I spent much of yesterday at the London Bike Show. Here’s a little mini guide for the things to see and some tips from my experience.
Quick background: London Bike Show is a place to checkout a load of bike goodies at the Excel Centre (Near the city airport). It’s smaller than the cycle show and is on until Sunday. Opening times are on the site and tickets are still on sale.
What to see
A man bicycle hopping over a very tall pole. Relentless and Skoda have sponsored some arenas where you can watch cool bike tricks being performed. Times are on the website. There’s also a smaller Bike Stage where a load of useful shows will be on. I’ve copied and pasted the Saturday timetable below.
Saturday
10:30am Bike cleaning and lubrication explained. Top tips from the professionals – Cytech Demo presented by ATG Training
11.30am Gears. Simple guide to setting up and adjusting your gears – Cytech Demo presented by ATG Training
12.00pm Raleigh Team Presentation
1.00pm Rapha Condor Sharp V Raleigh – Skoda Cycle Trivia Pursuit
1:30pm Prepare your bike for commuting. Preventative maintenance made easy – Cytech Demo presented by ATG Training
2:30pm Rob Penn – It’s All About The Bike – The Pursuit of Happiness on Two Wheels
3:30pm Making the difference - First Aid demonstration with St John Ambulance
4.00pm Puncture repair. Top tips for trouble free punture repair – Cytech Demo presented by ATG Training
5.00pm Make your bike work for you. Simple guide to sizing and set up – Cytech Demo presented by ATG Training
6.00pm Be prepared. What tools and spares should you carry and what do you do with them? Cytech Demo presented by ATG Training
There will be a bicycle auction by Going Going Bike with some very cool bikes on offer. I’ve copied Saturday’s bikes off the website. While you are there make sure you talk to the guys about selling any old bikes you have lying around.
Saturday at 2pm
- Europe Postie bike
- Asia Postie bike
- Green International Racer (two lots)
- Life Oak
- Red Peugeot Racer
- Kid’s Raleigh Racer
- Hermes
- Japan
- Blue Raleigh
Checkout the Cyclodelic stand for well designed female cycling gear. While you are there make sure you speak to Anthony on the left about the excellent bike parking designs for anyone who’s office/school is failing to provide good cycle facilities.
A favourite activity of mine is to ogle at bikes and try to spot the most expensive one. At which point lifting the shoulders up and sighing loudly. Then laughing to yourself knowingly that your bike cost far less.
If you have still not cracked the warm feet and hands problem then BreezeBlockers may have the solution. Also while at the stand make sure you give the product a try in their make-shift wind tunnel. Hint: it’s very noisy!
Spend some dollar! It’s rare to see such a big range of cycling gear in one place so it’s impossible something won’t catch your eye. You may leave even leave there with a boat… see below..
The Outdoor show is on right next to the bike show as you walk in. Also the boat show is on further in the Excel centre. Your ticket covers both so feel free to roam!
Tips
- Take cash! There’s one cash point inside and I imagine on busy days it’s pretty crazy. For some reason the retailers in there prefer cash. There’s bound to be something that catches your eye – for me it was this random bottle plus a backpack.
- Plenty of good food stalls around
- Sunday is likely to be more quiet than the peak day which is Saturday. Friday should be quiet
- If you’ve got any bike problems then you can speak to the CyTech mechanics who can offer advice.
How to get to the London Bike Show by bike
You can follow Cycle Superhighway 3 most of the way.
View london-bike-show in a larger map
- You can probably carry your folding bike around with you if you wish
- There is plenty of bike parking outside and police that are doing marking sessions (if your bike is still not marked then 100% make sure you do this!)
Ask away any further questions below and I’ll try to answer..
I went yesterday (trade) and was rather disappointed – it wassmall and it felt almost as an add-on to the boat show and outdoor section.
I did manage to get hold of two more manufacturers with some great products and will hopefully have these added to our assortment soon- watch this space!
There’s definitely no comparison to the cycle show but there’s still some good things to see. I would definitely recommend a visit if you are in need of some new cycling gear.
Yeah, went yesterday too! Cheaper after 4.00pm and three to four hours was plenty to chat and see everything. Retailers like cash because their pdq machines and mobile communications don’t work well under the metal roof….shame they lost some serious sales yesterday. In the current climate I would be seriously disappointed to be losing customers who have chosen and committed to buy just because of the lack of technology in what is a modern exhibition centre. Organisers take note!
I agree that the boat and outdoor show are the major presences and if you have an interest here then the show would be good value. Did I note variable entrance fees for access to the boat and cycle show? Once inside you are free to roam all areas so go for the cheapest option!
As the Earls Court show is moving to the NEC this year, if you don’t want to drag yourself up to the wilds of Brum, then get along here, although the volume of exhibitors at Excel will be less, they probably have more time to talk.
£18 to get in? What planet are they on?
You can find various discounted tickets around. Just search for Bike Show discount.
Hi sorry I missed you yesterday Andreas we could have had a coffee. I agree, thought it small though that is the direct comparison with the Cycle Show. I saw nothing new that I hadn’t seen at the Cycle Show. Once more a proliferation of electric bicycles. What is that all about? Why ride a bike if you are going to get a battery to push you around? They are still exceptionally ugly. Fell in love once more with Cooper bikes I desperately want one but no space indoors. I actually enjoyed the admission to the outdoor show and the boat show that my £12 ticket bought me. I was looking at a smart £78,000 speedboat and a new Range Rover to pull it, but settled for an I Bike London T shirt and a Mozzarella Panini.
That made me chuckle. Well done!
No worries Tim – thought it was definitely worth sending you a text to see if around!
I know the feeling about the Cooper bikes 😉
Hey All, Just left the Bike Show and as Andreas and others have said it was not that big and appeared mote of an add on but nonetheless it was excellent. Have to say I got a great deal on a Garmin Edge 500 at the triuk stand so was well chuffed. Torq there with some great deals for gels etc so all in all it was great just dont expect it to be a full day unless you like outdoors walking and boats!! Another thing on the outdoors side – there are loads of tour operators who do walking as well as cycling so worth having a browse anyway.
Congrats on the new Garmin 😉 And yep there was an abundance of operators trying to sell cycling holidays. Think I entered to win something because I was trying to get rid of them!
If any of you cycle over at the weekend and want to extend your day. Just across the river from Excel, you can cross on the Woolwich Ferry or under the pedestrian subway from the bottom of the Isle of Dogs to Greenwich, there is the Thames Barrier, the start or finish of the Thames path and the delights of the o2 Dome and Greenwich. On the Excel side you have the Inland waterways that take you back up the Victoria Park and the Olympic Stadium at Stratford. All outlined in Andreas’ great guide to cycle routes. Worth a look if you don’t get to the East End much.
Tim – good tip. That area is pretty nice for cycling as long as you stay on the Thames Path
Just got back from the ExCel. Nowhere near the cycle show and I too felt that it was a bit of an add on.
That said, the show as a whole is very good if you’re into outdoor things and it’s always nce to dream whle looking at the boats……or the Cervelo R5ca Ltd edition, coming in at a cool £16k.
I’m also getting the Brompton bug but fear if I turn up at home with yet another bike, they’ll be trouble.
The Bromptons were very well presented and the chap that talked me and Nicole through one sold it well. Think Nicole will be doing a weeks test ride on one to post back her thoughts..
Hi Andreas
Really sorry to have missed you yesterday, but I didn’t have access to my emails for the couple of days I was up in the smoke, and only got your number when I got back to sunny Cornwall!
Agree with you – a very small show, but not overcrowded, which gave me plenty of time to chat to the manufacturers and retailers who were there. Also, plenty of bargains to be had, and some of the retailers weren’t afraid to do deals, as there wasn’t a great crowd of people listening to you knock their prices down. Got some great bargains for me and my wife, who’s just started cycling.
Really enjoyed myself, (and gave myself a real case of sports-envy when I walked round the boat show!) – many thanks for the tickets, and will catch up with you another time.
Cheers
Mike
No problem at all – glad it was enjoyed 🙂
Actually If you are registered with Act Smart (even bronse membership – which is free) you could get free tickets! They send me an email yesterday around midday – That is how I got them.
So I should not really complain as I had free entry. But hey ..I am Dutch! 😉
Did anyone know about this promotion from Act Smart?
Visited On Friday 14th & to re iterate some of the other responses….I agree it did feel like an add-on…Also a little disappointing was the lack of stands specifically in The Bike Show that were actually retailing anything on the day compared with those in the Boat & Outdoors Shows….
Went to ExCeL on Saturday (15th). Was very disappointed. My friend and I were looking for accessories, in particular he was looking for a new helmet. We found the Kask stand who were selling one range at £135. We stood their and googled the model number and we could get it for £102 from a number of bike shops. People on stand unwilling to do a deal!
By the time I got home I was stuffed but buzzing from the free samples of energy bars and drinks.
Glad we only paid £11 for a ticket, next year it needs more stands, and some good deals…
Shocked at their unwillingness to do a deal – maybe simply a case of they were not authorised to do it – hopefully next years show should be majorly bigger considering the lack of cycle show.
Hi, I agree with Phil, it was disappointing. I won’t say anything more…