London Bike Show 2013 - more innovation, more choice

Today Adam (my partner) and I visited the London Bike Show, running from Thursday to Sunday this weekend at the ExCel Centre in East London. Adam had control of the camera most of the time and I'm only just beginning to realise what sorts of photos best support blog posts, so bear with me if these don't illustrate our visit as well as I'd like. I've just pulled the trigger on a new Lumix camera on Amazon so should be in the driver's seat for photos in future posts. Anyway. Our over-riding criteria for photographing products were: (a) is it new? (b) is it different? and of particular interest to me (c) does this significantly broaden the range of what's out there for women who cycle as part of their daily lives?

So here's a quick summary of what we saw:

a Limited Edition Brompton with one funky colour scheme - loved the colour-coordinated mudguards and the matching flap for the S bag (at the front of the display table)

super bright lights from new brand FOUR4TH - especially the rear light with innovative fitting just under your saddle, designed to shine out above any seatpack you might have

 

an unusual - and unusually pretty - chainring. (Ugly crankarms though.)

exaggeratedly strange time trial bike from Cervélo

Trophy bike racks 

new-chimp-on-the-block nutrition/energy bar (I tried a sample of the raisin & walnut bar and really liked it - and it's got only about half the carbs of the main brands - yay!)

an old Singer sewing machine (??!)

latest iteration of the Strida folding bike - prettier but still an agonisingly painful ride

glow-in-the-dark lids for your water bottle (??!) from H2Glow

I had a great time talking to retailers who are truly passionate about cycling and their businesses, such as

     - the new owner of Velorution
 

     - Antonia, the designer and founder of the new range of womens' raincoats that are both fashionable (in a classic, not too trendy sort of way) and suitable for cycling - Water Off A Duck's Back.  [Ooops! That isn't Antonia in the photo!]

 

 

     -  Lynette from the new Velo Vixen shop, offering "a hand-picked selection of the best cycling clothing and accessories for women"

     - also at the show but sadly no photos from me were Georgia In Dublin, another womens clothing brand (mostly aimed at "curing" the wet commute!) launched a year or so ago - several intriguing ideas from them, I especially like their military/Edwardian fusion take on the waterproof jacket - see their Hustle & Bustle jacket on the Velo Vixen website!

     - U.S. cycling brand Primal is launching into Europe. Their range is performance related e.g. lycra, but with some truly lovely -- feminine but not overtly girly -- jersey designs like this Parisienne design that I fell in love with

The Michaux Club Commuter bag that I was wearing (review coming SOON) was commented on several times and it was great to see examples of the Weekender bag on display at both the Velorution and Velo Vixen stalls.

We also spent some time at the Circe Cycles stand chatting with the guys and working out how difficult it would be to convert the brakes on our Circe Helios Duo from V to disc.  Turns out, not very! Just need to find disc wheels in the right size now...

 

Circe had some other interesting things on show, including this bike storage/transport trailer

There was also a recumbent and a Haso Pino-esque tandem/cargo bike in their line-up

 

Circe were sharing their stand with Airnimal, which I've heard nothing but good things about ever since I first got interested in cycling four years ago.  It was interesting to see how totally touring-ready the Joey looks in person.

I also made sure I took in the Surly stand. This was minimalist, with one example of most (if not all) of the models in their range. Unfortunately, they all looked like 2012 models, not 2013. I am a big fan of Surly and their philosophy, having both a Pacer and a Cross Check. However, I definitely got better colours in 2010 (Piano Gloss Black) and 2011 (British Racing Green) than what were on offer in 2012. The Surly catalogue each year is something of a collector's item in and of itself and I eagerly picked up a copy - but again it was for 2012. Surly need to get their act together on this - why exhibit at the annual "show us your latest" show with last year's stuff?

There was some BMX action taking place at the show but we didn't catch much of that as the crowd was 5-6 deep. Adam managed one amusingly blurry action shot -

Road.cc were running a road-back testing area but we couldn't work out to get to it (!)  We'll have to try harder next year, as I really enjoyed test riding loads of bikes in 2009 when I was still struggling (and enjoying the struggle!) to get to grips with the vast degree of choice out there. 

Some overview shots of the show -

And while N+1 may have been mentioned a time or two and I may appear to be studying form, all bets are off. ;)

It was a great day out. We'll go again next year!