This is not official, of course, but the National Festival of Cycling has seen two IBDs pull out all the stops with their stands and they should be applauded

Stand of the show award

Whereas most retailers go to York Rally to shift obsolescent stock nothing wrong in that, its wall to wall bargain hunters Cycle Heaven of York and Edinburgh Bicycle Co-op opted for the brand-building treatment.

The Cycle Heaven hand-painted, hand-cut stand is folksy in its appeal, yet innovative with it. The Edinburgh Bike Co-op is just like the shop: sharp, professional and well-presented. The in-house designed graphics, display boards, t-shirt holders and e-mail capturing iMac were having their first outing at the Festival.

Top marks to both stands.

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