The Cycle Show

The Cycle Show took place at the NEC last weekend and it seemed a great opportunity to go look at some shiny stuff and test out a bike or 2. At only £13 (+ booking fee) to get in it was a bargain but then various companies were offering discount codes for tickets, I used a Trek one and got the ticket for £11. This meant I just had to get there, it was a great excuse to visit a couple of friends in Stratford and my car died a year ago so time to get behind the wheel again and hire a car.

Setting off from Stratford on Saturday morning was handy as it meant I didn't have far to travel and was likely to avoid traffic, it turned out to be so handy that I arrived half an hour before the show opened. This gave me time to grab a coffee get my ticket checked and sit down while everyone else queued up at the door, all the while more people were turning up, no quiet start to the day for the exhibitors, just after 9.30am the shutters drew back and the hordes flooded in. I sedately followed on.

I’d decided to see where most of the crowds were heading then head in the other direction, this lead me straight on into the weird and wonderful section of electric bikes. I’d picked up a free show guide and made a vague plan with the knowledge I had to leave at around 3pm to get back to Bristol for work.  My main plans were to see some of the Pump Track Challenge and watch ‘Where The Trail Ends’, I also was keeping an eye out for a hydration pack and a mud guard. Other than that it was a case of wandering around trying to find shiny stuff to take pictures of and wish I could afford.

Fairly quickly I found the Specialized stand where there were a couple of things I’d seen on websites from the media day. The S works frame and the glittery Stumpjumper, as well as the Triathlon bike with a built in Hydration pack, which I was surprised to see come in at just £2500, I thought all these kinds of bikes were silly expensive never mind one with fancy stuff on it.

Speaking of silly expensive I moved on to the Trek stand to drool over the Session 9.9 coming in at £7000 and you know that’s not even with the spec that Gwin rides, seeing it written down makes me wonder how much money is on the hill at the Fort William World Cup.

 

I then went to get in early on the test track, wanting to give a 29er a go I went for the Specialized Camber as that was the one I was most interested in from what was on offer there. The test track was good for an all abilities track that wasn’t going to ruin any demo bikes or people. I did 3 runs on the Camber and one of the guys signing people in had mentioned there was a Strava segment so  the phone went on, my 3^rd run was to be my flying lap about quarter of the way round I caught a guy who was going incredibly slow and when I shouted ‘Excuse me.’ He rode a little faster when I skidded on a corner because I nearly ran into the back of him again he upped the pace slightly so I just stopped and let him go. Still my 2^nd run bagged me 4^th out of 10 but I can’t help feeling I could have got top spot.

Over to the Pump track to see some practice and qualifying, different to see it on the wooden track that had been created by Shoretrax, rather than the usual outdoor dirt pump tracks. Unfortunately time was starting to push on so it was stopping to take a few photos and keeping moving I had to be on the way home by race time.

With a bit more wandering I found the Rose bike stand a bit tucked away and some Identiti bikes as well as fun things like the mahousive tyres on one bike and these funky looking bikes, though where does motorbike start and Mountain Bike end…

A quick wander by the Continental stand to see the massive queue to get the GT teams autographs and grab a quick pic of the Athertons and Beaumont. I wasn't stopping long as it’s much easier to see them at Fort William World Cup just wandering around or on the track. 

It was time for ‘Where The Trail Ends’. A great film I found it awe inspiring but it didn't make me want to get out and ride like 3 Minute Gaps and Strength In Numbers, I more found myself thinking how I’d never be able to do any of these things but it was cool to watch these guys do it. My only problems were that I didn't get there early enough for a seat and every time the volume dropped a little I could just hear Rob Warner chattering on, stood a few people back from me.

Cool kids helmets.

Then it was time to get to the car and get to work for some more standing around. For the money the Cycle Show was definitely worth it especially with the test track, although they could have done with a faster sign up system or allowed people to do it online beforehand. The Cycle Show was very much that, there were road bikes and stalls, electric bikes, commuter bikes and weird bikes and random associated bits, but few Mountain Bike companies and only one proper shop (Si Paton’s Descent Gear) so I didn’t end up buying anything, not like the Bike shows used to be back in the 90’s early 00’s which were a lot more mtb orientated.

More Photos: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151039122121423.439956.500231422&type=1