http://thelondonbikeshow.co.uk/exhibitors

I thought with the E-bike and urban/commuter bike mania at present and this being in the affluent London/SE area many of the big brands would look at this as a great opportunity? Giant, GT and Cannondale OK but no Specialized, Trek, Scott, Santa Cruz, Yeti, Marin etc. And really surprised none of the big German E-Bike companies (Haibike etc) have stands or even Bosch who supply so many??

Have you seen how much it costs to have a stand at an exhibition these days? Not including having to staff it for the duration.To achieve what?Fill bins with discarded catalogues/cheap freebies? Get moaned at that your bikes are too expensive/wrong colour/too short/too long and be told how you should be doing it by some overweight IT manager.
(has flashbacks to working at exhibitions…..)
If you really feel the urge I think The Bike Place has a public day now.

I’d much rather manufacturers invested in demo days at local trails / centres around the UK.

10x demo bikes over a weekend you can hit a trail with rather than just getting to squeeze the brake lever on an exhibition stand bike would sell many more bikes for manufacturers with decent bikes.

Right now you get to hit the car park or hire a poverty rental spec with poor finishing kit / tyres.

the manchester bike tri and swim show has also been canceled in march, last 2 years have been quite good

https://www.bikebiz.com/retail/uk-cycle-industry-predicted-to-sell-1-million-fewer-bikes-this-year

The UK cycle industry is in a slump, so no surprise they can’t afford to spend on expensive trade show stands.

Another industry, but a 12x6m stand at excel for a three day show costs us about £50-60k

The costs for the actual space at the LBS is much less, but the problem is the big boys feel the need to drop an extra 20/30/40/50k on the stand, the people, the transport (not many hold this stuff in the UK) and just wont see the return. For us? Take some bikes, meet some people. Don’t need a flashy stand to sell our bikes, so it makes sense. Hopefully see some of you there!

Another problem, which I experienced at Ride London, last year, is that Evans took up almost half the hall & to get to any of the stands you had to walk through Evans. They took a phenomenal amount of money compared to us……

I’m not surprised smaller brands are chinning it off & going direct for example, doing demo days…

Last time I went (few years ago now) I wanted to buy a helmet and a few other bits but no one was selling anything….just displaying items. Seemed a bit odd to me. Haven’t been since. Maybe I went with the wrong expectations..? I don’t see the point of not letting people buy stuff!

Maybe I went with the wrong expectations..? I don’t see the point of not letting people buy stuff!

Think about the stock levels you would need, then chuck in by selling stuff they are screwing over their actual customers who are the bike trade.

Evans do sponsor RideLondon, Wiggle had a similar set up before we sponsored it. Plus we do have guys riding round the course all day fixing mechanicals for free.

Last time I went (few years ago now) I wanted to buy a helmet and a few other bits but no one was selling anything….just displaying items. Seemed a bit odd to me. Haven’t been since. Maybe I went with the wrong expectations..? I don’t see the point of not letting people buy stuff!

It’s an exhibition, not a jumble sale.

I’ll be in London on the 23rd to see Roni Size so just debating whether or not to go to this… I see cotic are in but otherwise,, is it worth going to?

bgascoyne – Member
Last time I went (few years ago now) I wanted to buy a helmet and a few other bits but no one was selling anything….just displaying items. Seemed a bit odd to me. Haven’t been since. Maybe I went with the wrong expectations..? I don’t see the point of not letting people buy stuff!

Does the show not have loads of retailers selling kit/parts etc? The motorbike show (which last year was in the hall next door on the same days) has loads of retailers, if you wanted to buy a new helmet, or leathers, boots, GPS etc etc there were some decent deals on, cheaper than regular online prices. Obviously you then had all the major bike manufacturers showing their new bikes that you could sit on and fondle.

It’ll be my first time at the cycle show this year, if I can’t buy a cheap jersey, or pair of shorts or a helmet I’ll be pretty disappointed!

I went last year having never been before. Lots of bikes and parts being exhibited, other exhibitors such as charities and holiday companies. There were retailers selling kit but not at competitive prices. I won’t be going this year.

Thanks for the feedback guys. Just back from Excel today as it happens (London Boat Show) – was pretty busy and pleased to see that a few small boats were still available for the common man alongside the obligatory £2m Sunseekers etc. Nothing like the good old days of Earls Court in the 80’s and Excel is a shi*e venue but worth a visit nonetheless and the kids blagged some nice souvenirs so they were happy at least. 🙂

There were retailers selling kit but not at competitive prices

if I can’t buy a cheap jersey, or pair of shorts or a helmet I’ll be pretty disappointed!

This is pretty representative of expectations of shows.
You can see why retailers are’nt that keen to spend 10k to have a stall at a jumble sale.

This is pretty representative of expectations of shows.

Yep, the number of folks who walk upto our stand just looking for a freebie is a p1sstake.

On the other hand its good to see lots of British bike brands attending.

For years (prior to the internet) shows were the one opportunity customers got to try out stuff, see all there was to buy and retailers sold off stuff at knockdown prices. Usually they could sell them at wholesale prices.

So this is how people think of shows. I did loads of them as a motorcycle supplier years ago. We only ever broke even as costs back then were high.

Now we all have access to everything via the internet, at rock bottom prices because of the internet. Shows don’t have quite the same purpose anymore. Plus the cost of putting them on has gone up.

Given that customers spend most of their time walking around looking at a smart phone, why would a retailer waste money attending a show when they can stick their product under the nose of their potential customer and also do a few demo days a year. All for a fraction of the cost.

Never mind the big brands that are missing just look at all the smaller ones that will be there and I’m more interested in getting the chance to see.

I’m perfectly happy for there to be nothing for sale, I’ve seen motorcycle shows turn into markets selling cheap tat cheap and I don’t want to pay an entry fee to a market.

Clothing brand I deal with aren’t doing the London show this week, saying it’s just not worth the cost and effort.

NEC bike show seems to because bit better, but still a lot of big players not there.

been to the last four as working in london. first year was good, got to have a look at some bikes in the flesh so to speak. good chats with the guys from stanton and saw the empire cycles 3d printed bike too. best year by far, wont be bothering this year as its going more and more to ebikes. nothing wrong with them but theyre just not what im interested in.