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There's an hierarchy to the international trade show circuit. In April all the international manufacturers, importers and distributors hie themselves off to Taiwan for the Taipei Show. This isn't one Jo Rider hears much about because it's where deals are done and details discussed for the following year's bikes. At this time of year the bike trade doesn't really want us getting excited about what we're going to be able to buy in eight or ten month's time; they want us to go spend our money now.
In September and October come the major international dealer shows: Eurobike, Milan, Cologne and Interbike. This is usually the first chance dealers and the rest of us get to see everyone's bikes for the following year, though if you're, say, a Trek dealer, you already saw Trek's line for the next year in about June.
After the international shows come the regional shows, and because it's Spring here and the bike buying and riding seasons are already well underway, Australia's is usually the first after Interbike.
Exhibitors at regional expos like the Bicycling Australia Show are an mixture. There are a few international companies like Shimano and Giant, both of whom have local offices rather than just distributors. The vast bulk of the booths are import/distribution companies like mountain bike widget specialist Dirt Works, or Scapin importer Bandit Accessories. They're here mostly to show dealers their stuff for "2002" which in terms of new stuff being in the shops actually started a few weeks ago. Rounding out the big booths is a handful of local manufacturers like rim and wheel maker Velocity and clothing maker Netti (which also happens to be an importer, just to keep things nice and confusing).
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Then there's the little booths: travel companies, organisations, event promoters — the folks that give a local show its flavour. And on the public day, outside in the arena, amazing but scary BMX dirt jumpers; amazingly hoppity trials guys and amazingly fit roller racers.
Since most of this year's big news has been covered in our other show reports, what follows is a selection of what caught my eye for one reason or another.
Book vs Book
For us sad techno-weenies, the two most eagerly awaited publications of the year are the Shimano and Campagnolo catalogues. Both are constantly used during the year to keep track of exactly what options and details are available from the two bike gear makers. Can you get a Record crank in 165mm? What's the largest nine-speed sprocket cluster Shimano makes in Dura Ace quality? The answers ("only for the track", and "12-27") are here, along with lots of shiny pictures of the components for us to leave drool marks on.
Beyond their similarity of basic purpose, though, these two books are very different documents. Shimano's is a great big thick wad of dead tree, necessary to cover the company's vast range of road, mountain bike and comfort bike parts, plus SPD shoes and pedals and plenty of setup information. It's a deeply practical tome and while Shimano doesn't skimp on product photography the emphasis is on conveying as much information as possible to help shop guys and mechanics keep track of the immensity of Shimano's offerings.
Aside from being a) printed on paper and b) A4 size, Campagnolo's catalogue couldn't be more different. Sure, the tech info is there, in a nifty little fold-up booklet glued into the inside back cover, but Campagnolo's story is far more about passion and panache than cold data. The catalogue's printed on high-quality paper with extensive use of glorious artily-lit component images. Where Shimano's accent is on showing you exactly what things look like, Campagnolo also wants to make them look fabulous.
If I were writing a product review (and I'm completely aware of the absurdity of that idea when applied to a couple of hefty marketing documents) Shimano's catalogue would win the points contest for usefulness and depth of information, but Campagnolo's is way ahead in the style wars. No true tech-weenie can afford to be without both of them.
Giant
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High point of Giant's huge booth was the TCR Carbon frame complete with carbon fork, carbon/aluminium stem and Giant's long-standing carbon seatpost. Giant claims that with careful parts selection this can be built into a UCI-defying 13lb (5.9kg) bike.
Diadora
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Here's an interesting idea. Carbon fiber has established itself as the primo material for shoe soles. It's stiff, light and tough. But it's also expensive, so Diadora is aiming to achieve carbon fiber levels of rigidity with these aluminium sole components, while keeping the price sane. The sample pair were by no means feathery-light, but they weren't especially heavy either.
Surly
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Everything the modern single-speeder needs in one tool: a 15mm hub spanner and a bottle opener.
Velocity
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Australian rim manufacturer Velocity was showing off its entry into the paired-spoke wheel wars. The Spartacus wheels use Velocity's own Deep V rims, made right here in Australia; DT spokes; and sealed bearing hubs. Available in 20/24 spoking or 16/20 for whippets.
Planet X
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This small UK-based brand has expanded into road bikes from its traditional territory of mountain bike parts. It's a fiercely competitive market to be jumping into, but you have to give them points for cute graphics.
Briko
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Here's a potentially nifty idea. Briko's helmets use a double shell structure that, if the designers have done their thing right, should effectively suck air from your head as you ride. And even if it doesn't, it's going to get attention.
I-Cycle
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I-Cycle's plastic bikes are proof that bikes continue to attract the attention of designers and outside-the-square thinkers. No, they're not light, but you'll be the center of attention riding one down King Street.
Morati
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This Czech maker of titanium road and mountain bike frames introduced the SC1.2 Ti Pro race with this unusual seatstay design, intended to give the brake as solid as possible a mounting. Morati signed up at the show as bike sponsor for Australian Paralympic bronze medallist Paul O'Neill.
Polar
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The days when a heart rate monitor did nothing but monitor your heart rate are long gone. Polar's latest techno-wonder, the S710 has a 250 hour memory, infra-red data uplink to a PC plus a full suite of cycle computer functions including a cadence option, plus altimeter and temperature sensor. If it supplied any more information, it'd be telling you when to eat, drink and sleep too…
Scapin
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At Scapin, they still believe steel is real, and the Scapin folks have been working with tube makers Columbus to create new, lighter tubesets from the metal that's served cyclists so well for over a century. Scapin features include a special weather-proofing process to protect the extremely thin tubes from the effects of corrosion and oversize seat tubes to restore the rigidity that's lost when steel tubes get very thin.
Trek
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Trek and its subsidiaries Gary Fisher, Klein and LeMond had lots of new bikes, including the LeMond Titanium, and the Lance-issue 5900, but for sheer over-the-topness check out the huge, clamp-it-so-it's-going-nowhere dropouts on the Diesel downhill frame. Solid.
Dirt Works
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Importer Dirt Works (no relation to the US company of the same name) won the show's prize for the best booth with a Western-style theme. Dirt Works offices are out in the West of Sydney, so there's an excuse, but the 'cowboy operation' gags must have got old quickly.
Matt White
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USPS rider Matt White was a guest on Trek's booth. Cyclingnews's Grant Camphuisen jumped in for the 'take my picture with a pro cyclist' honours.
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