And you thought it was just the bike trade which mucked around with its annual expos? Back in November, bikebiz.co.uk said the decision of the Outdoor Industries Association (OIA) to move its trade show from September to August was a "radical" decision that would raise exhibition organisers' eyebrows. August is a no-go area for most shows. And the OIA has just found that out: a telephone survey revealed that most independent outdoor shops would not attend an August show

Sustrans is offering free initial consultations to enable businesses throughout the UK to determine the viability of providing links into the National Cycle Network for staff and customers. The businesses Sustrans has in mind are generally those with hundreds of employees but there would be nothing stopping IBDs and smaller cycle supply companies from plugging in to the Sustrans business programme

Win a Kona Stinky Dee Lux runs the button on MBUK.com. Fill in a survey to win the bike, promises the blurb. It turns out to be a survey sponsored by Halfords/Bikehut and aims to find out what enthusiast cyclists think of the multiple retailer aiming to be as trick and cuddly as top IBDs. Read on for which IBDs Halfords/Bikehut considers to be bigtime competitors...

There aren't that many UK IBDs with the advertising chutzpah of Hardisty Cycles - best-known jingle: "Home of the Mountain Bike, top of Shields Road, Byker" - but when the going's tough, the tough get going. The TV advertising splurge which starts at lunchtime today will last through to the Friday before Christmas, and is the first part of a three ad telly campaign that will run through to Spring 2002

The 'COLA' outdoor trade show organised by the Outdoor Industries Association is now called Go Outdoors. It's not moving from Harrogate but is slipping backwards into the holiday period, a radical move that will raise eyebrows. Exhibition professionals believe August to be almost a no-go area for shows

According to a research report commissioned by ‘Retail Week’ only 1 percent of consumers plan to cut back on present-buying this year. IBDs: market yourself to 40 year old blokes, they going to spend the most and have yet to buy their prezzies.

"It would be great if members of our industry foresook the habits of a lifetime and got involved now rather than 'waiting to see how things work out'," wrote John Traynor, editor of 'Outdoor Review', of the Ordnance Survey-sponsored The Outdoors Show, NEC, 15-17th March 2002. Former pro roadie Justin Clarke is in charge of getting the bike trade on board. Bikebiz.co.uk met up with him at the Go Outdoors trade show held in Harrogate earlier this week

The Outdoor Industries Association has produced a range of 'Let's get the country back on its feet' adverts which will start appearing in the national press from this weekend

Top-end bike suppliers: want your website crawled all over by 1000+ high-calibre cycle-mad consumers? First Impressions Research is seeking twenty global bike companies to partake in a paid-for research programme that can help you spot fatal flaws in your website offering. 780 affluent consumers have been signed up so far – they can win $5000 for their web crawl – and First Impressions is now looking for at least 220 more, especially from Europe “where cycling is king”

The Outdoor Industries Association (OIA) is to spend £100 000 on a marketing/advertising campaign to encourage people to get back on the footpaths and bridleways. Intelligently, it is asking the government to match their outlay