Less than 2 weeks after interbike the Australian cycling industry had to put together a bike show of their own, what we were looking for specifically were developments and new products in the BMX race scene. But very few were catering for what must be considered an aquired taste amongst cycling enthusiasts these days.
First stop the Norco stand...
Rather than systematically stroll up and down through the isles to see what's on offer, the first place I stopped was the Norco booth. These guys are the leaders in Australian BMX today, their booth is what I use as a benchmark when comparing other companies. The two things I noticed first were Norco's factory riders Luke Madill and Khalen Young, not only have Norco been doing big things with their products, but also with promoting their riders. Everywhere you looked amongst the BMX section of the booth they had posters and videos and signature frames, even the 2003 BMX catalog is full of photos and stats of the Australian team. The 2003 BMX race range is worth a look, an interesting note is that the whole range is called the Luke Madill signature series more specifically LM-17. The new 661 carbon fibre helmet was there too, looks like it's going to be a winner in the helmet market, given the price and cool graphics. There was also a bunch of Marzocchi forks and Tangent gear, which looks the same as last year. Rumour has it that Luke and Khalen might be competing this weekend at Shepparton after all.
Elite Cycle Imports booth...
Elite always seem to have something worth looking at and this year was no different,
they had a bunch of new gear from profile like the 25-9 gear combo, the Hidden
Internal Piston (H.I.P.) stem and the Evolution bottom bracket. They also had
the Atomiclabs lexan pedal...it looks like clear plastic, but apparently quite
strong...no bearings so it's quite light. They also had their extremely competitive
entry level gear that's badged under the old school bmx brand name TufNeck which
includes stuff like cassette hubs, chain tensioners, chain wheels and so on.
And I better not forget the very cool Dirt number plates display, their new
logo has come up very well.
Other Stuff...
The DK booth was a little poor as far as race goes, they did have
Michael Robinson's jersey on display, but unless you knew who he was it wouldn't
mean much to you and the only bikes they had in their race range was one mini
and a cruiser.
The Felt booth was impressive for a new name into the Australian market, I have heard only good things about their products from Dave at www.bmxbits.com.au but after having a closer inspect I was a little disapponted, they looked good but was all entry level...well priced but it would have been nice to see a full on race bike.
The Bicycle Authority booth had a lot of gear nothing particularly BMX race but one thing that caught my eye was this Gyro helmet, well worth a look when considering a new helmet, it's light and well priced with a strong brand name behind it.
GT's booth was spectacular, you could tell these guys were out to impress and make a big splash, GT signs everywhere. But their race range is reduced to about 6 models and no cruisers. Where it has been said that there has been little progress in the product since the company went bust this is probably true, but the bikes are a lot more affordable than they were before. It will be interesting to see how they go up against the likes of Norco who seem to have this market cornered. Will the box series be able to compete with the LM-17 Speed Metal Team with it's Profile cranks, Marzocchi forks and read hayes disk brake. I think this first year will be a steep learning curve for GT, let's see what 2004 will have to offer. Rumour has it that Simon Anderson, Dean Miller and a top National pro will be on the race team when it starts up in the coming months.
Redline was also there with a jam packed booth, I didn't see anything new worth mentioning, but it's always worth a look.
The Steve Cramer Products booth wasn't big, it was a little pokey actually...if you took a look around you'd see the new range of ATi gear including the Warwick Stevenson Warlock grips and even a signed set of the gold ones...they had the commemorative trophy there as well...even a tshirt with a huge 3d print of the warlock on the back. They had a bunch of Troy Lee gear too but I didn't see anything that's worth mentioning, it was all on racks.
Well that's it from me...don't forget the public day on Saturday 18th October.