Brisk Buying and New Features Power 2011 Interbike with Renewed Enthusiasm
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9/28/11 - Interbike OutDoor Demo and International Bicycle Expo celebrated 30 years of serving the cycling industry in Las Vegas the week of September 12, with a show described as "vibrant," "reinvigorated," and "productive." This year's edition of the annual trade show provided an improved experience for attendees and exhibitors, and blended business value and cycling culture during the five-day event.
Pulling input from multiple advisory panels created over the past year and extensive research commissioned by Interbike, the 2011 edition of the show featured considerable investment in new features, events and partnerships.
Interbike Slideshow - Photo gallery from the Interbike International Bicycle Expo.
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photo © SoCalCycling.com
"The show went beyond expectations and reflects a tremendously strong marketplace," said Interbike Managing Director Pat Hus. "There's a new flavor to Interbike and people sense that. There was an enthusiasm and upbeat attitude at the show and orders were being written. Beyond that, successful events like the industry party and Cross Vegas and packed seminars show that people come here not only for product and sales, but also to garner education and network and just generally celebrate cycling."
More than 23,000 total attendees and 1,200-plus exhibiting brands got down to business in the Sands Expo and Convention Center at this year's show and took advantage of Interbike's new features, including Circulus -- a mini-velodrome on the show floor -- LaunchPad product showcase area, the Urban Yard and Tri Zone.
"After a year away, the response to our product launches and the excitement and traffic in our booths were all very strong," said Bernie Doering, Easton-Bell Sports' senior vice-president of global sales. "By being at the show, our preseason bookings are coming in strong, and it was a great opportunity to reconnect with our dealers and reps as well as our colleagues in the cycling community. We missed something by not being at Interbike last year, but we're back and looking forward to continuing the momentum through the 2012 selling season."
The Hincapie Sportwear booth offered Y + B Wines during happy hour. The Competitive Edge
Cyclerly's Mark Ceccereli and Ben Cardenas joined George Hincapie for a nice Merlot.
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photo © SoCalCycling.com
"This year's Interbike show had a really cool vibe; it felt revitalized and reinvigorated," said David Zimberoff, Global Marketing Director for SRAM. "The show continues to offer a great platform for our brands to engage retailers from across the country in an environment that's both entertaining as well as educational."
For entertainment, Interbike brought back the industry party to celebrate 30 years of gathering the industry together and honor the famed 7-Eleven racing team's identical anniversary. The night after packing a Las Vegas hotspot for the party, thousands of fans headed to Cross Vegas to race in the Industry Cup and take in one of the country's best cyclocross events.
Inside the show, a new partnership with ARTCRANK brought unique cycling-inspired poster art to the Interbike floor, giving attendees a chance to view - and purchase - art from the popular traveling exhibition. Educational seminars on topics from suspension fork technology to retail tips were consistently crowded as industry insiders took up expanded opportunities from Interbike University, the National Bicycle Dealers Association and show exhibitors.
Art could be purchased at ArtCrank, a show of bicycle-inspired poster artwork.
photo © SoCalCycling.com
"We had consistently good attendance at our seminars, and by the time the show was over, we reached about 1,800 people," said Fred Clements, executive director of the NBDA. "We see a fair number of retailers each year who are dedicated to the seminars and the educational opportunities are a big part of why they come to Interbike."
The retailer traffic at Interbike represented many of the best, most influential dealers in the country, with 86 percent of Bicycle Retailer and Industry News' 5-star dealers in attendance and 70 percent of the BRAIN Top 100 retailers.
"This was one of the most productive show's we've ever had. If you come into Interbike with a focused approach for what you want to accomplish, there's really nothing like it," said Tom Henry, general manager at Landry's Bicycles in Boston, a perennial Top 100 and 5-Star retailer. "The biggest thing for me is what I call the 'Beehive.' It's the one time each year when everyone is in one place and everybody you talk to has talked to 12 people who have talked to 12 people and so on. It's a moment when you feel like you're hearing the whole beehive bit by bit. I wouldn't want to miss that and it only happens at Interbike."
The GoPro booth was one of the most happening booths at Interbike. They
were offering a great deal on GoPro Hero's for Interbike attendees.
photo © SoCalCycling.com
Preliminary attendance numbers for Interbike 2011 show nearly 4,000 unique stores represented at the show and the total number of buyers at more than 11,000. International buyer attendance from outside the United State was more than 1,300.
Members of the media were looking to tune into the chatter as well, with more than 550 journalists attending Interbike from all corners of the globe. And cycling publications weren't alone in their interest in new products: journalists from outlets such as Consumer Reports, Outside Magazine, ESPN, Wired Magazine, Mashable.com, The Huffington Post, Playboy and MSNBC came to Las Vegas to see the latest cycling gear.
Interbike kicked off with two days of testing at the Interbike Outdoor Demo, Sept. 12-13, at Bootleg Canyon outside Las Vegas, where a new "Oasis" area provided seating, food options and complimentary ice cream and beer to riders demoing the latest mounts.
Despite unseasonable thunderstorms during the second morning of the event, reports from the more than 200 exhibiting brands showed a higher frequency of demo bikes being checked out than last year.
"We were especially pleased with the number of repeat testers we saw in and out of the booth," said Brandon Buth, Trek Bicycles' assistant brand manager. "No 'one and done' here. People kept coming back for more."
For the second year the Health+Fitness Business trade show was held in conjunction with Interbike, occupying some of the show's street-level floor space. A full post-show wrap-up of the HFB show will be available soon.
Interbike 2012 will return to Las Vegas with the OutDoor Demo on September 17-18 in Boulder City, Nevada, followed by the Interbike Expo, September 19-21 at the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas. For more information about the show, go to www.interbike.com.
