Thanks for the story.
We planned a vacation in the area around the same time so I scheduled a fam
day just to check out the Festival on Thursday. First time for me as well,
but I didn't bring a bike. Since the focus of the event is racing and not
adventuring, I thought the bikes and tech on display at the festival were
in the proper context. There was lots of racing going on but I didn't want
to bore my kids by dragging them to those things. The major manufacturers
were essentially displaying FS carbon fiber MTBs and drop bar gravel bikes,
appropriate for those crowds but not of interest to me. They also had a
couple of no drop, supported dirt rides - an MTB one and a gravel one -
that I didn't sign up for but I would gladly have done them at least once.
As Grant has pointed out, manufacturers tilt their marketing toward racing
- but much of that fancy tech do every day people who don't race and prefer
to go adventuring actually need? You point out a 12sp hydraulic drive, but
there were lots of examples of that.
I did really like being around lots of fans of "riding bikes on dirt" since
not many of those in my neck of the woods. My 5 year old son got a few laps
in on the kids demo BMX track on a rigid bike - first time on dirt - and he
had a blast. And he got to meet Danny McCaskill, so I can look forward to
all the Ridiculousness videos in 5 years.
It took some hunting but there were several manufacturers who had parts and
components that might be of interest to folks in this group, and having
them there meant being able to see those products first hand and ask dumb
questions. I was at the ODI booth as well, and they had all their grips
there to try out. Some other booths I visited: Bikeflights ("Why you switch
to UPS?"); Orange Seal (got to ask tons of questions to their rep);
Panaracer (colored Gravel Kings!); Silca (demoed the Rolex of bike pumps);
and Knog (big "Cobber" LED lights that mount onto frame tubes). I also ran
into Russ and Laura from pathlesspedaled, who have a very Riv like
perspective on cycling. Here's Russ' latest on Sea Otter
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_u83x2ei-4>.
So it was to the level of my expectation and I'm glad I took the time to
go, but it's probably not a date I'd circle on a calendar or make a
dedicated trip for.
--Ed C.
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