Cycle Show 2011 Preview + Ticket Offer

This coming Friday and all weekend the Cycle Show is on at the NEC. It's a show that for the last nine years we've enjoyed in London but the new venue opens up a LOT more space and is far more central for the general population.

You'd think we would be all showed-out what with endless halls at the recent Eurobike show and we do get to see some amazing stuff at what is now widely regarded as THE top international show. Nevertheless, while we get to see plenty of showstopping product, a lot of things at Eurobike like the truly ghastly String Bike will never make it to these shores and that's not necessarily a bad thing, either.

What we love about the Cycle Show is that everything you see really is on sale in the UK so it's worth looking at and Halls 8, 9 and 10 of the NEC are all well within a day's range even if you're seduced by the kilometre-long outdoor mountain bike track.

Leaving aside the big road names like Cannondale, Shimano, Specialized and Trek represented by their respective dealerships there is a ton of companies such as Peugeot, Pinarello, Polaris, Primal Wear, Principia, Profile and Purple Harry to ogle and that's just the 'P's before you get your wallet out in Cycle Store for some Autumn/Winter clothing bargains.

If you're thinking of going, there's a special ticket offer price for road.cc users of just £11.50 per ticket - that's £4 off the standard ticket price. See further down for details.

Quite a buzz if the previous nine editions of the Cycle Show are anything to go on.

Cycle Show Highlights

• Show opened by new Junior World Champion Lucy Garner 9.30am Friday
   
• Well over 200 exhibitors from Assos to Campagnolo, from Shutt VR to ZipVit
   
• Team Sky's Geraint Thomas, Ed Clancy & Ben Swift will be there as well as Rapha Condor Sharp
   
• Dare2b 1km Mountain Bike Demo Track
   
• Road Bike 600m Demo Track
   
• Indoor Triathlon: distances include Row 1k, Ride 3k and Run 1k
   
• Kiddimoto Under 6s Kids Test Track
   
• 6-12 year olds Test Track
   
• Cycle Store: twice as big as last year
   
• Castelli Cafe: relax after a busy day testing bikes on the outdoor tracks

The 1km off-road demo circuit looks amazing and there's a 600m road demo run, too.
 

This is what some of the road.cc writers are looking forward to at the Cycle Show:

Dave Atkinson

"I'll be dropping in on Paulus Quiros to see their bikes and you should too: they produce some of the classiest looking custom steel frames out there at the moment. I'll also be pointing Full Beam's X12 Bike Lights directly at my eyes to see what 4,500 lumens looks like, and catching up with the Dragon Ride crew to get some more details on the killer course for 2012. Plus there's a host of UK brands to get round, from clothing to componentry. Should be a busy day…"

Nick Rearden

"I briefly met Georgia in Dublin at Eurobike but didn't get much of a chance for a good look at her take on women's rainwear and I know Water Off a Duck's Back will be there, too, on a similar theme. I always look forward to the Thorn stand for clever audax and touring fixes and I'm particularly keen on hearing their thoughts on the new Gilles Berthoud shifter for Rohloff gears and dropped 'bars, seeing as they sell tons of Rohloff-equipped bikes."

Tony Farrelly

"The Kinesis Crosslight Pro6 that Jo Burt's already seen will be on the Kinesis stand all weekend before Jo finally gets hold of it for his first race of the 'cross season and Kinesis tell me that their Gran Fondo Ti we've just finished testing - watch out for that - will be on the test track to try. There will be loads of other bikes to try, though, and every year there's something that we've never ridden before.

Ticket Offer

There's a special ticket offer price for road.cc users of just £11.50 per ticket - that's £4 off the standard ticket price. You can buy tickets by clicking below or calling 0844 848 0132 and entering the discount code ‘RCC’. The offer price does not include a £1 booking fee but you only pay the booking fee once for as many tickets as you order at once, so it pays to consolidate.

The Cycle Show NEC Birmingham B40 1NT
Friday 30th September - Sunday 2nd October 2011
Details: www.cycleshow.co.uk