BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
The Bike Show will be staged 1st-3rd April.
The 250-acre Stoneleigh Park is owned and operated by the Royal Agricultural Society of England and is home to the annual Royal Show.
The Bike Show will use two of the Park’s exhibition halls and some of the outbuildings. The road system will be used for the Elite Circuit Cup and a very tough permanent 4×4 course will be used for MTB testing.
Consumers will need to book via the Bike Show website for each bike they want to test. It’s unlikely there will be test slots available at the show. Spectating at the 4×4 course will be discouraged.
Bike companies providing test bikes will accompany a small group of riders to the 4×4 course for half hour test rides. There are likely to be about 600 test slots available and these will go quickly once an online registration form is uploaded to the Bike Show’s website at the end of this week. 10-15 riders will be taken to the course at a time, with each bike brand having exclusivity of the track for each half hour session.
In the expo halls, suppliers are split from retailers. Hall 1, 4536sq m, is the ‘manufacturers’ and distributors’ hall. This is closest to the catering and to the entrance foyer. A trials arena will be part of hall 1.
Hall 2, the smaller of the two at 3100sq m, will be the BMX and retail hall, home also to the Red Bull Ramp.
The 4X track, dirt jumping, flatland and streetcourse will be located in outbuildings outside of hall 1.
The MTB testing track is a five minute walk (two minute ride) from the halls. Right now it’s muddy so it’s extra tough to negotiate and even pro riders have to walk up some of the short, steep slopes. Once dried out, the longer-than-you-think and tougher-than-it-looks 4×4 course will prove a challenge to all but experts.
Bike companies providing demo bikes include Scott, Gary Fisher, Merlin, Saracen, Vario and Raleigh. Testers choosing Scott will be led around the 4×4 course by pro riders Oli Beckinsale and Nick Craig.
The Elite Circuit Cup will take place on a 1.2km circuit of the Stoneleigh Park roads. There’s a total purse of £3000.
For those exhibitors wishing to book hotel accomodation, don’t try the on-site hotel. It’s fully booked already (shame, because it really is just a short stroll from the halls, a far cry from the hotel situation at the NEC).
Other hotels are listed below. Stoneleigh Park is set in some glorious Warwickshire countryside and there’s a wealth of ye olde style B&Bs close by.
HOTELS
Chesford Grange Hotel
Kenilworth
Warks
CV8 2LD
Tel: 01926 859 331
180 Rooms, 4 Star, 2 miles from site
Quality Hotel
Chesford Bridge
Kenilworth
CV8 2LN
Tel: 01926 858 331
48 Rooms, 3 Star, 2 miles from site
The Holiday Inn Express
Kenpass Highway
Coventry
CV3 6PB
Tel: 02476 417 555
37 Rooms, 3 miles from site
