The Bike Show
4September 30, 2012 by welshcyclist
Spent Friday at the show, enjoyed seeing all the gleaming new models at the numerous stands, but overall was disappointed with this year’s event. Why?
There was no Brooks stand, I wanted to ask some questions about my B17.
There was no Endura stand, or any other affordable clothing stands for that matter. I was hoping to get padded undershorts. I managed to find a bogof on the Dare2B stand, for £20, but decided against the transaction after being confronted by the total disinterest of the chap on the counter.
Yes, there were loads of bikes I’d have loved to purchase, but I wanted to talk to somebody about bikefit, getting more comfortable on my commuter and my new Jamis Sputnik singlespeed. All the top brand stands were basically intimidating to the likes of me, a total amateur, I wasn’t willing to queue up behind the experts only to make an idiot of myself, not having the correct lingo and terminology etc..
So I came away feeling somewhat let down and frustrated.
I believe that it comes from cycling being so far up itself at the moment, hi-jacked by the middle classes. But that’s just my opinion.
On a lighter note, I saw this little fella in his horsebox with his mum on the way to the show, at a services stop. They were going to a show as well.
Well I can now insert photos to my blog again, happy days.
It seems my version of Internet Explorer was in compatability mode, and that needed to be disabled, so that pictures could once again be uploaded to the blog. Who enabled the compatability mode? I don’t know, but number one son knew how to disable it?
Elementary, my dear Watson!
Cheers for now.
Did anyone else get to the Bike Show?
Welshcyclist's Weblog 
Yep…and I agree! some brands and people I wanted to see that were missing 😦
But still some very nice hand built frames and some proper steel bikes from the big names 🙂
Yes, there were jobby889, fantastic bikes. I got talking to one independent bike maker, who custom builds for individuals, but at £3,000 a bike, it was out of the question for myself. But it’s still very nice looking at those wonderful creations.
I’ve wanted to go for a few years now, but commitments and fear of spending money kept me home, maybe next year.
Sorry to hear it didn’t live up to expectations.
I’d have thought those in those very same queues may be able to answer your questions quicker than the staff, so queue up and chat to those around you, if they answer your questions then you can leave the queue and save time 🙂
Good suggestion Tim, the more I think about the experience at the show, the more pleased I am. I got to visit and see first hand SJS’s Raven Bikes, always wanted one, to tour on. Much better than looking at pictures on the internet, or in catalogues, real quality. Thanks for popping by.