CYCLE SHOW London 2008
By BOB
Shot over to London for 5 days. Back in the hometown for the first time in ages. Don't kill me but we flew Ryan Air from Bremen to Stanstead. I know it's not really politically correct to pay more for the bus ride to the airport than the flight, but it worked surprisingly well. They are efficient, on time and somehow must make some money. After a short bus ride with our guilty conscience we arrived in the biggest pulsating trendy capital of the world, probably - and we couldn't get something to eat at 10:30 at night! Now i know why i love european cities like Berlin where everything is open. And the famous "Last Orders" is also still in use, so drink fast!
Anyway we ain't here to complain, we're here to do business, meet people and visit my family. My son Kosta (the photographer who took a lot of the pictures on this website) is living in London and we stayed at his apartment in Shepards Bush. Well, it was actually more of a broom cupboard, where you couldn't swing a cat even if you cut it's claws! And for 90 £ a week.... still the bed was just what we needed. Up early next day and Kosta is banging on the door, he had slept at a friends place and we had to get over to the Cycle Show at Earls Court. Kosta had got us two Oyster Cards, these are used on the bus and tube. You load them with money and just get on a bus and put it over the reader and it deducts a reduced fare. It's an intelligent system, it knows when you have used it three times a day that you have reached the price of a day ticket and doesn't take any more money and you can top it up almost everywhere. A good system.
Cycle Show 2008
Picture: The london show on trade day
Bob: The Cycle Show was in Earls Court which is big enough for some concerts (I saw the Stones and David Bowie there once) but compared to Eurobike and even a "concentrated" IFMA the Cycle Show is still small. It's very friendly and professional and the trade day is free to the bike industry. The show is mainly for consumers though, which is why there are 3 public days. The first thing you notice in the show area is that there are so many cars on show. I have never seen so many cars at a bike show, although the Eurobike had too many as well. Funny that the bike industry is prone to showing alternative transportation at a bike show. but i guess they are the sponsors. Good job Kalashnikov doesn't sponsor anything or we'd have machine guns at every show.
Picture: this guy reminds me of someone - hey, nick whens the new hitch finished?
We saw some old friends: Nick showing his Paper Bicycle, Mark and Rob from Really Useful Bicycles, Peter Eland from Velo Vision, Domink Peitsch from Hebie and the Nutcase guys Dave and Martin. The show was a mixture of bikes (!) and advocacy. A lot of people showing how the bike can solve a lot of transportation problems in London. There were a lot of mountain bikes on the show and an amazing amount of fixed gear nd single speeders. My favourite stand was the Charge booth. The launderette front is amazing. I stole this photo from their website:
Picture: Charge Stand at the Cycle Show - Dirty Laundry
Here are some more links for you:
1. Wanna read more about Fixed and Singlespeed bikes, here's a cool article in the New York Times about the messenger lifestyle in NYC. Watch the slide shows and be enthralled - Here
2. Here are some photos taken by Carlton Reid of Bike Biz that show what biking in London is about: Here
Oh and by the way the Pizza is crap in the Earls Court building, have a beer instead...!
Enough work - let's play
Bob: After the show we went off to Notting Hill Gate and had dinner in the Sushi Restaurant that Kosta works at. Feng Sushi is a corner store that does takeaway and delivery (only on a scooter at the moment, i'm trying to convince them a bike would be better!!) and has a small restaurant upstairs. It's one of 6 Feng Sushis in London, and Kosta has really got into the job. He knows a lot about raw fish and explained everything to us. I enjoyed the meal a lot with Asahi Beer and Saki, Dani wasn't too keen, but it was her first time. Kosta says he is never ill because he eats raw fish every day. The guests were mainly women (12 to 2) which is weird, but if any of you are over in London, go round to Kosta and tell him you want some "Deep Fried Tuna Maki" and "Salmon Sashimi", you'll live forever... Feng Sushi is here >>>>
Picture: message on the delivery scooter
After dinner we caught up with Mark (from Loads Better) and had some beers in a pub around the corner. Having been away from England so long i thought that "Last Orders" was a thing of the past, but no as soon as you get talking and feeling good, that old bell rings.
Where to from here - Bikes in London
Bob: Looking from outside this is the foreigners viewpoint. To quote Timbuk 3 - "The futures so bright i gotta wear shades!". Well maybe not yet, but we are getting there. After a crazy Eurobike and a subdued but very positive IFMA, London showed me another aspect of Bike Culture. The people i saw on bikes could be divided up into two groups, the traditional race bike crowd, singlespeed, fast and furious and the trekkingbike fans with racks and lights and the odd mountain bike inbetween. It seems that bikes and what you do with them are becoming more acceptable as an alternative transport concept. Also i think that the local government are pushing it more than in Germany. People riding bikes in London is something new, in Germany it's not. Maybe we take it more for granted here.
PRICE - What i wrote here about the German dealers after the Eurobike holds true for the UK i think: Dealers tell you price is always a problem and your stuff is too expensive. The consumer is cleverer, he buys gas, he knows food is more expensive and he knows that a good bike has it's price. I hope the dealer wil learn from this and go out and sell our products boldly - remembering "the quality remins when the price is long forgotten!"
UTILITY - You can do so much with a bike. Commute, shop, exercise, socialise, communicate and have a lot of fun in the process. Watch those SUV drivers jealous looks as you pick up your beer crate from the supermarket - they would love to be you! Take up less space, be responsible and be loud about it. Tell people you only use the car when you have to, tell them you feel better for it.
FUN - We love what we do - we like the products we sell and we like the business we are in. It is a lot of fun being in the bike business. In a weak moment i would compare it to love and peace and San Francisco in the late 60's, but of couse we know it's a regular business like every other. All i do want to say though is that i like most of the people in this business, suppliers, customers, competitors, press and whatever are having fun. At the Eurobike i approached Stan Day from SRAM, who i've met on a few occasions, and introduced him to my apprentice Uli. Stan shook his hand, winked at me and said "Does he know we're all crazy in this business?". He does now.
Thanks are due here to Mark and Rob from "Good Things from the Dairy", Kosta for the bed, food and entertainment, my Mum for looking after us as well and Uli for taking care of the office while we were away. Hugs and kisses for Nick from Carry Freedom, Martin and Dave from Nutcase, Peter from VeloVision, Dominik from Hebie and Peter Lumley from Bicycle Trade and Industry.