Neil and Phil at the Seattle Bicycle Expo

Neil and I drove from Berkeley to Seattle for the Seattle Bicycle Expo on the weekend of March 1-2, where we had a great time meeting the locals and sharing our products and services with Seattle cyclists. The turnout for the expo was fantastic even with the wet, grey weather that came through that weekend. Most of the consumers exploring the booths at the show were wet and wearing cycling gear, having ridden through the rain to get to the expo center. The sheer number of the commuters at the expo that weekend was a testament to the bicycle community in Seattle: nasty weather doesn’t stop Seattle commuters, and their ranks only seem to be growing.

The expo was held in the terminal where Alaska-bound cruise ships leave Seattle, which made for one of the most scenic and clean venues we’ve ever had for a bike show. The whole second level of the convention center had floor-to-ceiling windows with fantastic views of downtown Seattle, the Space Needle, and Puget Sound. Our booth was next door to our friends Maurice from Dirt Rag and Bicycle Times magazines and Robert from Two Fish Unlimited waterbottle cages, and we had a good time chatting with them during the rare downtime we got during the weekend.

The areas of our booth that consumers seemed most excited about were a Rohloff and belt drive equipped Bike Friday and our suspension services display. Many commuters we spoke to realized that the durability and low maintenance of the Rohloff/belt drive system is ideal for wet weather commuting: there is no chain or chain oil to pick up road grit, no derailleurs needing constant tune-ups, and no external shift components to wear out quickly in the rain. Our suspension services were popular with Pacific Northwest mountain bikers who tend to need fork and shock services more frequently because of the muddy trail conditions they normally ride in.

All in all, the Seattle Bicycle Expo was a very worthwhile trip, putting us in touch with plenty of riders who appreciated our products and services and giving us a chance to check in with companies we normally work with. We even got to ride a bit on the road trip there and back. Stay tuned for those ride reports soon on the Cycle Monkey Tales blog.

-Phil