Interbike Day 1

Good morning from Las Vegas! Tuesday night's US Airways Flight 749 from Philadelphia should have been considered Interbike Flight 749. The sheer number of Interbike attendees on the flight was overwhelming. Half of the row in front of me, half of my row, and most of the row behind me were all attendees. Further back in the plane were two riders from the Rite Aid Professional Cycling Team.

Anyways, I am writing to you from the floor of the Sands Convention Center. It's a sight to behold here in Las Vegas, with companies as far as the eye can see. The theme coming from most of the companies at Interbike this year has been "sales are amazing". Rightfully so, when gas prices spiked above $3.00 a gallon, many consumers did not see the necessity in driving only a few miles for the cost.

One company that spoke of the benefits of high gas prices was the Electra Bicycle Company out of Vista, California. Marketing Director Elayne Fowler and Inside Sales Representative Scott Payton spoke of increased sales of their cruiser/comfort bicycles since gas prices have risen. As sales have increased for adults of their bicycles, they also noticed a related increase in sales of their bicycles for children. An interesting fact about Electra Bicycles is that they have lines of the same bicycles, both in adult and children sizes. Both Elayne and Scott mentioned that many families are outfitting all their family members with the same model of Electra bikes. This brand loyalty has strengthened their business and increased their product awareness. They discussed receiving emails and calls from buyers telling them how satisfied they were with their bicycles and how their family members were as well.

Later, I will post of some of the non-conventional "bikes" that are being displayed at Interbike this year.

As a reminder, please direct any questions you may have that you want answered to SusquCyclist@gmail.com. If you would like to see what is taking place at Interbike this year, please visit Interbike's website.