2010 London Cycle Show
Dave and I visited the Cycle Show at London’s Earls Court on Friday, as we do every year. And every year, a theme emerges during the course of the day.
In the past we’ve had some major interest in mountain bikes, a year of the ’29ers are coming’ thing, a year when everyone seemed to be offering pedal-less toddler bikes and now, this year a big interest in the commuter/hipster/fixie thing.
Everywhere we went were examples of cheap basic frames dressed up in commuter chic colour coordination. In amongst it there was also a smattering of e-Bikes for those less able or willing to pedal. Some of the nicest bikes for me were the £620 Swobo Sanchez fixie/singlespeed which looked a stylish blast to ride as well as having a name which reminded me of the Venezualen leader Hugo Chavez. For better or worse. On the mountain bike side, the Sunn Tzar ticked all the boxes.
The Tzar is a 4130 double butted cromo frame that comes equiped with practically everything you’d want on a modern hardtail – 150mm travel geometry, ISCG tabs to run a chain device or Hammerschmidt setup and replaceable dropouts with let you swap in some horizontal ones for singlespeeding. Quite a tempting looking bike, especially since it has an effective top tube length of 586mm for it’s smaller frame and a 68° head angle! That’s longer than my Inbred classic.
There was also plenty of bike fashion around, something I don’t think you can have too much of. D2B had a rather natty plaid waterproof that I’m quite keen on, while Quoc Pham were showing a tan leather SPD brogue. Plain Lazy had a number of witty bike related tops (I liked ‘Tyred and Tested’ and ‘Man Flu Is Real’). What was nice was to meet Charmaine from Endura and discuss with her some of the technicalities of our next set of ride shirts as there seems many more custom options for next year.
There were, as always oddities. The guy from Gelrilla Grip who objected to his product’s photo being taken at a public show made no sense to me whatever and left me wondering how on earth he plans to market the thing. The Notos saddle which seems to be the answer to a question no-one has asked. And, of course the inimitable Bicygnals LED cycle helmet that apears to put visibility above any real technical ability at head protection.
Ultimately though the 2010 Cycle Show was a disappointment. There was no Trek, no Scott, no Cube, no Lapierre, no Giant, no Genesis, no Madison which meant a big lack of bikes to look at which really is what it’s all about. Ok, so Hotlines had their own bike giveaway going on in Brick Lane which accounts for some of those brands but I knew nothing about that until I read of the Lucky Pierre thefts on Friday morning. I wouldn’t have traipsed to the East End to see them either.
So all in all a day out which continues Dave and I’s Cycle Show tradition but really, not much of a show. I ended up feeling cycling was a bit, well, niche really and we can’t have that can we?
Photoset of the 2010 London Cycle Show are on Flickr.
About the author
Matt is one of the founding Molefathers of the Muddymoles, and is the designer and main administrator of the website.
Having ridden a 2007 Orange Five for many years then a 2016 YT Industries Jeffsy 29er, he now rocks a Bird Aether 9 and a Pace RC-627.
An early On-One Inbred still lurks in the back of the stable as a reminder of how things have moved on. You can even find him on road bikes - currently a 2019 Cannondale Topstone 105 SE, a much-used 2011 Specialized Secteur and very niche belt drive Trek District 1.
If you've ever wondered how we got into mountain biking and how the MuddyMoles started, well wonder no more.
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Dave says:
It was a much more relaxed afair this year and some of the best time was just spent speaking to people.
I spied a D2D t-shirt on a guy looking at Whyte’s and spend a few minutes exchanging stories of “muddy hell” while Matt spoke to Adam.
We spent some useful time speaking to Charmaine on the Endura stand and then got the gospel from Richard at “All Biked Up”
Lots of really “cool” handlebars though! ;oP
Oh, and we also spent a fair amount of time taking the “pith” out of some “commuter” helmets.
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Posted on October 12, 2010 at 10:12 pm
tony says:
Well it looks like your trip to the Cycle Show 2011 will be a longer day out. It’s moving to Birmingham due to “demand”. Guy from Pearson cycles will have to go north of Watford. He’s probably feeling faint about the thought already 🙂
The Gelrilla is another great “nobody needed” product. Have they never heard of sticking their gels into their short legs or as powder into a waterbottle. Obviously for trialthletes that can’t multitask on a bike. As for not being allowed to take a picture …..?????
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Posted on October 12, 2010 at 10:34 pm
LordOnOne says:
I went there not expecting to see much but was pleasantly surprised. Several of the 29ers I’m most interested in were there…including my next bike. Sure, there was less on display than previous years but it was still worth the trip.
It’ll be interesting to see if next year’s Cycle Show will be big enough to make the longer trip worthwhile.
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Posted on October 13, 2010 at 12:27 am
Dave says:
Given that they can’t fill Earls Court it’s either that the NEC is cheaper or they just feel it’s more centrally located to increase visitor nnumbers.
Problem is that the heyday of these shows was well before the Information Superhighway put it’s put down. Anything of real note is out there to be found in everything but real tactile contact.
It’s a shame as I don’t fancy the extra travelling so will probably not go (granted this is how people north of Birmingham probably feel now).
Maybe instead the Moles could have a ride over to Pearsons and fondle the Fixies? 😉
@LordonOne, Can’t say I was moved by what I saw 29er wise other than the Spider 229. If something was lurking on one of the Retailer’s stands (Moose Cycles etc.) then I probably went passed it. Schwalbe are releasing NobbyNic in two sizes, tubeless ready, which is a great move.
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Posted on October 13, 2010 at 7:07 am
LordOnOne says:
I missed the Spider 229 but excluding that there was at least 10 bikes and 2 forks (a significant increase over last year). Check my Flickr for pics of most of them.
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Posted on October 13, 2010 at 4:02 pm
StevenD says:
I have just noticed the Timothy Everest Kracking Kipper here http://www.flickr.com/photos/muddymoles/5064780362/
What is the world coming to, dressing up your bike like little old ladies do to their small dogs ?
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Posted on October 14, 2010 at 10:36 am
Dave says:
I thought the Kipper had nice bars though.
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Posted on October 14, 2010 at 11:32 am
Damo says:
Was there much there in terms of bike cleaning products?
I’m looking at formulating one and if I manage to make something decent will look at getting a stand at the London show early next year.
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Posted on October 17, 2010 at 5:43 pm