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Last weekend saw the Scottish Bike Show take place at the new Emirates Arena & Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome for the first time.
The future Commonwealth Games venue saw over 5,400 visitors come through the door – a rise of around 300 from last year and a number show organiser Magdala Media admitted it was hoping to exceed. Nevertheless Magdala’s Rowan Mackie hailed the 60-exhibitor show a success and said there is plenty room for improvement to contribute to an even more successful event for 2014 – likely to run from April 26th to 27th in 2014.
Mackie added that the number of families attending was encouraging and represents the demographic the show is aiming for to build on the enthusiasts who already attend.
He told BikeBiz: "The venue is incredible and undoubtably world-class. The combination of natural light from huge 80 metre wide windows within the halls brought a relaxed and happy atmosphere to the whole weekend so you didn’t feel you were locked in a big dark box as some events can feel.
"The organisation and staff at the Emirates Arena was superb and it was great to see a collection of new exhibitors join the show this year bringing their top guys and product on site.
"The Scottish Bike Show has definitely found its new home and I am genuinely excited to start proceeding for 2014 as soon as possible with the provisional dates of April 26th to 27th 2014 looking most likely.
"I want to send out a massive thank you to all my exhibitors for supporting this years event and hope that all will be able to make the 2014 show where we now have the platform to make the event not only the best show in Scotland, but the whole of the UK. After all, what other bike show has its own velodrome?"
Show highlights included BSD Forever BMX taking centre stage in the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, wowing the crowds with numerous jams across the weekend, while visitors could take to the velodrome for taster sessions each day. The Clan stunt team (where Danny McCaskill started his trial bike career) performed numerous tricks, Lifescycle spinning classes brought a terrific energy and buzz to the show, Mackie said, while the Kiddimoto test track didn’t stop all weekend with mini future Chris Hoys taking to the balance bike fun. Additionally, an outside 1km test track saw numerous retailers providing demo bikes and a brand new presentation area also helped entertain the attendees.
There’s more on the Scottish Bike Show here.
