After Interbike
I had predicted the death of Interbike last month when it was announced that they would be moving the big show to Reno-Tahoe. Little did I know that I was likely calling it too late. From the moment I walked into the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, it was clear that this year’s show would be the death of Interbike as we know it. That might not be such a bad thing after all.
Forgotten People
The purpose of a trade show is to get all participants of a select industry under one roof and conduct business. In the old days, before products were released on a nearly weekly basis, Bike Shop Owners went to Interbike to see truly new product, and decide what to buy for the coming year. That is no longer the case. Since Trek tried to kill Interbike many years ago, and Specialized and Giant pulled out of the show a few years after that, the trade show’s raison d’etre was no longer valid. The biggest MTB brand at this year’s show was Pivot, and the biggest road brand booth was the prodigal sons of Cervelo. I would bet that the average American has never heard of either one of them.
While it was great to see all our #bikeindustryfriends, what was clear to me from just walking the empty aisles and lonely lobbies was that Independent Bike Dealers (IBDs in industry parlance) were not at the show. Maybe they have had enough? Maybe they couldn’t afford to attend anymore? Most of our team skipped Outdoor Demo this year because last year was already such a big disappointment. I’m sure many old-time attendees felt the same about the main Interbike show as well. For an event that purports to be held for Dealers, it was clear that the very folks they wanted there were the same ones missing.
Lost Wages
The timing of Interbike is intended to be an end-of-season event for most bike retailers. We’re lucky to be in sunny California where bikes sell well through the fall season. Having to close down the shop or go short-staffed for a week to attend a show that’s half or a third of what it used to be isn’t good business. Many of our local shops sent only a few representatives instead of making it an outing for their whole staff. There’s no need to go see new product when The Big Three have their own dealer events and their sales reps bring new stuff to your shop door directly. The cost-benefit of attending Interbike makes less and less financial sense for more and more of the industry, on both sides.
An overzealous staffer from Reno-Tahoe decided to scan our show badges and register us for next year’s show. Since it is only a 4-hour drive for us (about the same as flying to Las Vegas with ground transportation time) we will probably attend. But many dealers and a few manufacturers have already said the new venue isn’t great for them. The hotels are supposed to be cheaper, but I don’t think that matters. We stayed at the Mandalay Bay for about what you’d pay at a roadside motel. Reno isn’t an easy town to fly into, and having the Outdoor Demo over in Tahoe means everyone will need a rental car. Overall costs will likely be higher for most IBDs and Brands not located in California or Nevada.
Sins of the City
I was never a huge fan of Las Vegas, even from the first business trip I took there three years ago. As the lackluster Downtown Project shows, it isn’t really about location so much as it is about community. The Bike Industry should also realize this. Interbike feels like a money-focused, transactional event. Holding it in Las Vegas for two decades surely contributed to that culture. On the other hand, our biggest bike celebration in NorCal is the Sea Otter Classic. While it isn’t cheap to attend, it is open to consumers, very family friendly and feels built around community and riders, not dealers and dollars. I think Sea Otter will overtake Interbike as the “gathering of the tribe” that we all find so valuable. Outdoor Demo has a chance to survive since the riding at Northstar will be orders of magnitude better than the so-called trails at Bootleg Canyon.
But the bike industry isn’t really about riding, as weird as that sounds. It is about the conversations before and after the ride. It is about years-long friendships forged on two-wheels. It is about the bad coffees, expensive dinners and “Only-in-Vegas” outings between the hours that the show is open. It is our shared pain commiserating over the woeful state of the industry and all the strangeness that’s uniquely our own. That’s what we want from a “trade-show” even if we are all just trading wild, weird, wacky and wonderful stories about this crazy industry we love, and this enthralling bike life we live.
Cheers,
Hong
