Eurobike 2019 Friedrichshafen, Germany – Our impressions and Experience
admin September 9, 2019
We experienced this marvellous international cycling machine as a Brand Ambassador helping out behind the scenes and then as BikeChange.guru… Enjoy our tales and photos.
Our voyage started on the the 3rd of September with an early 6 am morning rise and an hour half drive to to the Trento Nord Motorway car park from my house in Brescia, where i was to be picked up by the Crew at Dr.Pad (Premium Italian Chamois Cycling Pads) who were on show at Eurobike. I am fortunate to be one of their Trade Ambassadors, and they requested my presence… How could i refuse the invite? Apart from producing probably the best Chamois pads around, they really are the nicest people (Leonardo, Claudio, Corrado and Serena) i have met so far in the cycling trade – It was a real pleasure working with them. After a six hour car drive we approached Friedrichshafen to inspect their stand and to see that everything was perfect (thanks to ExpoTime, it was)… It’s always fascinating to have a stroll around an international trade show to see the last rush. Thanks to Marco and Luciano at Kru Cycling for putting up with my visit! After the final check and briefing we decided to go to eat some food on the pittoresche island of Lindau. Then an hours drive to Austria where our hotel was for an early night and early 6 am rise.
Day 1 – Opening day
Damm.. my bloody alarm clock did not work.. i had exactly 15 minutes to have a shower, eat breakfast on ground floor and clean my teeth. What a nightmare start! but somehow i managed to whip myself into shape in a flash. We departed at 7.15 am on more than an hour’s car drive. I personally think that if this trade fair is to have further success they must seriously reconsider the traffic and mobility situation which is dismal… to many road works and way to much traffic plus no real flight connections from Italy (surely Ryan Air/Easyjet would do well here). It’s virtually impossible to arrive stress free!
The first day was dedicated to visiting all of the Cycling Clothing Wear brands present and inviting them to visit the Dr.Pad stand for an informal Chat to see and touch the ‘Italian Chamois Pad’s and a drink of authentic Italian Prosecco wine. So most of of my energy was put into Marketing and Public Relations skills. For those who do not realise the importance of being 100% comfortable whilst riding, please visit the Dr.pad website by clicking here ….
At 11 am we were honoured to have been invited to view the world premiere of the Bianchi E-Suv full-sus mtb. The full press release can be found here. I personally loved the concept and extra features and would not mind riding one! Lunch time was always a pleasure thanks to the brilliance of Expotime – the Italian Fair and Events organiser.
Day 2 – Public and Media Relations
Basically a repeat of day 1, but with more presence on the Dr.pad stand acting as a host and Sommelier/Espresso maker. I also had the opportunity to visit the Dexshell stand where an esteemed Uk colleague was assisting. It’s always good to have a chat about the Uk (including bloody Brexit) with Mark Almond who has been running his own Sports Marketing Business for a long while now and has a very cool Bike Shop at the Revolution Bike Park – Wales. Also I had the luck of meeting up with the Deaneasy crew at the fair who i represent also as a Trade and Marketing Consultant. The public seemed to filter our roughly between 5pm and 6pm. So what a fitting end to each evening to visit the various Happy Hours happening in the adjacent stands. In the evening we had a business meal in Friedrichshafen with Dr.pad’s Chinese guests. The mixture of Italian, English and Chinese cultures in a German stube was at the beginning very stale, but when i started to crack my repertoire of english jokes (which nobody understood) the atmosphere became less tense and we all got on like a house on fire. For some reason they nicknamed me the ‘Russian’. God knows why?Day 3 – Bikechange and UkGravelBike.Club day
Yet another early morning start, a good breakfast and we were off. Today marked the day of cooler and wetter weather which to be honest was just what the doctor ordered after 3 months of a continuous heat wave in Northern Italy. Fully kitted out with my own personal merchandise i started off promoting the following projects which i have created and run: BikeChange.guru A unique low cost Marketplace (sell and buy your cycling articles and services) linking the UK,USA and ITALY together UkGravelBike.club Probably the Uk’s most important and active online Gravel Bike Community to date. * I would like to thank the following brands for the special interest they showed and we hope to have you on board in our community in the very near future: Ridley Bikes, Marin Bikes, Wilier triestina, Kona, Restrap, Chiru Bikes.… I noticed a big push towards Urban E-Mobility and Adventure Cycling at Eurobike. Also at last Kids cycling seems to have it’s importance in the cycling world (the mentality seems to be changing for the better). I was also very taken back by the innovative ideas on show in the linking corridors. Ah I forgot to mention I was luck enough to spot Rachel Atherton at the Stan-No-Tubes Stand. Got in a quick snap especially for our followers. At 5pm we packed our bags and departed under the rain towards Italy for a very long car ride to Trento Nord where my reliable Citroen Picasso was waiting for me – ending my memorable Eurobike 2019 experience.
Conclusions
I did not attend Eurobike last year, so when i had heard that the experiment of postponing it to July and cutting out the public was a failure, I was very apprehensive. All in all the experience was very positive. The organisation is always very precise and efficient. There seems to have been much more of an opening towards the new media world of influencers and bloggers with dedicated services. The Demo area seems to be working very well (i did not have the chance to really visit it, but I saw that it was buzzing as ever). However i feel that improvements need to be urgently made in the following areas:- Transport and Urban Mobility outside and around Eurobike
- The Airport needs to expand more to cater for more flights from Europe
- More flexibility from the Internal staff in speaking English
- More international foods to cater for all needs
Eurobike 2020 takes place from Wednesday 2 to Saturday 5 September 2020 on the exhibition grounds in Friedrichshafen. For further information, visit: www.eurobike.com and www.facebook.com/eurobike.tradeshow.
