Where's da BMX? Eurobike 2015. By BdJ. Part 1

Sep 17, 2015

Written by Bart de Jong

Read 11336 times

It must have been my 25th time to Eurobike in Germany last week. Every year it's worth the boring drive to Friedrichshafen if it only is to see the people you only get to see in person once a year. It was a rough drive this time as I had just arrived from a 14 hour burner back from the Lords Of Dirt in Sérignan which is about an hour down the road from Montpellier. Made it home at 2am and then left for the 7 hour trip to FN the same day. But like I said, it's worth it when you start seeing friends you haven't seen for a while.

Eurobike this year wasn't much different from previous years. You always have to search for the booths that have BMX. The 2015 edition required some skills to find BMX as a few of the die-hard brands were not there. KHE was nowhere to be seen. The latest news is that TG and Wolfgang are continueing the brand via internet direct sales after their assembly and production was put to rest. Sport Import distribution wasn't at the show either. They've supported BMX since the very beginning bringing over many legends to do BMX freestyle shows at Eurobike including a rare Dave Mirra presence on GT, Dave Voelker, Bill Neumann, Rob Nolli and many others. No flatland shows this year and no wethepeople, Sunday, Odyssey, Salt and all the other brands they carry. Traffic-Distribution did not have their own booth. We did not see Unity at all at the show and Allride prefers to walk the show over setting up the booth and making sure the bikes are clean. La Finca distribution has stopped as well as Fastpace BMX distribution a few years ago.

It's actually an indication of the state of BMX. Loads of companies, distros and BMX shops are having it rough. The market simply isn't big enough for everyone to make a good living at it. Too many brands, competition from the iphone and the scooters, enough bikes still in stock by all, it's not a situation you want to be in. But we've been through this before and we'll get through this again. It will pick up at some point for those who are willing to stick with it and help it grow.

What was there to see? Lots of 2016 stuff. In terms of booth size and number of BMX bikes, HARO was the big winner in Friedrichshafen. GT of course had BMX bikes lined up including their OS20 complete bike. SE showed many BMX bikes including lots of bikes with an old school flavour. Author from the Czech Republic had two. FreeAgent brought two race bikes. Stereo Bikes brought loads of 2016 models to the show and Identiti also had one. Radio Bikes displayed with Hartje in the infield. Good thing for them was that the weather was beautiful all week. Maybe a bit on the hot side under the black EZ-Ups. Premium BMX brought their line for 2016 and it's looking good. We never found the BOX booth but we were told that Niek Kimmann's bike was there on display. Sorry for missing out on that one.

The flavour of the year were for sure the E-Bikes. They were present in all shapes and forms. However not in a 20" BMX version but that's something for next year. Anyone?