DALY CITY, CA (BRAIN)—The fourth annual San Francisco Bicycle Expo, held over the weekend at Daly City’s Cow Palace, brought in more than 6,000 attendees and 125 exhibitors to experience the full range of the Bay Area’s cycling culture.
The past two years the expo had been held as a single-day event, but founder and event director Philipp Segura said attendee demand—with growth of 20 percent per year—as well as the addition of new riding events necessitated a return to the two-day format. Last year’s one-day show drew 4,500.
Segura credited the extra day with luring more exhibitors and cyclists from outside Northern California. New events this year included demos by the SF Bike Polo Team—Segura is planning a polo tournament for next year—and a dedicated fixie freestyle course incorporating dirt and ramps.
Wet weather turned the outdoor fixie course a bit muddy, but Segura said, ““We were still able to complete the competition, and the riders were pretty stoked with what we did.”
Segura noted that he emphasizes action in planning the expo. “We want to see bikes moving. Sometimes when you go to expos, there’s little action. When you have a venue where you can see bikes in action and see the pros ride, it’s what a bike expo should be. It’s one thing to see beautiful bikes, but another to ride them and see them in action,” he said.
To that end, this year’s SF Bike Expo also featured a pump track, ladies' mountain bike jump jam, BMX street competition and a custom, vintage and low rider show in addition to its industry exhibition hall and bicycle art showcase. Even the Pedal Savvy Fashion Show got into the action, featuring the stunts of Norco Bicycles trials pro Ryan Leech amid the showcase of cycling couture.
One of the expo’s biggest draws remains Andrew Taylor’s Showdown, a big-air mountain bike competition hosted by the Marin Bikes gravity rider. A new wrinkle this year was the contest’s dual course, featuring riders competing side by a side on a 25-foot stepdown and massive gap jump. Haro rider Greg Watts took top honors, with YT-Industries’ Andreu Lacondeguy winning best trick for his double backflip.
Segura hopes to hold more amateur competitions next year and is searching out sponsors to help stage more kids’ races as a way to expose young riders to new genres of cycling.
“The expo was designed to cross-pollinate and show cyclists all the different types of riding that are happening,” Segura said. “The bike culture here in the Bay Area is growing exponentially, and the bike expo wants to capture all that in a weekend.”
—Toby Hill
thill@bicycleretailer.com
