There were 230 industry guests at last night's Singletrack/Cycle 2003 awards dinner - 50 of them with Fishers - and they were treated to a slick and professional awards presentation, hosted by Phil Liggett and Keith Bontrager. Winners included KMX Karts, Santa Cruz bikes and, for the second year running, micro-IBD Sideways Cycles.

Liggett and Bontrager hand out gongs at sell-out awards bash

That Tim Johnson of Sideways walked away with best bike shop and best print advert says a lot about his skills as a bulletin board habitue. His omniscient presence on the Singletrackworld forum – the busiest bike forum in the UK – ensured site readers plumped for his tiny little shop rather than the big guns such as Evans or Edinburgh Bicycle.

Skewed? Perhaps, but it shows what can be done by a web-savvy retailer intelligent enough to mix it with an enthusiast-only audience. Another Singletrack forum regular – Steve Baskerville of Real Cycles in Belfast, a relatively new micro-IBD – was one of the runners-up in the best bike shop category.

And being featurfed on BikeBiz.com also seemed to be a good way of influencing the on-site judges who chose the best stand of the show and the best new product. Whilst all the other awards were chosen by 6000 Singletrackworld.com voters, the best stand and best innovation awards were picked by Bob Chicken Snr, Singletrack’s Mark Alker, Cycle 2003’s Elaine Curtin and show director Mick Bennett. Turbospoke won the best stand gong and KMX Karts won best new product.

At an auction after the dinner and the awards, Singletrack editor Chipps Chippendale used a spoon as a gavel and flogged stuff such as rider jerseys to

The award winners – all presented with trophies made by Hope Technology – were:

Best UK Trail:

HELLY HANSEN BLACK V TRAIL, GLENTRESS

Runners-up

The Wall, Afab Argoed

Marin Trail, Gwydyr

Witch’s Trail, Fort William

Personality of the year:

STEVE PEAT

Runners-up

Pat Adams

Tracey Moseley

David Millar

Bike of the year:

SANTA CRUZ BLUR

Runners-up

Specialized Enduro

On One Inbred

Santa Cruz Heckler

Best dream bike:

MAVERICK ML7

Runners-up

Santa Cruz Blur

Seven Sola

Trek 5200 (wot? a road bike?)

Best published image:

LEAPING LE TOUR, SCOTT MARKEWITZ

Best magazine article:

200 YARDS OF SINGLETRACK, VARIOUS AUTHORS, SINGLETRACK MAGAZINE

Best UK cycling event:

FORT WILLIAM WORLD CUP

Runners-up

Saab Salomon Mountain Mayhem

Shimano Sleepless in the Saddle

Fat Tyre Festival 2003

Best print advert

SIDEWAYS CYCLES

Runners-up

Race Face SDG saddles ad

Independent Fabrications Snakes and Ladders

Oakley Brian Lopes

Best Retail Outlet

SIDEWAYS CYCLES, CHESHIRE

Runners-up

Big Foot Bikes, Kent

Real Cycles, Northern Ireland

Chelmer Cycles, Essex

PIX:

Top: KMX weren’t at last night’s awards so Phil Liggett handed the prize to BDC’s Tanem Mehmet

Base top: Keith Bontrager hands Phil Liggett a set of Bontrager USPS wheels and praised the road commentator to the rooftops…

Base middle: Chipps at the auction, which raised £2000+ for Cancer Research UK

Base base: Cycle 2003’s Mick Bennett paid £600 for a signed pic of the Dave Watson jump at this year’s Tour de France and here, admiring the print, are BDC’s MD Dominic Jones, Bennett (middle) and BDC owner Jack Morris

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