London bike show worse than ever

mallorcajeff

I have just got home from the london bike show and wanted to just say that was the very worst yet, its got worse and worse year on year and i gave up going the last year two years, as each time i go after two hours you walk out and say never again. Well this year will absolutely for sure be my last my god they have the front to call it a bike show? Its beyond poor hardly any bikes at all its embarrasing snd the look on peoples faces walking out told all those going in needed to know. That was just embarrasing. £15 to walk round and look at basically stands of energy gels and drinks. There were very few bikes actually on show, nothing to buy again as per usual but im astounded that there were not people demanding w refund. Paid £15 to park in the car oark which is for up to 24hrs. I checked my ticket and we parked and walked into excel did the “show” and walked back to the car it was parked for 1hr 32mins. What a complete waste of money and time. If your thinking of going seriously dont bother. No cube, no canyon, no specialized, no bianchi, no wilier no nothing when i think of it? Pinarello and rose were there that was it. Rest of the small stalls and thats all they are flogging gels and drinks.

I tried a sample from one if the bigger brands and it was nice. He said to me the show offer they had on was a limited offer and selling out fast. Well i couldnt be assed to carry boxes of gels and barsa round and glad i didnt as i just looked them up on wiggle and so much for their show stopping offer its cheaper at wiggle and they get carried to my door with the postman.

Words fail me and how that can be sold as a show. There are two shows in mallorca per year start and end if the season, both full of stuff, things to buy, far more relevant stuff to what we want, and both are in fact completely free. Free parking too.

Definately never wasting a precious day off again and especially one when the weather was that good too :roll: :roll: :roll:

mrfpb

Thanks for confirming my gut feeling that it would be a waste of money and time. Reread your post next year when you're tempted to go again.

Ben6899

Never buy tickets for this! There's always someone in Press or similar who can slide a couple of freebies.

Sorry to hear it was terrible.

mallorcajeff

It was truly awful they should be ashamed to call that a show. Waste of a day off was the biggest disappointment

Ben6899

mallorcajeff wrote:

It was truly awful they should be ashamed to call that a show. Waste of a day off was the biggest disappointment

You'd just paid for 24hrs parking. You could've got a TfL day ticket and gone for a mooch 'round the Big Smoke.

imposter2.0

http://thelondonbikeshow.co.uk/exhibitors - good for getting a heads up on who's there and who isn't..

mallorcajeff

I read the list of exibitors and saw many names missing prior to going but its still even more suprising when you actually see what is there. Talking to some poor chap who hired a stand and he said the small space he took cost him £4000 and then that did not include, electric, wifi, or even parking. He knew buy friday afternoon it was a mistake and that seems to probably be the thinking of all the other missing names.

(Definately dont need a mooch round london worked there for a long time wnd only being hone wt the weekends i like to spend time there)

chrisaonabike

Only bike shows I've been to were at the ExCel Centre in 2013 and '14 when I went to collect the RL100 entry packs.

Thought they were pretty rubbish even then. As the OP says, highlights were basically energy bars.

Some of which were quite tasty, and I did discover Erdinger alc-free lager there, which I still drink occasionally when I want something fizzy but not sweet, and which tastes enough like actual beer to fool myself for a short while.

Still, why I'd want to go to a bike show for any of that.....

Matthewfalle

But big Bobble Hats had a stand.

Didn't that make the trip worthwhile?

crescent

Similar story with the Scottish version which is on this week in Glasgow. I went along three years ago and left after about half an hour having been round the entire exhibition twice. Tried again last year on the assumption that it must be better this time... it wasn’t. I just received a complimentary ticket for this weekend and I will still not be going. Pinarello had a big display last year and some lovely bikes on show but seemed to be very expensive, more so than normal, not that I was buying but you would think they might have had some promotional deals or offers on during the exhibition. I am happy to spend ages looking at bike related stuff but even I found it a waste of time.

gary1960

The best thing about it was the cheese stall, and discovering that a proud manufacturer who advertises made in Britain should really be saying assembed in Britain. It was crap really. Apart from that great day.

Thigh_burn

I wonder why it's so bad. Why aren't shops, manufacturers of bikes/clothing etc interested in doing these shows properly?

I would have thought that bikes and shows should go together - lots of competition, bikes are fairly sizeable items so need some space, you can show stuff off etc etc. So why is it that the organisers can't sort this one out.

surrey_commuter

Thigh_burn wrote:

I wonder why it's so bad. Why aren't shops, manufacturers of bikes/clothing etc interested in doing these shows properly?

I would have thought that bikes and shows should go together - lots of competition, bikes are fairly sizeable items so need some space, you can show stuff off etc etc. So why is it that the organisers can't sort this one out.

shows are the ultimate virtuous (or vicious) circle. If you have the right quality and quantity of visitors then you will have exhibitors queuing up to get involved, which means that you get more visitors etc

so the answer to your question is that not enough cheque writers are attending

mrfpb

I've been to two shows I enjoyed - The Gadget Show and the London Coffee festival. the gadget show I went to with my kids when the TV show was probably at it's most popular, so lot of exhibitor saw it as a chance to associate with the big name. the arena show with all the presenters was the highlight of the day.

The Coffee festival just had lots of opportunity to eat and drink - I was having to only take on non caffeinated drinks at the end as I was so high. Lots of free samples to take home and lots of special offers.

My experience of the Excel centre before RLS100 was that it was jut a shed with no atmosphere. Obviously it's up to organisers to create that, but nothing about the place was attractive. NEC can be like that but the Gadget Show organisers really used the place well.

bristolpete

The industry has devalued itself with multiple shows, ice, core, london, nec, eurobike the big one and so on, along with the other companies Moore Large, Paligap, Saddleback all hosting their own shows. Of course, Specialized etal all now have their own ways of doing things and avoiding the historically big shows now. As you say, save your money.

buckmulligan

I enjoy a good expo but I don't really understand paying £15 or whatever it is to go somewhere to have people sell stuff to you. If the organisers have to rinse both the exhibitors and customers then it doesn't generate a great atmosphere.

Just had a look at the run-down on CyclingNews and it looks pretty weak tbh:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/highlig ... bike-show/

Ben6899

I'm still surprised people actually buy tickets. There are complementary entries to be had by the hat full! The organiser makes enough money from the event, don't put even more money in their pocket!

kinioo

mallorcajeff wrote:

I have just got home from the london bike show and wanted to just say that was the very worst yet, its got worse and worse year on year and i gave up going the last year two years, as each time i go after two hours you walk out and say never again. Well this year will absolutely for sure be my last my god they have the front to call it a bike show? Its beyond poor hardly any bikes at all its embarrasing snd the look on peoples faces walking out told all those going in needed to know. That was just embarrasing. £15 to walk round and look at basically stands of energy gels and drinks. There were very few bikes actually on show, nothing to buy again as per usual but im astounded that there were not people demanding w refund. Paid £15 to park in the car oark which is for up to 24hrs. I checked my ticket and we parked and walked into excel did the “show” and walked back to the car it was parked for 1hr 32mins. What a complete waste of money and time. If your thinking of going seriously dont bother. No cube, no canyon, no specialized, no bianchi, no wilier no nothing when i think of it? Pinarello and rose were there that was it. Rest of the small stalls and thats all they are flogging gels and drinks.

I tried a sample from one if the bigger brands and it was nice. He said to me the show offer they had on was a limited offer and selling out fast. Well i couldnt be assed to carry boxes of gels and barsa round and glad i didnt as i just looked them up on wiggle and so much for their show stopping offer its cheaper at wiggle and they get carried to my door with the postman.

Words fail me and how that can be sold as a show. There are two shows in mallorca per year start and end if the season, both full of stuff, things to buy, far more relevant stuff to what we want, and both are in fact completely free. Free parking too.

definitely never wasting a precious day off again and especially one when the weather was that good too :roll: :roll: :roll:

Well, I went there once - two years ago -and only because there was a motorbike show the same day, so I gave this one a go - said never again!!

I found something I was interested in buying (I cant remember knee pads or something), but the bloke told me they are not for sale at the 'show' (display only); he handed me nice glossy catalog ...WHAT ?

C.

Thigh_burn

London Bike Show has been sold by Telegraph Media. This could be an interesting development and might explain why it sounds like it was such rubbish this year - the organisers were giving up. Having said that, it seems they've sold it to the guy who has been running sales for it for the last few years.

cycleclinic

They are too expensive. If I attended I would not stand a chance of making it back. You cannot sell anywhere near enough kit to make up for the cost. In addition it meant to be a show not a shop. That's the whole problem folk go there looking to buy stuff or for freebies. That's not the point. It's meant to attract potential customers who will visit specific stands because they want to see something specific, ask questions etc. and down the line they buy something hopefully. It meant to be about establishing relationships. Sadly those people are in a minority. If you are going solely to browse and maybe buy something on the day you are wasting your time. I won't be attending the cycle show or similar shows again. It costs too much although by booking late I cut the cost a bit and as 90% or more of visitors seem to be there for browse, one stopped to ask if I had a seat post for sale... These people will feel like the op and us retailers don't go for browsers so there lies the problem. The show fails to deliver for retailers because it does not attract the right kind of visitors and the visitors are just browsers so there you go. You can browse on the Web. Its not that there are too many shows. The only ones I am I interested now are those that are mostly trade only. I am not sure how shows need to change but what they can't be is a shop, the space required would cost to much and a stuffed stall looks a mess.

cougie

Do they have a show before ride London ? I know the marathon does and that's free and you can buy loads of kit and get good deals. Not sure why bike shows don't sell more b? Ok space for bikes and wheels would be more but for everything else? Crazy.

cycleclinic

As I said its a show not a shop. The space is too expensive to be able to take stock down. You simply won't end up in profit. People who buy from a show want a deal and that means less profit so you end up at a loss. If your a distributor and you are selling at shows at discount prices the retailers that buy from you will get hacked off and that destroys the brand and business.

Shows are shows not shops. The visitor base wants something from shows that cannot be currently be delivered. There only purpose is brand awareness when it comes to the consumer shows.

Reading this thread there is a fundamental misunderstanding and mismatch between what distributors/manufacturers/exhibitors want and what visitors want. There is the problem.

If I turn up and I am flogging the brands I import to visitors and a shop owner is passing then selling to them is much harder. last year at the cycle show I took a about £300 in sales, that's sales not profit. I can't bring the whole shop with me as the space required would cost £10,000's. The total cost was around £3000 for a 3x4m stall including all costs of the trip. Bluntly I think it was a waste of money. I think there are more effective ways of communication with end user.

cycleclinic

Also if you want great deals get better one sitting at home on the Web. You go to a show with all the additional expense the exhibitor has you can't be getting a great deal.

One if the big problems with the bike trade is the simple fact there are way to many players and they are all falling over themselves desperate for a sale for getting about profit. This may seem great for you the visitor but it puts of those interested in making money. See what I mean about the interests of exhibitors and visitors being mismatched. What some here want is essential a huge bike jumble/market. That attracts a different kind of retailers/exhibitor and brands are unlikely to turn up so there brand gets devalued with heavy discounting.

mrfpb

Maybe ten years of watching the Apprentice with its "Who can sell the most at the Wedding/Boat/Bike/Outdoor show" tasks has led us to believe we can buy stuff at these shows. Maybe attending other shows where I can buy stuff led me to believe I could buy stuff at the Cycle Show.

I don't expect to be able to go in and walk away from a show with a bike, but I wouldn't at a shop either. I would expect to be able to try out and order new products and buy small items. I also expect something entertaining, exclusive or novel for my entrance fee.

mrfpb

cougie wrote:

Do they have a show before ride London ? I know the marathon does and that's free and you can buy loads of kit and get good deals. Not sure why bike shows don't sell more b? Ok space for bikes and wheels would be more but for everything else? Crazy.

Yes. The main stand was Wiggle when I went, though Evans do the kit now. Lots of accessory stands and lots of nutrition. Vittoria tyres were there and had some bargains. I saw a range of Genesis bikes that looked nice and a range of Garmins, but I wasn't in the market for them. There was meant to be a show program but nothing was happening when I was there. At least it was free, and getting a Wiggle carrier bag was at least a novelty.