Expocycle 2004 - aka BTAC 2004

It’s not quite Interbike, but Expocycle 2004 went off without a hitch last weekend.
The annual trade show for the Canadian cycling industry was held at the Toronto Congress Centre Sunday, Sept. 12 to Tuesday, Sept. 14.It’s where just about every bike shop owner from coast to coast - whether it be a large shop or a mom and pop operation - goes to check out the latest offerings from bicycle and bike accessory manufacturers.




It’s also where the shops place a good chuck of their orders for the coming season, so there was wheeling and dealing going on in every booth as shop owners try to get the best deals for next season¹s products.

The interesting part of Expocycle is it precedes Interbike, which means some of the much-hyped new products which will be grandly unveiled in the Las Vegas Convention Centre next month were quietly shown to Canadians first.


After spending hours walking from booth to booth, two trends were cleary visible this year, which will no doubt be the major stories at Interbike.


First is carbon fibre. It’s everywhere. Since Expocycle is a show for mountain bikes, road bikes, BMX and everything else, the show floor was gleaming with the shiny look of polished carbon fibre as nearly every manufacturer showed off the latest technology in the black-weaved material, which has increased in strength and durability, but decreased in weight and price.


And it wasn’t just carbon frames that have dropped in price. Everything from carbon road bike brakes to full-face downhill helmets are coming down from their once stratospheric prices.
The second major trend quite obvious at Expocycle 2004 was the increased popularity in cruiser bikes. With their giant rigid forks, lowrider stance and custom-motorcycle seats, these recreational cruisers were also spread throughout the show.


After the success of the Kona BikeHotRod, companies like Giant, Norco and Trek are all rolling out one or more new cruiser bike for 2005 with prices ranging from a few hundred dollars to well over $1,000.


The booth with the most lowrider bikes was Electra, which started the cruiser trend with its line of nostalgic-looking two-wheelers.
One company representative trying to sell the cruiser idea to a retailer explained the trend well.“Even if no one buys one of them, you put it in your store window and it gets people to come into your store who normally never would, just because they want to see it,” he said. So for a few hundred dollars to a retailer you get a customer magnet.
Not a bad deal.