissed!

🙂

advance tickets for £11.50 Use code CYC3

Is there much to buy??

The test track was better, the aircon worked, and the highlight was seeing Jedi finishing his third pint with a big grin on his face.

Lots of energy sugary shite, electric bikes and no big names. Not even Shimano. And a bloke selling solar panels looking very out of place.

Full write up tomorrow on Spokeshirts. Probably.

Small and not much there*

Nice to meet a few faces. Handed out lots of BBB invites.

Worth a tenner and 1 hour drive but not much more i think

Nice to meet the people I met but needs to be the size it used to be which means London.

A shortish review of the show.[url= http://www.spokeshirts.co.uk/2011/09/cycle-show-2011/ ]Here.[/url]

Would have said hello Mark but you were busy on some corporate style stuff with a couple of generously proportioned types. (I'm no sylph but...)!

was a laugh. not worth it if you're into just mtb bits imo.
mmmmmmm beer 🙂

No not worth it. I and a mate went today and it was alright but no more than that. There weren't any stunning bargains in the retail bit and there weren't any stunning innovations in the show [ oh, Campag have gone electric shift]. I was going to go to the ST stand but why? I'ld just look like a sad fan boy saying, ' Hi, I'm FOG.' And then nothing. I went on the test track on a Pivot which felt like a complete bag of as you might expect after numberless careless punters had thrashed it all day. I paid £11 on the ST offer and I think I would have been well cheesed if I had paid £15.50. Better than being forced to garden but only just.

I agree with everything that has been said. No major manufacturers turned up. The only mountain bikes there were Devinci and Pivot. Seriously, nothing else at all. I've been going to bike shows for years, and this is the worst show bike show I've been to. Won't go again.

spokeshirts al, gutted i couldn't find you again 🙂 beers rock

I went thinking it'd be a day out and a look at some nice bikes and bits, and to be honest, was dissapointed. Not worth the 5 hours I spent sat in traffic anyway.

I did buy some nice Oakleys though.

Were the Oakleys on offer or a bargain? What was the Hope stand like worth checking out any new gear?

Seriously underwhelming, I thought today.

The Oakleys were from the Eyewearoutlet stand, returned stock I think, so much cheaper than RRP. They had some show deals on too.

The Hope stand had the usual stuff in nice arty displays, probably the best stand there for gear stuff. Nothing I hadn't seen before online, but the new cyclocross hydraulic adapter was on there, and all the new lights etc.

I went there today and was pretty disappointed.

The shopping area was tiny and the stuff that was being sold was either tat or the same price as the shops. The only good bit there was the place selling the Oakleys. They had some decent bargains there so if you're after some tomorrow you'll need to be there early.

The rest of the show was distinctly average, some nice bling on a couple of stands but nothing to get excited about.

The off-road test area was ok but the bikes I tried seemed to be on their last legs. The road bike test bit had some nice bits of kit to play on but it was hardly worth the effort when the 'track' was a 500m long lap of a car park!

I was lucky 'cos we got free tickets but if I'd paid for it I'd be pissed off!

Sounds like I made the right decision to go down the beach then.

Went today, not worth the visit IMO compared to when i went to the one in Earls Court court a few years ago. Mainly a load of roadie, oddball stuff and niche sh*te.

email me if you want a FREE ticket. only one per day so first come first served

Well they're already late opening this morning. I'm standing in a queue of 500+ waiting to get in...

I had a go on a mukluk so i'm happy

I prodded chipp's mukluk too 🙂
what was it like to ride RD?

Overall the show was a bit disappointing. Very few mtb's and almost no 29ers, either bikes, rims, wheels, rubber or forks. What with all the 29er excitement at eurobike and interbike youd have thought there'd be more of a presence 🙁

I liked the STmag stand made up to look like the Dave TV channel ident. Very James May it was...

Best thing I think I saw of the show was the DMR Bolt in the flesh. Great looking frame, well thought out and good value for money. If only theyd do one in 29" 😉 And I 'spose USEs tidy drop bar disk brake reservoir adaptors. Neater than the hope thing, but probably all a bit too late in the day if the big boys are starting to look at doing it properly in the lever.

Otherwise, loads of road bikes, some nicer than others, and £6k TT bikes for nipping to the shops in Richmond Park. The geek in me enjoyed the Rohloff stand opposite the Carradice stand. Nearly dropped my pipe with excitement.

Probably wont go again until it's fundamentally shifted up a gear and becomes something closer to eurobike (if ever it will)

so many brands missing, nothing from Ison distribution so no salsa, no trek/bonty, no surly, no pashley, no spesh.

Rockshox/sram/truvativ was so half-hearted they must have spent most of their time working out how much stuff to leave behind.

I bounced up and down on it, perfect for NEC carpet

NEC carpet

gnarlier than the mtb test track...probably 🙂

It was lighter than I expected though

The hottest October day ever recorded, blue skies pratically across the whole of the UK, and you went to [i]look[/i] at some bikes in a big shed?

😆

i'd like a shed that big

The hottest October day ever recorded, blue skies pratically across the whole of the UK, and you went to look at some bikes in a big shed?

As poor as the show was today it beat tapping way on a Keyboard replying to forum threads all day, at least wetherspoons at the NEC has a beer garden 😉

Nice reply, i deliberately didn't bite and feed the ego....oh, I just did 😛

And anyway, it's not like I live in london and have to travel to get to great riding on the hottest October day, it's on my doorstep so I can always go....in the next 5 minutes....tsk! There I go again! 😳

I thought the peeps on here giving negative comments were just being the usual [s]SS[/s] ST miserable sarcastic saddoes,however I went to the show yesterday and came away feeling very underwhelmed and rather disappointed :(, could not be bothered queuing for the MTB or Road test tracks so just watched everyone from the bar whilst s****ing to myself thinking there must be a few head lice in the helmets that were being shared by now. Bumped into a mtb buddy Mick in the bar as it happens,nice to catch up (maybe I will catch you on the Lon Mynd sooner or later). After which I made my only purchase at the show by renewing my ST subscription and was given a T Shirt and some mags to go home with, wasn't offered a single malt though :roll:. I did learn something about my pedal stroke from Wattbike and it appears I use my left leg more than my right and need to concentrate on the scraping the dog muck off my shoe technique more as this will make me use my calf muscles more and to have more emphasis on my right leg. Rather disappointed that there wasn't a stand where I could get measure for a new saddle seems a Specialized Concept store will be my next port of call. I also don't get electric bikes defeats the object IMO.

Went yesterday and was really disappointed, was hoping to ride some of the new bikes on the MTB track but didn't see any 2012 models you could ride, wanted to buy a new full face helmet, pads and gear from one of the stores but the choice was very limited. Seemed to me it was set up purely for roadies and there was literally nothing there for mountain bikers. All in all I wish I had gone out on the bike instead for a local ride. Total waste of time and money.

And anyway, it's not like I live in london and have to travel to get to great riding

Erm, I don't have to travel to get to great riding either, RD. Just out of the door, thousands and thousands of miles of fantastic urban routes, which I love, and never get bored of.

Nice try sunshine. 😉

You [i]paid[/i] to go and look at some bikes in a shed... 😆

I went today and it was pants.

Well I went and enjoyed it - the big hitters wern't there and actually thought it was great for the niche brands - the test area was good but the lack of bikes to try was poor - this was a let down (after speaking to some of the organizers) by not many of the manufacturers lending their bikes out (to get thrashed). I don't blame them TBH in lending out new 2012 bikes just to get trashed by loads of people who clearly didn't know what they were doing!

TBH some kids were actually caught stamping on some of the bikes in an attempt to 'fix them' when in actual fact they didn't need fixing - some broke them and then dumped the bikes and went on to get another. Two bikes with droppers were broken (snapped the levers off) in the first day apparently!

The road bike area had less kids and seemed less busy and the bikes stood up a little better!

Got chatting to many of the guys on the stand rather than just looking and this was much more rewarding.

It was disappointing as a solely MTBer, but as foxyrider said it was good to be able to speak to some of the niche brands and I think I have found my next frame 8)

The shop part of the show was dreadful but to be honest I wanted to see a lot of the new 2012 bikes but very limited numbers on display.

I have never seen so many electric bikes, is that really the future??

Met up with the ST gang and had a good chat so not all bad 😀

loved the bike show at the nec , much better than the london venue, here are some of my favourite photos from the day

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Saw some very nice 'crossers there and (whisper it) some sexy road bikes. Had a nice chat with Chipps. Got some stickers and sh1t. It was alright.

was just going to mention the bamboo bike!

All in all, I enjoyed it. Yes, there wasn't much MTB stuff but it wasn't aimed at just MTB-ers. It would have been good to see some stuff from Mojo, Madison and a few of the other big names, but I don't feel that I wasted a day.

I got some oakley's for a song and a rear light for £5. Also got round to signing up for my premium account on here at last. That reminds me - JAMIE, TEE-SHIRRRRRRTTTTTTT! 😛

I went today and it was good. Liked chatting to the SRAM guys and the sigma sport stall was great I would love a seven mud honey crosser!!

Not a bad use of the morning TBH!!

I went yesterday and enjoyed it. No Trek, Specialized, Kona, Orange or even Brompton! Not a recumbent to be seen and few mountain bikes. But I had a nice long chat with some custom builders, rode the MTB course on a FS 29er, whilst Son1 tested the same bike as a 26er, saved £100 on an exposure light, rode the above bamboo bike (nothing new actually), watched the BMX contest, and hi light of the show, tested four really nice sit up and beg bikes for my wife. That [url= http://www.spencerivy.com/electric-bicycles ]Spencer Ivy[/url] was simply fabulous. And then visited my sister for dinner and passed my complementary ticket onto her friend.

A good day, but I liked Earl's Court more.

Erm, I don't have to travel to get to great riding either, RD. Just out of the door, thousands and thousands of miles of fantastic urban routes, which I love, and never get bored of.

sounds awes...ooops sorry i fell asleep from the over stimulation from your description 😕

nice try, but london is London *yawns*