Eric from Burley was kind enough to send us his recap from the 2010 EuroBike. For those of you who don’t know of, or who have never been to Interbike, the U.S. version of Eurobike, Eurobike is basically a giant convention and trade show made up of everything and everyone who is involved in the bike industry in Europe and around the world. It is a time to check out all the new stuff that companies are producing for the upcoming year. Generally both shows are geared towards people who work in the cycling industry, but Eurobike does have a consumer day were they open the doors to the public.
We here at the Campfire Cycling are gearing up for this year’s Interbike, which runs all of next week in fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada. It should be an interesting one this year. We are hoping to check out a lot of new e-bike products. According to Eric they were a big hit in Eurobike. We are also interested in new cargo and child trailers, new bike touring gear, and some ideas for our forthcoming new shops. Stay tuned as we will try and keep updates coming live from the show. And we will certainly have some good recaps when we return.
Here is what Eric had to say about his visit to the 2010 Eurobike:
Hi Bike Trailer Blog readers, its Eric from Burley again. Im back with a quick update on whats going on here at Burley HQ. Todays blog post even includes a field report from the Alps.
Last week, the Burley team traveled to Friedrichshafen, Germany for Eurobike. It was a great trip. We met lots of European dealers, distributors and consumers who were excited about Burley. Its great to hang out with so many people passionate about safe and fun cycling. Oh, and we won an EUROBIKE award. Turns out its kind of a big deal.
Every year, the Eurobike people hold a juried award to select the very best new cycling products of the year. For 2010, there were almost 600 entries and 70 were selected to receive awards. Of those 70, there were 12 Gold Awards: the crme de la crme as it were. The new Burly Travoy was chosen by a jury of bicycle and design experts as one of these 12, joining amazing new products like a bike built of flax fiber and the coolest e-bikes weve ever seen. Here we are on stage, with the other Gold winners.
My overall impression of Eurobike was of awe. This place was huge: 1100 exhibitors, 41,000 attendees (plus many thousand more on Consumer Day), and more bikes than anyone can count. People came from all over the world to see the latest and greatest bicycles and bicycle ideas. The biggest hit may have been the electric bikes. E-bikes are a fast-growing market in Europe and its no wonder why. I had a chance to ride a few around and they almost made me want to ditch my car entirely.
This particular model from Centurion featured a Bosch motor and progressive shifting. Basically it helps get you to 25 km/hr [15.5 mph], then youre on your own to pedal your way home. Note the Eurobike Gold Award-winning trailer attached to the seatpost. It may sound self-serving, but I really cant think of a better way to carry goods around the city.
A great trip to Eurobike was had by all. We rode bikes, we talked trailers, we ate wienerschnitzel and we drank German beer. But more importantly, we are thrilled and honored to have received the Eurobike Gold. We knew the Travoy was a special product, but it’s great for someone else to recognize that as well.