[BikePortland managing editor Elly Blue is back from Interbike, but she’s still going through mountains of notes and photos. Below is a report about some of the smaller fry she came across on the show floor — quirky inventions and scrappy startups. See the rest of our Interbike coverage here.]

The “SEE ME” light-up belt.
(Photos © Elly Blue)

At Interbike, big bike companies rule the day with huge booths in the center of the giant convention floor. As you approach the outskirts, the companies become smaller and funkier — until finally, on the outer edges and tucked into odd corners, the lone, independent creative souls have set up small booths with their life savings on display in the form of the big idea they’re working to bring into fruition.

These small set-ups were some of my favorite booths. [Read more…]

[BikePortland managing editor Elly Blue is back from Interbike, but she’s still going through mountains of notes and photos. Below is a report of city/cargo/utility bikes she came across on the show floor. See the rest of our Interbike coverage here.]

Raleigh’s new commuter bike.
(Photos © Elly Blue)

For an Interbike rookie, the main floor of the show is quite overwhelming. But after the safe confines of the Advocacy Zone, I decided to delve out into the mayhem in search of the latest city bike offerings.

I was pleasantly surprised to find a fairly widespread interest in commute and utility biking. In fact, the very first booth I saw was Topeak’s, and the first thing I saw in the booth was a bike geared up for touring next to an ultra light tent, backed by a display of racks and baskets. [Read more…]

Outlier’s classy new wool caps
(Photos © Elly Blue)

At Interbike, a lot of the best stuff never makes it to the main floor. One of the highlights of the week for me was heading up to an 11th floor hotel suite for a trunk show with a few small, independent companies.

There I met Matt and Muriel of Swrve, a small, hip cycling apparel company; there were also a handful of enticing retro-inspired t-shirts from two young companies. But I was there mainly to check out Outlier, a year-old New York company run by two men who make high end, tailored clothing that’s engineered for urban riding.

Abe Burmeister walked me through their clothing line. He and co-founder Tyler Clemens met when they were both regulars at two different locations of a New York coffeeshop, and both happened to talk to the same barista about their grand schemes of creating beautiful, tailored clothes which they could wear to
ride in all weather to professional meetings. She introduced them and Outlier was born.[Read more…]

A cyclocross race, Las Vegas, and Interbike make for quite a combination.
(Photos: Caroline Paquette for BikePortland.org)

BikePortland’s reporter on the scene at Interbike, Elly Blue, couldn’t make it out to Cross Vegas — billed as the “Biggest Cyclocross Race in America” and held on the first night of the Interbike trade show — but we still managed to get some coverage of the spectacle.[Read more…]

A sampling of some of the most colorful things I saw on the show floor. Check out the rest of our Interbike photos here.

Beautiful fixies (Photos © Elly Blue)

[Read more…]

Stylish clothes demand stylish bikes. This woman’s new Raleigh rig complemented her outfit nicely.
(Photos © Elly Blue)

For the second year in a row, Momentum Magazine produced their Urban Legend Fashion Show at Interbike. [Read more…]

The Advocacy Zone, a welcome sight
for this Interbike newbie.
(Photos © Elly Blue)

It’s my second day at Interbike (see Day 1 report here) and the main event is open — a giant exhibition hall packed with many hundreds of booths and the many thousands of bike industry insiders who have come to gawk, shop, and mingle.

But before I got into the main floor, I stopped into The Advocacy Zone. About two dozen organizations have set up shop here and they range from national advocacy groups like the League of American Bicyclists to a California based org that takes disadvantaged kids on mountain bike tours. [Read more…]

Yes folks, this is the scene just
steps from the entrance to America’s
premiere bicycle trade show.
(Photos © Elly Blue)

I just finished my first day at North America’s biggest bicycle trade show. Interbike has something like a thousand exhibitors and 20,000 attendees from all over the world. Below are photos and thoughts from my first day on the ground at the Outdoor Demo.

But before I get to that… What’s with having America’s premier bike industry event in Las Vegas? It’s a terrible place to ride a bike.

I realized this immediately upon exiting the airport on my trusty Brompton (yes, you warned me — but I had no idea it was like this). I’ll spare you the gorey details, but suffice it to say, these photos of my ride to the Sands Convention Center only start to do it justice.[Read more…]

A crowd only a true bike geek could love.
(Photos: Interbike)

As I write this, our intrepid managing editor Elly Blue is en route to Las Vegas for one of the world’s largest bike industry gatherings — the Interbike trade show.

I have fond memories of working and walking the Interbike show floor, having gone several times as an employee of Chris King Precision Components, Old Man Mountain products, and later as an independent PR guy with clients in the bike business.
[Read more…]