On May bank holiday, The Truman Brewery in East London will play host to a new urban bike show – Spin LDN.
We caught up with founder, director (and subsequently sleep deprived) Alex Daw to find out more about the event.
The first thing I had to ask was why?
“I want to celebrate the spirit of independence, I am excited by it”, says Alex grinning over his beer. As I expected Alex is a ball of energy, with a head full of ideas and a phone that rings a lot.
Being a cyclist, but not having a bike industry background Alex hopes he can bring a fresh dimension to the concept of the ‘trade shows’ – “for me it’s all about people having an authentic experience in an unconventional location… I want people to see ‘new’ things”.
Spurred on by the ‘unimaginative’ shows on offer at the moment, Alex has decided that this show “will be a full sensory experience”.
The exhibition space will take on the traditional format in that there will be brands exhibiting products from their own stands (all brands are independent), but in addition to that there will be a pop-up restaurant hosted by critically acclaimed chef Jimmy Garcia. “It’s all in the name of fun” says Alex “but the whole menu will feature around cycling, we will have Tour de France breakfast a Giro d’Italia lunch.. I want the event to feel like a good day out, you can have some good food, go to the pedal powered cinema, listen to some live music and of course it will be an education too”.
A real highlight of the show has to be the ‘Frame Lab’, various bike builders have been invited to do live demonstrations allowing visitors to watch the craftsmen at work “It’s really exciting” Alex tells me, “I mean this a real art, it’s incredible what these guys do, oh and as well as the builders there will be some ex-thieves doing a talk, which sounds weird, but it’s not, they are reformed ex-bike thieves and they are going to explain how the market operates and how best to protect yourself. It will be really interesting to hear from such a different perspective”.
I ask Alex about the brands we can expect to see and more importantly can we buy anything?
“Oh yes, this is no trade show, it’s a consumer show, you can come and buy a new jacket if you like. We even have some never seen before products, cutting edge stuff from Scandinavia, I mean everyone who is coming to exhibit has been invited; I really want to encourage people not to accept the first thing they see, the cycling clothes they buy, the saddle they sit on, there is so much innovation and design out there and I want to bring that together”.
Everyone from Vulpine to Cloud9Cycles and Foffa bikes will be attending so it will be exciting to take a look at the latest innovations from these brands.
I finish my beer with Alex and leave the pub feeling nearly as excited as him about the whole thing.
You can buy tickets for the show online for just £5.00. It’s £10.00 if you pay on the door, which is still more than reasonable. Head over the website for further details on opening times, exhibitors, film listings and I will see you there.
Great idea & great location – best of luck!