Last year's Bike Expo, from the cyclist's point of view, was a delicate flop. Most of the friends I spoke to claimed that it was a waste of time that could be spent on the first, moderately warm moments of the year. The piston was large, proportional to the profession which was experienced on the spot. One very important question has arisen: is such a trade fair / exhibition a place for cycling enthusiasts? Is it not aimed more at the average cyclist who, before removing his equipment from the balcony, or before buying a new bike in the range of PLN 1500 - 3000, would like to touch and test a little? Only where he could get there .... A report from last year's event will find here, on the site mtb-xc.pl. This year, my skeptical and critical eye decided to visit there in person.

I admit. For 10 days before the visit to the fair, we practiced quick and alternating questions with Panda:
- What is it for whom?
- Who needs it?
- Where do you get the money for it?
We were ready as never ...

Bike Expo marketing

I do not know. I do not like to admit it, but I had no idea what to expect from this event. On the one hand, it looks like an inflated balloon again, and on the other, Maja Włoszczowska, Jolanda Neff, Michał Kwiatkowski, Czesław Lang, Lech Piasecki, Tomasz Marczyński and several other, more or less known people were to appear. Well, for us it may be a limited attraction, because most of them can be easily found during the season, but everyone is hard at the same time.

To the 5 pages with the list of exhibitors (maybe a large font and one company for one row, the title page and one almost empty, but anyway). Unless we look a little more closely. Then it comes out that many of them are simply on one distributor's stand and, for example, box 27/28 are: Wertykal, Wilier, Polomar, Selle SMP, Deda, Elementi (separately), Fulcrum, ISM Seat, Lake , Argon 18, Briko and Campagnolo :)

In addition, some exhibition connected with the Tour de Pologne and the thing that I enjoy the most - National Independence Race, or loops around the stadium. 5 laps of 300 meters and each scored. From the description it sounds perfect - promises to be a slaughterhouse larger than the first this season, Babka Rondo, which falls just on the second day of Bike Expo. I am starting my vacation in a week, so I am a bit afraid of health and bike, but I can not miss the chance to take funny pictures. Because that incredible things will happen there, it is certain.

Bike Expo itself has popped up on Facebook as a sponsored entry from a million times in the last month. So there were, among others:

And you probably think now - but the guy got stuck. They did not invite him, so he avenges. Well, maybe they did not invite me, but they did not invite any cycling or sports bloggers. OK, here I'm lying, they invited one - triathlonowego - because we know that a triathlon is also a cycling :-) Ehhh, I think some stronger, subconscious frustration is speaking through me. Although I admit - this is one of the few blogs I actually read. At least those from the category: you are all winners and you can do everything if you work long enough.

Let's go to the event itself, calmly and objectively. As much as possible.

We have a fair in Kielce in the autumn (with a slightly similar name Kielce Bike Expo), which are actually large and decent, but first of all: they are in September, and then the bikes are no longer interested in people, and secondly: it is a B2B event (that is business-business). This means that unless you say at the booth that you represent a large and invented company, nobody will be interested in you. You will be like this client on Merida for PLN 1,300, which arrives at Veloart. Will Bike Expo be a party for us, people riding bicycles?

It's enough of this hate

A visit to the National Stadium is a shock. The view of the car park collapsed with the horizon slightly puzzles me, because it announces the crowds. And in fact, the sea of ​​people is already overwhelming at the start. It turns out, fortunately, that this is due to an unfortunate accident (I do not think so), because during the weekend at the stadium there is also a carnival food festival. I'm sorry, I do not know what it's called - it's about those hotplates with cooking oil. If this is the case, we will also place the half-marathon event office, which takes place on Sunday, the atmosphere resembles that before the matches: crowd, crowd and crowd. But it's probably good, maybe some people will come to Bike Expo who did not plan to come there at all.

And here I must admit: when it comes to attendance at Bike Expo - this is a success. Really. There were a lot of people, especially when Majka's session with Jolanda began, but the corridors were full of visitors from the morning to the closing. Respect.

Why did they come there?

This question comes to us all the time. Well, maybe not exactly that, because we were there too. We were more puzzled: for whom Bike Expo was organized. Apart from the organizers, of course. Because that

it was seen quite quickly. There were no novelties that could interest people who are deeper in the subject. There were no products that we would not see every day. There were no companies that we would not know and solutions that we would not hear about. Fact, there were some very expensive bikes, but you could count them on the fingers of one hand. More interesting equipment is on any Masters race, or even on Babel's Sunday roundabout. The event was also:

The idea is great. Let's collect all bicycle stores in one place. Maybe they will compete with each other, maybe they will make super weekend promotions, maybe you will be able to directly confront products that do not normally stand side by side on the shelf. Panda is a girl, so as a girl she probably planned to subconsciously buy something nice - a hat maybe something or something. I am a boy and I wanted shoes, because mys Lace-up Giro I sincerely hate (for honesty I will add that Panda loves them). Well, I think: cool, there will be several stores, there will be several companies, different models, something to try on and maybe buy. Ass. Some shoes have turned up, but there is not a size (because who would bring the entire range to the fair), or even you can not buy them. I realize that:

I confess without beating, I am the buyer who decided to take care of the home budget instead of local business and orders online. Unless I'm in the shop and I like something, and the seller will advise something - then I buy in the store and overpay, but I know what (for advice). A trip to Warsaw in any sensible store is to cut out a large chunk of the day. I prefer to order 3 pairs on the internet and 2 free to send back. So what do the stores say they'll show me the things they sell?

For PLN 25 I am in a place where there are shops where you can not buy anything! Okay, let's be honest - no one would pay for these tickets (although the crowd at the checkout was continuous). Each of the companies had to give away enough to know someone who knew someone. And even if you did not know anyone, there were a thousand and one profiles on the Internet, which in exchange for selling your dignity (share our post and like the site) offered free entry. Maybe it attracted people? If I go with a free admission, I will save for 3 kebabs ...

Because I do not know who came to this fair. It's amazing - I know at least half of the runners and their families better or worse at any road race. Here - virtually no one. I spent about 6 hours on the spot - I met (not counting the exhibitors, but most of them are familiar) about 5 familiar faces.

Or is it a good sign? Maybe people instead of watching equipment preferred to use a nice, sunny and incredibly smoggy day to spend it outside, instead of looking at the equipment?

Maybe it was an event for:

Admission to the stadium's board was free. There was a race there (which I missed because I was too late for it - about 3 hours before the end according to the rules) and tests.

This is cool - a lot of bikes, some obstacles, you can go around in circles. The place enjoyed unflagging interest - also from our side. It's like sitting on a path at the Vistula during the weekend peak hours and waiting for the misfortune ... which never comes. Paths are dangerous and deadly from the cyclist's point of view, but people move around without problems. It was similar on the album, which was indecently slippery, the bikes too big or too small, the pants hung too low, and everyone's favorite occupation was to turn back with a screech of tires. I do not know if these are potential buyers, but it does not matter. The cycling sow was sown.

To be fair, I must add that there was also a Tour de Pologne museum, but I admit, I probably missed my visit. I mean, there was something out there, but my excitement was similar to when I saw the museums in elementary school. Panda's expression probably confirms this.

It was bad, I liked it.

This is a grandstand on which all my friends are sitting, who think that it is worth paying PLN 25 for entering Bike Expo:

According to me:

It sounds stupid, but it is. I liked it there. Despite the light claustrophobia, crowds and hardware depression - I liked it. The problem is that I liked it exactly the same, if there was not an assortment there. From my point of view, it was an event to meet with sellers from other places, with a bikefitter we did not know for a long time, with editors of magazines we read. You can calmly exchange some opinions, find out things, suggest something, or just catch the contact with people you know only manual. In the cycling dawn there is such a funny custom (or what to call it) that many people know each other, but have never seen them. We read our opinions, we go together (because, after all, Strava), we see ourselves somewhere in the towns of the competition, but we have never given ourselves a hand - here you can fix it.

It is a pity that there were so few stores. The whole can go in about 10-20 minutes, including the time needed for stops at more interesting things. It is a pity, because imagine that, for example, Bikestacji stand. You can approach him and tell innocent workers what they think about their store and about ordering things that are not in stock. Such a nice place to lynch the stores that have fallen - a beautiful vision.

The fair was probably not the best place to advertise regions ;-)

Although I do not know why they should be there. To show what is available in stores and encourage you to come? It's probably not these times anymore. There are many simple things that I can bring benefits to both parties. Simple things that you can look at elsewhere. I was some time ago at the Amazon conference in San Francisco (I invite you to entry about California) and Salesforce (I invite you to entry with the warmest place on Earth) - the fact that it's a bit more B2B, but imagine something like that. Entering the hall everyone gets an QR code on the ID, where the name, surname and email address are encoded. At each of the stands, the seller can scan your ID in exchange for a painless (lasting about 2 seconds) to enter you on the list of your newsletter. In return, you get a company pen, a bullshit, or you take part in the prize draw in this shop during the fair. You get a gratis, the company has a well-profiled guest in its database. Win-win. There are many such examples. Such an event must serve something. At the moment, when someone from the exhibitors asks me if it is worth coming to Bike Expo, I answer that it is not. It is better to spend the budget on making your own field tests.

I had a vision.

The entry about the fair was supposed to look completely different. At the beginning I had to complain a little, then go to Bike Expo, talk about equipment with sellers and describe each position. Look, what to offer, compare, take photos and so on. Hope was broken after a few minutes. Imagine that you enter a bicycle shop in late autumn and someone tells you something interesting about it. To make it harder, you can not buy anything, and the product has already made space on the shelves for skis.

On the list of things worth mentioning is probably just a ride on Brompton bums from iVelo. Folders we know and love, but this is a different class of bike. It's like a carbon road on Di2 with average trekking. Unfortunately, the price also looks more like a carbon road (in fact, it evenens).

There were also some interviews, autographs, sessions, etc. Michał Kwiatkowski was supposed to be from 14, but when we arrived at 2:15 pm, it was only Mr. Czesław Lang, who was just talking about the problems with clamping budgets. He was also Mr. Igor Tracz, that is, the world champion in dog sleds and bikejoring. This is the brightest moment of this trade fair. If a meeting with Mr. Igor took place in any of Warsaw's cafes, we would probably go through them. The subject is completely unknown but interesting. It is a pity that the lecturer kept the level of the majority of the lecturers and his questions were mostly longer than answers. I am referring to the famous asking questions that immediately contain an answer and a brief information about your life.

Bike Expo - worth / not worth it?

Can I recommend you a visit to the fair (in quotes, because according to Wikipedia the fair is: traditionally a kind of exhibition, display of goods (...) combined with sales)? No. In terms of technology and equipment, absolutely not. A visit to any large bicycle store is much more interesting. For a big one, I mean, for example, the Zweirad-Center Stadler, about which we wrote about the occasion road trip to Berlin - supposedly the largest bicycle center in Germany. The situation is completely different when it comes to social contacts, but is it worth paying for it?

One of the best moments at the fair. Panda manages to steal two fudges from the Warta stand without signing any paper:

Maybe I'm just not the target of this event. Maybe it is someone else - so-called casuale and ordinary cyclists. But why should they be there? They will not see anything new, they will not buy anything nice ...