Looking Back At I-Bike: The Bikes And The People

Crowds gather and ready themselves for Day Two of Outdoor Demo

Editor's Note: This is Part 3 of a series on Interbike experiences. Interbike is happening this week for the last time in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

 Day Two of Outdoor Demo was usually the day that the roadies did a big loop out of the Demo area to nearby Lake Mead and Hoover Dam and then back again. The ride started early, so sometimes we had the opportunity to beat the crowds and the heat if a demo vendor was going to be there anyway supporting the road riders.

I remember one time we did this in the early years of my Vegas Era when we got to saddle up on some Raleighs, or maybe it was Diamondbacks...... Both the same parent company, so I cannot recall now, but we were there so early on the trails that you couldn't see in the crevices and ravines because the Sun wasn't high enough in the sky yet!

'07 and '08 were probably the busiest Day Two Outdoor Demo experiences that I can recall. The hordes of dealers and shop rats would be there by noon and the trail would literally be like bumper to bumper traffic. I recall trying out the then new Gates Carbon Drive belt on a Spot Brand single speed one of those years and that I had to stop several times due to folks not having the skill, muscle, or both to ride the trail. Meanwhile, the hot shoes were railing by you one after another. It was insanity!

I didn't like Day Two all that much back then and typically I was done after about 1:00pm or so with riding due to the competition to get the bike I wanted and even if you did, the read you got on any bike was colored by having to jockey with all the yahoos out trying to get around the demo loop.

"Demo Ken" Derrico of Trek- He was always a smiling face and a helpful guy at the Outdoor Demo. 

Even though things could be literally out of control at times at the Demo, many of the people manning the stations were the finest folks you could ask for. The Trek tent usually had "Demo Ken" and one of my predecessors at Europa Cycle & Ski, Vance McCaw. Familiar faces in a land far away. But there were others I never knew the names of.

Never got his name, but this guy was super helpful and kind to me at the Outdoor Demo.

I recall a guy that worked the BMC booth who painstakingly set up the dual suspension rig I was going to demo despite the utter chaos of the crowd all around us. His patience was that of a saint and he was so calm. Amazing!

Then there was this guy I have pictured who was at the Specialized trailer. He was another one that was so kind and patient that I felt compelled to take his picture when he wasn't looking so I could remember him!

Brian Fornes was another who never made me feel anything but wanted and important when I visited him at the Raleigh tent. Gary Mendenhall went out of his way at the J&B Importers/Origin 8 tent to be friendly and show me all their latest wares. Of course, Jason Boucher and Kid Reimer of Salsa Cycles, along with their varying crews, were always welcoming and we were often seen hanging around their tent at the Demo. Devin Lenz of Lenz Sport Bikes was another super kind soul at the Demo. Then there was Mike Curiak, who basically sneaked in himself and his bike to the Demo for me to try it out, who cannot be left off this list. There are others I am sure I am missing, but you get the picture. It was like a family in many ways. The people part of going to Interbike was always one of the best, if not the very best parts.

From my ride with Sonya Looney. She took the picture too!

At the last Outdoor Demo I attended, athlete/social media queen/super rep Sonya Looney insisted that we needed to go for a ride at the Demo. I kind of poo-pooed the idea as her being overly kind and making statements to make me feel good, not really intending to ride with a slow, fat old man like me. By this time she was a well known, race winning athlete and spokesperson for several brands. She had better things to do, I was certain of it.

Then on Day Two of the demo she kind of got tweaked at me for not tracking her down the day before and pretty much told me to go find a bike ASAP and meet her for the ride we were to do. Well, it was one of the most gracious gestures ever made to me at Interbike. She clearly was lollygagging along while I was nigh unto exploding into a sweaty mess, but she really, honestly was enjoying my company, nothing more, nothing less. What a great way to leave Outdoor Demo behind, and something I'll never forget.

Biffed on the hard rocks of Bootleg Canyon! Image by Tim Krueger, then of Salsa Cycles.

The bikes I rode at the Demo I mentioned a bit about yesterday, but I recall some others that were significant rides. The Raleigh XXIX Pro which I flatted on one year. It rode soooo nice! I recall that the demo guy at the tent and Brian Fornes were floored when I apologized for being so long with the bike, but I had to repair the flat I suffered. I guess no one did that usually. Most of the time folks just returned the bike with a flat. I could never do that! I always carried a spare tube, pump, and tool kit at the Outdoor Demo.

Not all the bikes I rode were winners either. I recall perhaps the worst dual suspension bike I ever tried at Outdoor Demo, which was early on in my Vegas Era. A GT of some sort. It rode so awful that I never got out of the demo area with it before I realized it was a poorly designed pig of a bike. The rig I rode with Sonya Looney was another weird dually. It felt like it was about to fold in half on every G-out. It was a Devinci, as I recall. I was not impressed too much with that one.

Later years saw the crowds drop off and it became sort of a joke to read Interbike's press releases saying how crowds were big and that there were more vendors, etc. It was painfully obvious that quality vendors, brands like Trek and Specialized, Cannondale, and more, weren't there anymore. The crowds that once caused bumper to bumper trail riding conditions were gone. You could have the trails all to yourself there by 2012. That is, if you could get a bike. Many vendors who stayed on were facing increased pressure for demo bikes at the Demo due to the brands that had left and obviously those bikes that would have been there were no longer available.

I met Krampus at the Outdoor Demo, and it was a good meeting.

Talk about a niche sector of cycling.......

My time at the Outdoor Demo went from 29"ers being the odd duck to those wheels being the dominant choice. 26"ers were everywhere, then they weren't. 650B started in fits and lurches, but by 2012 every new design was a long travel trail bike with B wheels. Were 29"ers on the ropes? Then it was fat bikes, 29+, and when I quit going the beginnings of B+ was happening. What a ride!

Rocks and dust. Heat, and sometimes sitting in a car waiting out a rain shower. Wind! Oh my, that blast furnace wind! How could anyone survive in that environment? I barely made it out whole a few times out there myself, and we had copious amounts of water. I recall those folks from Park Tools handing out water bottles when you rolled up from the Demo area with a dusty test bike. The Gu and Powerbar tents set up near the trail head. Couldn't have survived without those handups.

But survive it we did. Then it was time to dust ourselves off, take a shower, dig out the casual clothes and messenger bags, make sure you had the laptop ready to roll, a camera or three, and your TNI business cards because the Indoor show started the next day. Ooof! Now the real drudgery was looming in the headlights. No more fun riding bikes.

Next: Rushing In