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Italy has a huge one. Taiwan has had one since year dot. Japan has had one since 2003. Scotland now has one too – a pavilion at Eurobike. Or a wee stand, at least.
“We’re starting small but we aim to get bigger,” said Gordon Todd, a senior executive with Scottish Enterprise, an agency of the Scottish Government.
Scotland isn’t just a world-class MTB destination it’s also an incubator of bike brands, seven of which are on the stand, and all of whom are new to Eurobike.
“We walked the show last year and were determined to get a space,” said Graeme McLean, MTB project manager for Scottish Cycling, the governing body for cycle sport in Scotland.
“Endura is a great role model for us. Our stand is a platform for smaller brands, but brands which want to grow like Endura. We want to showcase Scotland’s bicycle businesses.”
The stand – topped with a saltire, the blue-and-white Scottish flag – was bathed in sunshine yesterday at Eurobike. Dotted around the tent-shaped stand are representatives from Free Flow Techologies, an electric bike brand, and Launch Components, a gravity MTB brand with, among other trick parts, a 270 Euros 300g magnesium pedal.
Fashion designer Alex Feechan is seeking distributors for Freedom Foxx, her new womens’ cycle clothing collection. Tom Durham has developed a modular range of pump-track parts and is seeking manufacturing partners for his start-up business Collective Training. Russell Stout is representing custom bike builder Shand Cycles. Scottoiler is a long-established motorcycle supplies brand with a bicycles division producing Ultimate Bike Solution, a new water-based bike lubricant and maintenance spray. And Keela, the Scottish manufacturer of outdoor clothing and kit, is also on the stand.
The “Scottish pavilion” also has information on mountain bike riding in Scotland. McLean is based at the Glentress mountain bike centre, Scotland’s oldest dedicated MTB park, which was opened by Arthur Phillips, a private developer, in the late 1980s.
“Scotland has a lot going for it,” said McLean. “But don’t blame us for the rain at the show.”
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PIC: Gordon Todd of Scottish Enterprise and Graeme McLean of Scottish Cycling.
