2013 Vancouver Bike Show

 I would love to see such show in Montreal or Quebec too.

 Noone wants to see a million road bikes at the Toronto show

 The riding community has to push for change!

 They use to

 With the exception of the bmx comp the Toronto show sucked, way too much road and heavy on Dbags.

 Agreed too many shops didn't even bother going, I hear the cost to bring a shop there has gotten too high, someone needs to hit the organizers over the head and find a better venue or some sponsors to make the show more affordable for people and shops. I only went to film my buddy at the BMX Metro Jam and still had to pay the stupid $13 entrance fee.

It was pretty lame. Tons of over-branded road bikes, lots of 29er stuff, I'm happy to see fatbikes still kicking the door in, but overall it's starting to feel like the fall clearout show with a higher ceiling and carpets.

 it really was a waste of time to go down to this. much better in years past.

 If they changed the show that there was more to see and do I would be happy. Like more manufacturers and test area for said manufacturers. Love the pump track idea at the vancouver show.

You the people of pinkbike, would you go to a show like this? Little less retailers but more latest and greatest bikes?

 the fact of the matter is that no matter how much the small downhill community wants to see downhill gear/bikes at the toronto show again, it's just not practical for retailers. it's not just the show that's stopped focusing on downhill, most shops in and around the city have stopped carrying downhill bikes altogether because the market doesn't flourish anymore. whereas 7 or 8 years ago you'd see people hitting the local xc trails and dirt jumps on 8 and 9 inch downhill race bikes. as much as i like the idea of more variety at the bike show, the market has to move with what sells, i.e road bikes(always a market for that) and 29ers. one final point is that downhill for the most part is done by a very small demographic, whereas road biking is something that people from all ages and walks of life do. hate to be a Debbie Downer but the baby boomers are the ones with the moolah so the bike show will try to appeal to them the most

 Funny how Toronto had a show almost identical to this... Just Toronto's had more retailers and stuff for sale.

 Frenchy!!!!!!! .2 seconds.... shouldn't have won!

 I hate to disagree compaqnc6340 but have you ever been to a hill before? Fairly large demographic, my shop sells just as many downhill bikes as high end road bikes, but at the same degree sells as many hardtail mountain bikes as the average road bike.

It's wasn't the lack of downhill bikes at all even, It was the lack of shops period, about 5 major shops pulled out and virtually the only shop to make it for BMX was 3ride, which is sad because the Bike Zone has virtually the same selection of BMX, but I heard it all show long, the cost of floor space, travel and damages is too high when you factor them onto the mentality that everybody already wants a huge discount, it ends up almost costing money to be there, and once it becomes a struggle, it becomes about the money, and the show loses it's fun.

That's why the BMX does so well there, look at the turnout, it's all about the sport.

 while you make a valid point, "hills" are not a demographic....the truth of the matter is there are only a handful of lift-access downhill parks in ontario, and i'm all for building your own trails and shredding, but there's a huge amount of people who don't. furthermore your shop doesn't represent the whole bike shop community, as someone who also works at a shop, and i've been to many shops as well, many just don't have that market anymore. i wasn't trying to imply that ontario has flat out abandoned downhill, it's just sort of calmed down, the rush of people buying downhill bikes to just ride around has surely gone down. back on topic however i have to agree with you, not many good shops were at the bike show this year (including mine) for the exact reason you pointed out. it's not worth our while(or most other shops, for that matter) to pay that amount of money to go to bike show, get rid of some old stock for rock bottom prices, and be hassled by dreadfully cheap people who will chisel away until they get the best, most greedy deal they possibly can. the toronto bike show has become somewhat of a flea market, saturated by small vendors just trying to make a quick buck. what we need is a happy medium between good manufacturer showcases, and fair, well-regarded and reputable dealers.not to mention fairly even coverage of all aspects of biking

 The attendance may be up or down next year but don't count on 6 of us coming next year...so glad I have a great LBS.

 Okay, I can agree with you there.

 Yeah the toronto show was a big disappointment this year. I wrote the following email to the organizer
"Hi there
I've been to the International bike show for many years in a row now, and would have to say that this year's was the worst.
Were was the dirt 4x track?
Where were the mountain bikes?
Where was Ryan Leech?
Where was Cycle Solutions?
Where was the trials club?
There was no room for me to watch the bmx jam, it was too full. You need more bleachers.
I went looking for five different things(not including the ones listed above) that would have been there in years gone by, and found none of them.
Between parking and admission, the price has gone WAY up. What is going on??"

 sombrio was handing out cards for a discount on shoes when you buy online i lost mine does anyone know the code that was on the card?

 B-Rock106 they just had a bike show in Toronto last weekend .. i went

 We had a sale day at the shop and a few people agreed it was better than driving an hour to go to the bike show...

 Yeah, BikeZone didn't go either, same with a few. We had a sale, and same result.

 it was only $25 to get in on the mtb race at the bike show - it was a lot of fun and yeah maybe not a dream course but still, it includes your admission, a gate start and lots of fun practice with your friends. I know it wasn't dirt but they were able to make a better track in the setup time that they had. Smitty puts on a fun demo event every year, it's a blast - not to mention cash prizes for pro and other prizes for am??!?! Who cares about buying sh*t, really.. I go for a rip on the bike in march, some jokes and entertainment at the Metro Jam.

 I think that's the point though, those who came had a blast, and I remember years ago the first course was what people wanted to see, I remember not being able to get a seat for it, basically what Metro Jam is now.

Point being the show used to tend to the needs and wills of those wanting a show, saw some new products, and conveniently could negotiate a fair deal on a bike should they feel the need to start off the season on the right foot, or since the winter season was soon over, could generally good a good selection of anything they may have missed getting the prior riding season.

Now this year for example was basically the 2013 spring cleaning clearout sale, with an extension to the room with the most people in it, the metro jam. I'm glad to see flatland has gotten as busy as they were this year, though still a bit more quite than last years.

The show needs to get back into the hands of being the show, for showing, not selling, while selling is important, it happens when people are happy and motivated and generally when the cycling community gets its stoke on and pushes one another to get into it.

I wouldn't mind trying other aspects of cycling if they would "show" something to me at the show.

So instead we'll watch the show disappear little by little until somebody steps up.

 ^ That's a lot of Canadians...

 I say Ottawa. Central hub of South Eastern Canada.

 my wife was just saying this same thing yesterday when looking for a new trail saddle.

 amen. I have two daughters and the girl's "options" of pink, mauve and light blue are lame.

 This was our other new Ladies shirt - www.pinkbike.com/shop/viewproductdetail/?productid=515

 Nice, good variety @Brule. And it's almost Rasta colored!

 Yeah, and I wanted the women's pink and green colorway, ended up going for Rasta instead. No one is ever happy with available color choices...

 "shrink it and pink it"

 Rasta, it's timeless really

 Check out www.dirtygirldesignscanada.com
I have some awesome women's.. And men's shirts ... More on our Facebook site that are not yet on my website

 The T.O show has turned into more of a big Boxing Day sale thing. Obviously people go looking to get a great deals, but I think that there needs to be a lot more activities and events. For example, I know that a promoter from where the trail ends was interested in screening the movie at the last bike show.

 Yeah, I was looking forward to seeing Norco and Transition there, but I look forward to next year!

 I wish I'd been brought up like that…

 Where is more info on the kids Kranked bike??? can't seem to find much other than the frame only? Krenked site is a bit loose on info.

Cheers.

 Loose indeed! The site has been updated with some more info and will continue to be updated. Sorry we haven't had the time to get it all together, putting on the Kranked Kids Zone was a major undertaking for us! Krankedbikes.com - the loosest bike site out there!

 Anybody that actually knows who your calling a douche would be livid, or laugh. Criticism towards some one who is trying to progress riding is shrewd. Not to mention doing it for the kids. I get a kick out of peps that have to have there two cents posting Pinkbike comments putting others down. You sir are the douche bag, or enema take your pick!

 I more than understand the bigger picture, but I wasn't bashing the entire event, as I said above it was fun. It was a chance to chat with some fellow riders, and take a bit of time to get to know part of the spine of the mountain bike community. Before I continue, you (Faith Desmond, or LF13) should get use to public opinion, you're going to be getting positive and negative feed back in any event, and at the end of the day, an event can be used for advertising/marketing with a tad bit of fun . I suppose "kind of a douche" doesn't explain a lot when you're discussing feedback on performance or his manner. I also admit I do have a bad habit of generalizing, but I like getting to the point. I don't mind aggressive sales people, but when the representative for Epik bikes start feeding bull shit "oh yeah, I bought these for my kids, they use them all time, instead of going 3 kilometers we can all go 20 km." Maybe he did, he still didn't have the right tone. Also when you give your opinion, can't remember the quote exactly, but he basically stated that his company was the best out there for his product. It may be, but I don't give a rats ass about opinions when it comes to spending money. To sum this up, he was not the best sales guy.

 DVO was down here in So-Cal! Probably hanging out at their favorite test spot doing "working" on their products on the trails!

 and he was against the kids for the gopro...should have done it for the show and let the kids show off their skills to win the prize.

 ya and he already had a go pro 3 but he still needs a go pro 2! the timing was also kinda a fluke as they just pressed the stop watch as u passed a pump and I came second by .2 seconds and pressing that watch just a hair to early or late makes a huge difderence in a race like that! it was fun though

 Twisted spokes, hard on the fingers.

 At first i thought pinkbike used him again to get us to click on the article but then he did show up at the bottom of the page.

 It's kinda overrated tbh, definitely not as good as all the other shows..

 @mtnbyker - what other shows?

 I was thinking along the lines of Interbike and Eurobike, etc, look to be. I am just saying beeboo shouldn't make the trip out to van for the bike show, as it is kinda small and still just getting started. Come out here for the riding instead!

 That's kinda like comparing Disneyland to the state fair...lol...

 Yeah exactly, but beeboo said he wants to attend, and seeing as he lives in Ontario I think there are better ways to spend the cash, unless he is coming out for the riding here.

 I'm planning to move to BC in the near future. All i have is the Toronto Bike Show (always the same weekend as this one) and it has pretty much gone down the drain. Hardly anything DH, it's all roadie stuff and just shops getting rid of old inventory

 they were not.

 nope, only Rockey Mountain, Opus, Giant, marin, ellsworth, miele, evox, and stromer were there. - Yes, I had a little help from the pamphlet.