R.I.P. INTERBIKE
1982 - 2018
By R. CunninghamVikings were farmers by trade. It was hard work, but it was seasonal - much like running a bicycle retail store. There was little to do in the interim between when their crops were established and harvest time, so they armored up, grabbed their swords, hopped into their long-boats and went night clubbing in Northern Europe and the British Isles. Maybe Interbike founders Steve Ready and Herb Wetenkamp knew these things when they founded a new trade show and moved it from winter - when dealers were either ramping up for Christmas or preparing for spring - to autumn, when they were cash-rich from the summer selling season and absolutely nothing was going out the door except inner-tubes for parsimonious college students.
Maybe they didn't, but their timing was right. After Interbike made the permanent move to Las Vegas, Ready and Wetenkamp had the entire bicycle industry clamoring into their boats, for what would quickly become a hedonistic week, loosely based around buying and selling bicycle stuff. Sure, it was a crappy place for cyclists, but in a few weeks' time most of the Northern Hemisphere was going to be a crappy place for cyclists. Flights were cheap, weather was always good, and everything you could possibly want was within walking distance. It was eat, drink, be merry, and talk about bikes - and you could expense every penny. Interbike crushed its competition and quickly rose to international prominence.
Interbike Co-Founder Steve Ready. BRAIN photo
In its heyday, Interbike was all of the above and then some. I attended almost all of Interbike's shows - as a little guy, displaying a couple of bikes in one of the peanut gallery's ten by ten-foot squares; representing a corporate brand in a central island; and a long stint as a tech editor. The expo was the most important event on the calendar for many years.
Why Interbike Was Important Interbike wasn't all fun and games. Orders were placed, money changed hands, but the main purpose that Interbike served was to become cycling's annual show-and-tell, where retailers, especially the ones who had their heads down and hands busy for nine months each year, could see, touch and learn about all of the coming season's products and trends. Ready got that. He crafted Interbike to be a gathering of bicycle people, where the most important business at hand was networking, developing new or strengthening old relationships, and having an opportunity to immerse your key employees in the larger picture.
Unless you date back to the '80's it may be hard to understand why that was such a big deal. Conceptualize a time before people were interconnected by mobile phones and internet apps. Dealers who wanted to preview a new product could page through a glossy catalog provided by bike brands, hope for a review to appear in a magazine, or if the shops were members of a larger brand's top 50 retailers, they might to be invited to an exclusive pre-show at corporate headquarters.
Consider how dynamic the industry was,
Anything and everything rolled through the aisles.
with mountain bikes, the purple CNC component revolution, freestyle BMX and Triathlon exploding, and you can understand why it was worth a plane ticket and the cost of a hotel to experience it all first hand.
| Trade-only shows hinged upon the old-school assumption that knowledge was passed down from the manufacturing brand, to the retailer, who then used that information as a sales tool to inform the customer. Dealers provided customer feedback to bike makers, completing the loop. |
The same was true for the media. If reporters were lucky, they would occasionally be granted an exclusive preview, but for most, expositions like Interbike were the first and only opportunity to preview and photograph the latest and greatest widgets. Miss Interbike and you might have to wait three months before the production versions were available. Bike and accessory makers typically valued positive show coverage by prominent publications more than sales. Show issues were so popular they often doubled circulation, so it was quite common for marketing managers to leap into the aisles like hunting spiders and physically pull editors into their displays.
The Technology Gap Trade-only shows hinged upon the old-school assumption that knowledge was passed from the manufacturing brand, to the retailer, who then used that information as a sales tool to inform the customer. Dealers provided customer feedback to bike makers, completing the loop. Interbike's aisles were the halls of learning where bike brands and retailers traded most of that information. Rapid technological changes, however, primarily from the mountain bike sector, created an ever-widening information gap which would forever rewrite that equation.
| ...bike brands turned to the media as a way to reach around retailers and take their message directly to end customers. |
Many bike dealers, some of whom had fallen behind from the sport's inception, failed to keep up with the steep learning curve caused by a barrage of new frame standards, alternative materials, suspension development, and drivetrain innovations. Grass roots mountain bikers were the ones pushing for those improvements, so in response, bike brands turned to the media as a way to reach around retailers and take their message directly to end customers. Media launches soon supplanted the trade show as the most effective method for a brand to communicate its technology and identity, which spelled the beginning of the end for Interbike.
Media launches migrated to the summer months when riding conditions were guaranteed to be better, so by the time Interbike came around in September, journalists had to work hard to find interesting products to write about. More often than not, I would be met by a familiar brand manager at the threshold of a corporate display by, "Well you've already seen all of our new stuff, so would you like a beer?" Media launches, even those in exotic locations, also turned out to be more cost effective than trade shows. One by one, the sport's larger players opted out of Interbike altogether, preferring to sequester their retailers in private, where they could bring them up to speed in a similar, learn-and-ride context.
Social Media Metes Out the Crushing Blow Search engines and social media ripped down the veils that once retarded the flow of information between bike brands, retailers and riders. The smart phone made it accessible at any time and from almost any location worldwide. Bike brands could publish their marketing message and technical information unfiltered by the opinions of established media personalities. Retailers could access and compare technical information and pricing from every brand, and almost any other retailer.
The most empowered member in this chain of communication, however, was the end customer, who for the first time, could watch sponsored racer's instagrams for secret prototypes, Google product
images, and compare sizing, prices, specifications, reviews, action videos, and rider's opinions in a few minutes. Consumers could make an informed choice in private, and purchase on line without outside pressure. When everyone in the chain has access, it does away with the drama - which brings us back to the Vikings...
Pillaging Europe every summer probably took a while before it got old. Once you've hacked and burned every village and monastery beyond the far horizon a few times, however, you get to know the locals. Some of the Vikings put down roots there too, so besides the fact that the man whose head you are about to cleave might be your cousin, at some point, everybody in Europe who lived near a body of water was clued in that you'd be visiting in June, so they learned to have their gold and silver ready. Vikings thus became successful traders, but where's the fun in that? "Hey guys let's row our longboats across the North Sea to buy wool kilts from my uncle Thorson?" Good luck with that.
RIP Interbike: 1982 - 2018 Doctors would probably say that the information age ultimately took the life of the longest running trade show in the US. We are interconnected now, we know how each other's kids are doing, who's fat, who's fit and which one of us is making bank. Social media had elevated networking to a global level, and by the time September rolled around, we'd seen about all there was to see that would be on display on the glitzy Island of Interbike. Nevada is a long way to row for a repeat performance. No surprise that many long-time supporters of the show left their boats moored in port. In a way, it was kind that expo owner Emerald
Expositions Events gave Interbike a Viking funeral before nobody was left to mourn its passing.
History, in its darkest hours, always provides a lesson. Interbike was successful because it brought the industry together, but in doing so, it excluded the sport's most important player. While industry bike warriors were busy fighting and reveling in Interbike's carpeted halls, the information age quietly handed the keys to the kingdom to their rightful heirs. Customers have all the power now, and the trade-only show, is dead.
This was what Interbike was before the world changed. A chance for the business to be done. Then the big brands dropped it in favour of having the press/dealer's full attention rather than a few minutes of a hectic day and the whole thing shrivelled.
There is a reason the big brands do dealer camps and press camps. Shops, press, parts manufacturers etc all have to know what is happening in advance of the public.
It's just not worth the cost. I would spend most of my day at Crankworx talking to non cyclists about cycling, or giving directions, or being asked if we had any "free stuff". You do no business at Crakworx, and it was the shits as a marketing plan. You were better off renting a condo and inviting press to view and or demo new products.
Interbike was a show to do business at, but once the big boys left and did their own dealer intro's/brainwashing seminars (more cost effective for them and a focused 3 or 4 days of teaching why brand X is better than any invention of all time), Dealers had less time to spend going to show like interbike. This worked out well for the big boys to keep what was already theirs and expand on it.
Alas, Richard is correct in the direct media and direct to consumer information. We live in a 'just in time" world, see it, want it, get it. The sporting goods trade show in North America is dying, SIA merged with OR this last year, this will be a slower death, but I don't imagine that show will be around in 10 year either.
What happened to make you so entitled? The price of the products has been calculated to be where it needs to be for the company to make a profit. If you demand a discount you are demanding that the people at the company you are apparently passionate about make less money or lose money just so you can spend less of yours. If you think the price is too high don't buy the shit, it is as simple as that. If you want reduced prices buy cheaper parts.
IMO, pulling out of a festival (not a tradeshow) is shortsighted and puts the product and the industry out of the public's eye. Everyone is fighting for people's attention. Stepping away from that is not a good idea.
I'm a professional, never a pissy look on my face at an event or with the public, just telling you the real people we saw at Crankworx. If a sticker, poster or key-chain turned people into mtn bikers, I think it would be a lot more crowded out there on the trails now.
Here's a little devil's advocate for you: When RedBull puts on an event, would they not think that the event was a waste of time based on the amount sold during it? (I know, an oversimplification) The big picture is that they are getting exposure and associating their brand.
If you actually saw the traffic of potential customers (bike people) during Crankworx, you would know how small the market actually is. The exposure is super minimal (except for the major sponsors), there is no TV coverage, there is no print coverage. Pinkbike is there, but they cover the events, not the product expo, Tippie might stop by and say hello, tell a joke and get you 20 seconds on the platform, but that still doesn't make it worth the time or money.
That's my 2 cents on it. Like I say, think what you want, but it will never turn into a trade expo for consumers or retailers, it just doesn't have the draw and isn't at the right time of year either (Sea Otter seems to get the new product play).
and after that 90% of market share will be in the hands of even fewer big players
You doubt it - look at Germany! You all know about their direct sales companies (YT, Canyon, Rose, Radon, Propain..) - but there have been dozens of brands a few years ago. I can not remember 2 friends riding the same bike back in those days - now you have to find an excuse why you didn't buy a damn Jessfy or whatever. And while I don't have exact figures obviously market share has shifted dramatically towards a few. Some of the older ones will abandon their dealers and manage to switch to a direct sales model, or a combined model or actually survive whilst sticking to selling via dealers (Ghost, Cube, Haibike,..).
And some smaller companies that switched to (mostly) direct sales will keep their niche spot (Nicolai, Alutech, Last,..).
That may seem like a lot and obviously Germany is on the winner side when it comes to that market transformation, but still: when I think back to the earlier 2000s, there have probably been 100 MTB Manufacturers - when was the last time you heard from Hot Chili, Principia, Steppenwolf, Stoll, etc
Support pluralism via your niche frame manufacturer
As someone who has bought two bikes through direct sales, I can say that I will never go back. I had issues with both bikes (including a cracked frame), some of which took months to resolve and many emails back and forth with the distributor. I now have bought my latest bike from my lbs, and have had far few issues, but more importantly, know that I will get issues sorted out quicker as I can talk to people face to face, or be offered a temporary solution in the meantime (e.g. being given a demo bike while mine is being fixed under warranty). I have bought all of my gear, excluding one helmet, in the past year from my lbs, and as such I know the workers well. I now receive discount from them for almost everything I buy, and every time I drop my bike off for a service it is given priority to others.
- "you old c*nt! - the cyclist hinted"
- "oh yeah? You may get off your bicycle" - the old c*nt said. "I guarantee you, that you just scored the COM, c*nt of the Month"
- "Huh?! Go whack funghi inside your own c*nt, ya c*nt - said the man on expensive bicycle"
- "Oh thank you! So royal! Farewell C(o)unt of Dorkchester"
- "c*nt!!!"
Your a funny guy.
This comment is vulgar obscene. It's not funny.
They meet you wherever you are and outside business hours. So no more taking time out of your day to take your bike into town for a service and likewise pick it up.
This is merely the status quo today, but look where it's going. The issues commonly raised around warranty service and supply chains will be improved upon and eventually be superior to the bricks and mortar model. It is inevitable as online sales is where the money is and therefore where the investment is.
And that's the key point - follow the money. If you were an investor, would you put your money in a rigid, dying model that's had its day or the up-and coming model which is annually improving returns, providing access to new markets, cutting costs and providing many more opportunities to improve?
The fact is that bricks and mortar bike shops have very little economic reason to exist any more. You can buy great quality bikes at vastly cheaper prices DtoC. You can buy parts, clothing, accessories etc cheaper online - and you can get them fast if you spend a little for express postage, and you get access to vastly more variety and supply. Servicing you can easily do yourself and for anything you can't, you can get a mobile mechanic to do it for you.
Where is the market space for the LBS? The information value you get from talking to someone face to face no longer exists because you can do extensive research yourself online, rather than talking to someone who has a vested interest in selling you whatever they have in the shop. There's no value in you paying for the shop's rent and overheads and I can do it all sitting on my arse at home on my tablet while drinking coffee.
Any ambitious and switched on mechanic is better served starting their own business as a mobile mechanic, rather than selling their labour for peanuts to a shop owner. It's not hard or even expensive to setup. Lease a van, buy some tools and off you go. And it is far more convenient to increasingly time poor customers.3
The market space for the LBS has shrunk massively and is only going to get squeezed further. When people starting making moralised arguments for their business (rather than economic/market ones) you know they're stuffed.
Sums it up really nicely....
Interbike went the way of all slush fund parties, like Big Pharma, the costs outweighed the benefits; years ago, but freebies are hard to kill.
If they want consumers to be informed, maybe we should be invited to the party? If for one would love to have the opportunity to demo bikes, could care less if my LBS has tried them cuz they ain't me.
Mike Levy: Mountain Biker, Mini Driver, Moose F***er
@mikelevy:
It does seem many news reports state Nevada has some of the highest death by drug rates in the US. When I look at CDC's site, yeah the rates look high. But then I look at a place like Vermont that's super chill (as far as I can observe from being there at least), and the rates are even higher! Rates are higher than I would have expected in many areas - and I imagine if I were to look at Vancouver's/Toronto's stats the would probably look higher than I'd have expected also - maybe even similar?
How many times do you walk into a dealer of any kind, not just an LBS, and you know more than the person trying to sell you the product? The only other value a LBS could provide would be stocking the product you want for immediate pickup. If they are not experts or do not have stock why do they deserve higher margins? At this point the majority of LBS must cede the high end market to the internet.
The only thing saving them is the outdated dealer agreement that some bike companies still have that says you must buy a bike from a dealer and not online. If YT/Canyon/etc ever figure out their supply chains to keep bikes in stock and available at all times it will be the death of Specialized/SC/etc. I have taken delivery of a Canyon via an online order and the build was better quality than 99% of the bikes on the floor at most dealers.
BTW if you think I am just cynical, I put myself through college for a degree in economics by working in shops. I truly believe in their value, but there are 1 in 1000 shop owners out there that understand the value they provide. How many of the shop employees out there get weekly education by the shop? For those of you that do take the time to educate yourselves, are you the rule or the exception in your shop? There are good shops out there, but again they are few and far between. Adapt or die...
The next evolution in the business is the conversion of lbs into demo centers. Stock a full range of demo bikes I can try, order online, and get serviced in the shop.
One shop in my area is already like this, they don't have any new bikes in stock to buy at al, but they have a full range of demo bikes you can try. They charge you for the demo, and then give you the money back if you order a bike. Other shops in the area do it for specific brands, like the local Evil dealer has a full demo stock, but you have to order when you decide to buy.
I expect online brands like Commencal and YT will eventually utilize mobile van shops to deliver demos as well.
R.I.P Interbike!
I have only been to a few recent Interbike shows but I watched it decline first from behind the computer then in person over its last years. The problem is that bike industry could never do what SEMA has done, SEMA is the epitome for the automotive industry. If you are maker you go to see how the aftermarket is going to butcher your new car, if you are an aftermarket you go to show off the amazing accessories you have for all the new cars, if you are a consumer you go to see what you want to buy for your project or maybe just to see what crazy kit car you want to buy next.
The biggest thing that SEMA does is foster respect, Interbike never did. At first Interbike was a bunch of snotty industry insiders and sales guys who were just there to talk money. Then they let the consumers in but you didn't get free range. At SEMA if you don't want consumers to see something you don't bring it to the show, Interbike you could bring it and just leave it packed most of the time.
Crankworx, Sea Otter, and the World Cups provide a much more SEMA like feel (trust me I've been). Consumers can wander and check out the next race bike they might buy or try to get a look through the hap-hazardly stuck on decals into what someone might be testing. There's still selling going on, if you don't believe me go tell someone at Crankworx you work the conversation will change.
We as cyclists put the final nail in Interbike's coffin, historically too elitist and stuck up to just let everyone come out and play. Now we do and Interbike goes away.
Interbike may come back but for now, I think the industry is better without it.
But the sales were great. One year I opened up a distributor in South America and his initial order from the show was 1/2 of my yearly sales.
Rip Interbike.
On the other hand, the concentration of hilarious/confusing "randoms" will be sorely missed
The thing people are missing is that Interbike, Eurobike and Taipei are not for customers. They are for manufacturers to show their new stuff to dealers and the press but that dynamic is dying with the dealer days and press camps being supported by social campaigns to tell customer directly about new products.
For a company like Specialized or similar I wouldn't be surprised if the total cost of doing Interbike the way they used to do it was half a million dollars. Imagine how many dealers you can show a good time at a dedicated weekend for that kind of money. A weekend where they not only find out more about your new bikes than they ever would at the show but they also think you are great and want to get invited back next year so they do their best to sell your product.
Maybe, maybe not...
This is a pretty broad reaching statement, Bike week and the Taipei show are trade only and represent an industry need.
A more accurate statement (IMO) would be to say that "this trade show as we know it, time has passed".
Steve Ready and Herb Wetenkamp) were an insightful people who made something great happen.
Frankly, what they created was also community, something that anyone who has attended the show over an extended period of time will understand. It was good for a lot of peoples business, for a long time.
The thing is, times change and for something new to emerge, this show has to end.
Aristotle is quoted as saying, "Nature abhors a vacuum", Interbike closing it's doors makes room for a new Ready and Wetencamp of this era to come forward and forge something new that makes sense for where we are now.
I always lost weight because it was so gross looking at the slovenly masses cramming it in at the buffets (and there wasn't much time to go off-strip to get a better meal)-ick!
In the right location, I think an event that combined a few days of industry-only time and then opened the doors to consumers for a couple of days (like Eurobike) might work in N.A., even today.
After a few years it just became defense spending so that people knew you were in business. What we needed was actual riders coming by, not dealers and Interbike was strict. MTBR really changed the game as now average Joe could see into the booths and going to the show became a waste of time. Why not just eliminate the middle man?
Had some great times though. Got to see old friends and compare notes. Hit the titty bars.....all the trappings of Vegas that seem so pointless at my advanced age now.
It was also a big deal to rub elbows with the “famous” racers. I remember having some brews at The Doll Hut and seeing Ned Overend and John Tomac there doing the same. It was like they were real people! Time marches on, eh?
@rrolly: RedBull doesn't just makes sugary drinks in a can ya know. It is primarily a Media House...With that additional info/knowledge, many people suddenly understand why they put on the big events - It's what they primarily do. The drink is very much a sideline to maintain the publics familiarity, so "the great unwashed" bobble along to them and buy their $20/£20/E20 ticket. That's good business to cover the fundamental costs of the event.
Then you take the exhibitors that pay TENS OF THOUSANDS of dollar/pounds/euros to have a stand in some dark corner... and you've got a hundred exhibitors. Crunch the numbers - 100x10k=1Million dollar event. And they do loads of them.... And then the big companies come back to the Media House to pay for dedicated media programs. That's where they make their money and it all ties in. They understand how it's all inter-linked and that's why they're as big as they are...
But remember the Rule of 10 for festivals/shows - 10 Great Unwashed vs. 1 True Enthusiast.
So no, for the smaller bike brands or even the medium sized ones, Crankworx/GardaBikeFest/NASS etc does NOT make any economic sense at all!
And to whoever it was that was suggesting that Brands gave out a big discount at an event like Crankworx, dude, you have no idea how volumetric some bike components can be to store (frames/forks/wheels...even tyres!), at an event where you're often half a mile away from your rental truck where you're storing your stock - Its hyper inconvenient and laborious to be carting boxes back and forth all weekend. And how do you expect those brands to cover the cost of the event by discounting their product, that they're trying to sell? Discount a product = no/little profit. It's not worth the additional work.
I've been a consumer. I've been Staff on a stand at a medium and huge brand. And I now run my own company. ITS. NOT. WORTH. IT. And that's why brands don't toss out massive discounts and also why many don't exhibit at all. Sorry, but that's just the way it is.
Who needs power windows or Fuel Injection? Why do we need color TV or more than 3 channels? Beta is the best video format, why did it go away? My Chuck Taylors are as good for basketball now as they were back in 1965...etc. etc.
In the 90's and early 2000's MTB advanced rapidly because it was new and the bikes were not up to par. And 2/3 of the suspension and frame design was shit. I lived and rode thru it. But somehow folks see it as the 'glory days'. Most all bikes are light years ahead compared to just a few years ago. Suspension and geometry design has settled to a few solid approaches. Incremental gains are the norm. A handful are marketing BS. However, overall, the minor improvements are actual improvements like them or not. Nothing prevents you from riding you 26" bike till it the paint falls off. Maxxis has brand new tires /tubes in 26". Fox and RS make brand new 2019 model forks in 26" . You can find 135, 142 hubs loads of places now and I see 26" rims on numerous sites very often.
Sedona & Moab are both driving distance.
Mammoth is a few hrs away in the summer.
Brian Head Utah is a couple hours away
Plus, Bootleg Canyon is basically outside Vegas.
Enduro has become a marketing cliché, but as a discipline, it's spawned the biggest leap in meaningful bike tech since Specialized started selling affordable(ish) Japanese-made mountain bikes in the early 1980's.