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I attended this bike show yesterday with my son who is 10 years old. I was quite disappointed on several fronts and wondered how others found it. I have been mountain biking in Scotland for over 15 years and am keen to see this great sport grow.
I found that many of the stands where mainly focused on retail sales not sampling new products or promoting innovation within the industry.
it was also quite expensive for what you got it cost me and my son £17 for 2-3 hrs of a visit then £6 for parking, throw petrol in to get there and your looking at £30 for the visit!
There where some deals on some of the stalls but again nothing really that would set the heather on fire unless you really need a pair of last seasons mango coloured grips!
I think that these events are a great platform for promoting the industry on new products, innovation and general information. Not so much about selling your products to cover the costs of the stall fees. to do this you need to offer potential consumers samples so that we can try out your products and then make an informed decision. So taking a more forward longer term view on this is important.
I also felt that unless you where in the trade that the stall holders where a bit reluctant to speak to you it seemed a bit of a trade pals gathering rather than trying to embrace existing and potential newcomers into this sport.
I did ask if there where any samples of some of the products as I genuinely was interested in how they performed but the general feedback was no you have to buy it and at more or less the RRP, I could have gone online and got it cheaper if that’s the case. if I wanted to buy a new winter lube id expect to try it before purchasing a 125ml bottle for £8.99, especially after ive just forked out £30 for the privilege.
on the positive some of the kids trails where ok , but the other option for a day out was a trip to Glen Tress so I think that’s where we will be going today as the suns out and its free!
Id be interested in any other views as I would really like to see an improvement in future events in Scotland.
Im heading over there today, having second thoughts about it now.
Looking for a new hardtail, might just head out cycling now!!!
I went yesterday, I got the train and walked the rest of the way. I thought entry price was below average for a show and I was pleasantly surprised by the size and range of stuff going on. Every one was friendly and helpful, without exception.
For myself I had difficulty keeping the stand staff away, I just wanted to mooch about but everyone wanted to tell me about their stuff!There was plenty of interactive stuff going on. THe BMX area was a bit loud....
Overall I spent about two hours at the show. By that time the noise and lack of daylight was getting to me, but that is standard for me at a show.
There was not a huge amount of innovation, granted, but cyclin is basically a mature technology - what to expect really?
I can see where the OP comes from, partially, however we attended yesterday and I really enjoyed it. I found the staff helpful and there were some good deals on baselayers and a few of the Gore Bikewear items. It opened my eyes to a few other aspects of biking too - the mental health angle (forget the company name), the wooden bike, Bikestation and the recumbents. I did feel the recumbent needed a head rest and somewhere to rest your book/mag/paper when using it but hey ho!
I thought that it would probably be doing a good job of promoting cycling, anything like that normally gives people a bit of a buzz for a while. I'm sure future events would be even better.
There were a few free samples going round, mostly energy bars though. I thought the entry cost was reasonable - we booked beforehand and it was only £7.50pp.
TS
Oh yeah, we had a good chat with Mark on the STW stand, sorted out my mug problem and got a free water bottle. Cheers!
[url= http://http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/scottish-bike-show-2 ]I posted earlier, with some photos.[/url]
I understand where you're coming from, could/should have been bigger & better but hopefully it'll improve each year, this was the first one after all.
I think that it's important that we support it & then hopefully it'll grow into what we want it to be.
I'd like to see bike makers there, orange, Cotic, ragley etc.
I was gonna go as a stall holder but the cost was a bit prohibitive.a few of my suppliers were interested if we shared the cost but they also thought it was dear... It may have more industry types next year.I hope it grows and gets bigger!
I thought it was rubbish. Waste of my time and money. Hopefully it will be better next year (if it comes back).
I found that many of the stands where mainly focused on retail sales not sampling new products or promoting innovation within the industry.
Having been to a few different exhibitions over the years at the SECC, I quickly realised they're little more than a bunch of stalls selling stuff. I was supposed to go yesterday but CBA and I'm glad I didn't
I went with a couple of my mates and we were all fairly dissapointed ,
We stayed about 2 hours before heading home and getting the bikes out..