I’ve been lucky to participate and attend bike industry events for the last 15 years based on my job. With Interbike not returning for 2019, Sea Otter is now risen to the biggest industry show of the year facing both customers and industry folks. My dad is the number one reason I ride a bike. I watched him from a young age and it is something we both cherish. He never worked in the industry thus he was always having to see the latest and greatest on the internet.
The opportunity came up for us to coordinate a trip to Sea Otter this year and we jumped on it. Flights and hotels were booked, bikes were packed, and rides were planned.
Ae rolled into San Jose on a Friday and immediately drove down to the show. We enjoyed some awesome burritos and began roaming the booths. It was so cool to see the excitement my Dad has for seeing all this new stuff up close. He would stop and talk to anyone who had a booth and genuinely wanted to know about their product. It made me really appreciate what I had grown a bit dull to.
Despite being a show with mountain bike roots, many of the companies at Sea Otter came to play with gravel. Everywhere you looked there were gravel bikes, bags, and tires. Even Pinnerello, a shamelessly Italian road brand came with their new gravel bike front and center. We have to look at the back of the booth to find one Team Sky Dogma barely on display. Big tires, dirt, friends, and adventure we’re on everyones mind this year. I feel like this is the perfect direction for cycling to be headed.
I was stoked to see high quality bikes with a reasonable part selection at an affordable price take over for once. After all, the more people we get out on bikes with equipment that makes their experience as enjoyable as possible, the healthier the cycling industry becomes. Let’s be honest, this isn’t a concept the industry has been good at and still struggles with. High end products that feature rich white dudes in $500 kit isn’t the way forward but it is certainly part of the past. Let’s sell fun and adventure and life changing connections, not bikes that cost as much as cars.
In addition to checking out the show, my Dad and I were stoked to do some great rides in the area. On our first night we headed out for a sunset ride.
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