The London Bike Show 2015

After the almost-overwhelming experience of trying to take in the NEC Cycle Show in Birmingham last September, this year's London Bike Show seemed... well... almost provincial by comparison. It is certainly much smaller than the NEC show. The hall in which it is held is huge, but as you explore the Bike Show you find that, all too soon, you come up against the neighbouring shows (the Triathlon and the Outdoor Adventure & Travel shows, with the International Dive Show running Saturday and Sunday) 

The Bike Show itself takes up perhaps only a quarter of the total exhibition space. 

That said, the smaller size makes it easy to find specific stalls very quickly. I did not set out determined to see 'absolutely everything' and, unlike the past few years, I had already decided not to try and write a blog post giving comprehensive coverage. I had earmarked a couple of specific product launches I wanted to look at, and a few people I wanted to search out and say hello to. I did that and then took my knees home before they began grumbling too loudly! (This consideration was especially important as it was my first day back on the road bike this year and I had six miles to cycle home last night.)

So without further ado - 

As always, I visited my friends at Enigma (recently re-launched as Enigma Bicycle Works) and drooled over their two new models. 

The Evade is somewhere between the Etape and the Evoke:  lighter and faster than the Etape, without "fully loaded tourer" being part of the specification, but better suited to long days in the saddle than the racier Evoke. It is, as ever with Enigma bicycles, a "looker" and very appealing as a candidate for "fast day ride" or "Sunday best" bike. 

The other addition to the Enigma family is the Ecroix, a disc-specific road bike. The initial impression is that it's a cyclocross bike (with top tube routing for the brake cables, etc) but on closer inspection, all sorts of activities requiring a light, fast bike capable of handling mixed-terrain come to mind. I don't know if Enigma were looking across the Atlantic when they designed this model but it certainly looks set to take on the "gravel racer" market.  

Adam was really taken with the flagship Evoke model as well. He hadn't seen one 'in the flesh' before. 

During 2014, Enigma launched its Frame Building Academy, led by master framebuilder Geoff Roberts. On display at the Enigma stand is a stunning bicycle built by one student, Luc Koska, as a 35th wedding anniversary present for his wife, Anna. Now that's what I call romantic!

Still talking about Enigma and in particular its new Evade model -- the Telegraph stand is offering a prize draw for this bicycle!  The Evade model on the Enigma stand was striking with its painted frame and yellow colour pop. The Evade model on the Telegraph stand was much more subdued, to appeal to a wider range of tastes. The winner will get a custom-fitted/sized frame and a full build up to the value of £5,500 -- an impressively generous offering from Enigma.

At past shows, I have focussed my limited time on seeing as many exhibitors as possible, with only very sporadic (and largely accidental) attention paid to the interviews taking place each afternoon in the "Performance Arena". This year, however, on perusing the show guide, I spotted the names of two women I admire a great deal, so I made sure I attended their interviews. Both were interviewed by cycling journalist, Becca Charlton,

The first was Rochelle Gilmore, owner and manager of the Wiggle Honda women's pro team. Now I am not "into" pro racing but I have loosely followed Wiggle Honda's phenomenal success over the three years since Rochelle founded it. It was interesting to hear Rochelle describe how she got to the point during her own racing career where she wanted to start her own team, to create something, while still racing competitively herself. Her dual role gave her insights into how best to look after professional athletes, in ways that Director Sportifs don't always appreciate unless of course they used to race themselves (but even then, male former pros turned DS don't always anticipate what female athletes will really appreciate from their support team). Rochelle's success has led to her being involved at very high levels in consultations and planning to take women's pro racing closer to parity with mens. When asked what the most important and immediate issue was (I think with some expectation that she would focus on salary equality), Rochelle highlighted the need for more media exposure, as this will help bring sponsors on board and that's what needed to leverage salary negotiations. As it is, she says for decades women cyclists have been conducting themselves and their careers in a very professional way but without professional structure and support from their teams, who historically have been in it for love, not money, running their teams with passion but little business sense or skills. Rochelle is running Wiggle Honda as a professional enterprise and that's what she feels is essential across the industry to take the sport to the next level.

Later in the afternoon, Becca interviewed Jo McRae, a personal trainer who specialises in cyclist conditioning. Jo's presentation was a very practical talk about the benefits cyclists can derive from off-the-bike exercises.   

Jo highlighted the dramatic differences in the needs of men and women in dealing with injuries and issues having a negative impact on their cycling (men = tightness; women = instability/weakness, as broad generalisations) and illustrated her points with hands-on demonstrations, cheerfully assisted by Nicki (apologies if she spells it otherwise), one of the cyclists she works with.  

Hamstrings - this is approximately the degree of leg extension needed on the bike.
If you can do this while keeping your spine in 'neutral', then hamstring stretching is probably not needed,
at least not as a key target. Most men suffer with tight hamstrings, which causes the pelvis to tilt and the back
to round, leading to low back pain.

(Nicki could straighten her leg all the way to 90 degrees without any movement in her back. )

Back on the show floor, items that caught my eye were -

- an electric mountainbike from German brand Rotwild

- Henty's Wingman backpack, a system for carrying business/formal attire while commuting (whether cycling, running) with a handy roll-shaped bag in the middle for all your other kit such as shoes and toiletries. Henty is based in Australia but has been in the UK market a couple of years now, with its clever system available in two configurations:  backpack or messenger bag. 

- the "PediBal", a starter balance bike > scooter > pedal bicycle that "grows" with your child as he/she learns to ride.

- Custom/team kit maker Scimitar had decided to use its stand to feature only items for children including a colourful array of childrens' cycling jerseys.  

- Likewise, Hoy Cycles devoted one high-visibility end of its stand to its range of children's bicycles. There was something for every age and size here, and of course designs to appeal to both boys and girls without undue stereotyping. No powder blue or baby pink here!

- Plainlazy.com are I think new to the London Bike Show. Adam quite liked the "My other jersey is yellow" t-shirts and cycling jerseys. 

- And of course on the back of all the recent hype throughout the industry about tubeless tyres, Tannus had a large and colourful display. I'm still "emperor's new clothes" sceptical about this. I pinched a few of these tyres and found them so rock hard I can't imagine the road feel being very comfortable.

All in all, Adam and I enjoyed a comfortably full day and believe we saw most, if not all, the stands. I managed the limitations of my knees much better than I have previously, alternating between walking, standing and sitting at frequent intervals. 

The London Bike Show continues today through the weekend, with tickets available at the ExCel Centre entrance or in advance from the website (where you'll need to specify which day you're attending). Whether discounts are still available via the usual sources (London Cycling Campaign, CTC, Sustrans, etc) may also be worth checking out, although to be honest the discounts are small and in some ways hardly worth the extra effort to seek them out!