DENVER, CO (BRAIN)—The 2009 Rocky Mountain Bicycle Show was a resounding success with companies from coast to coast exhibiting their cycling related products.
While the show quadrupled in size on the inside and doubled in attendance since last year, the National Western Complex in Denver proved to be the perfect location for this quickly-growing show.
Attendees were treated to: free beer from Avery Brewing Company, Great Divide Brewing, Oskar Blues Brewery and Twisted Pine Brewery; a comprehensive collection of bicycle art and memorabilia from legendary collector Howie Cohen of Everything Bicycles; and a detailed display of the History of the Racing Bicycle designed by vintage/classic guru Mike Kone.
Kids were kept busy with Bicycle Colorado’s Bike Rodeo and the ArtBike! Kids Corner, and an in-house movie theater gave everyone a place to relax, have lunch and enjoy classic cycling movies.
Ken Wheeler from Renovo said, “ I’ve been to a lot of shows, a lot, and this is by far the best show I’ve been to. I’ve never sold a bike at a show, and I sold a lot here. There was a guy who took a bike out for a spin, and he was gone for one hour. And I thought to myself, well, I never had a bike stolen from a show either. He came back two hours later telling me that he rode to downtown Denver and around town and loved it so much that he wanted to purchase one. It was the most engaging show. It must be the Colorado air.”
Aaron Hayes of Courage said, "Courage has been to the first two shows, and is stoked with the progression of the RMBS. We know that Colorado has a huge number of enthusiastic bicyclists that are wanting to see more from the boutique builders, and the RMBS is a great platform to showcase what we can do."
"This was Momentum's first time attending RMBS, and we'll definitely be back next year," said Mia Kohout, Momentum Magazine's marketing and advertising director. "The enthusiasm amongst show exhibitors was contagious, providing a new and positive arena for custom builders, shops, manufacturers, suppliers and bike enthusiasts alike. With more emphasis on local marketing in 2010, next year's show is bound to grow in exposure, and ultimately success."
"It was a unique opportunity for me to experience first hand what the consumer is interested in; what their questions were, and what they were looking for," said Joni Taylor, national sales manager for Sinclair Imports. "As a distributor of many products this was invaluable. Coupled by an opportunity away from a big show like Interbike or Eurobike, the Rocky Mountain Bike Show was also an opportunity for me to get to see the cool and innovative designs that bike builders and components folks were doing, and to get some real time at seeing what was going on in the industry as opposed to just reading about it."
