FRIEDRICHSHAFEN, Germany (BRAIN)—As Eurobike opens its doors for four days starting Thursday, "all eyes will be on Friedrichshafen," said Harald Troost, European press
relations manager for Shimano.
Eurobike's Demo Day in Voralberg, Austria is tomorrow.
Since its debut 17 years ago, the trade show on Lake Constance has undergone a remarkable evolution. Although it started out as only a niche exhibition for the new mountain biking scene, today Eurobike is the leading trade show of the international bicycle industry. This business event has an established place on the calendars of most European market players and is the industry event of the year for many manufacturers in Asia and America.
"Eurobike is—particularly for American suppliers with international distribution networks—definitely the most important trade show on the calendar. It offers an opportunity to meet the leading retailers from Europe along with an impressive number of distributors and wholesalers from around the world," said Marc Sani, publisher of Bicycle Retailer and Industry News.
With trade visitors from 75 countries and the proportion of foreign exhibitors at 68 percent, the exhibition on Lake Constance is more than just the world's largest bicycle show—it is also clearly the event with the most international character.
In addition to meeting a large number of retailers and sales partners, exhibitors at Eurobike benefit from the industry's biggest press event of the year, attended by more than 1,200 journalists.
"When I present something at Eurobike, everyone in the world who has something to do with bicycles finds out about it," Troast said.
Exhibitors see the impressive reach of this industry meeting place as a definite advantage.
"Nowhere else in Europe can you meet so many retailers, manufacturers and enthusiastic consumers. This is enormously effective for us as a company because we can connect with a large number of people at once," said Stan Day, chief executive officer and founder of SRAM.
Giant also views Eurobike as the most important event of the year, said company president Tony Lo. According to Lo, Eurobike will become even more important in the future.
"Given today's rising oil prices, global warming and the increasing number of overweight people in the population, there is a large amount of worldwide interest in bicycles as a mobility and leisure product," Lo said.
