London Bike Show (Outdoor Show and Boat Show)

[brucehawsker]

We have just returned from an exhausting and very very busy four days at Excel in Docklands. We only agreed to go on last Monday and, as I think many of you know, we are a start up and hence had nothing really ready in terms of stand dressing!!! Off to the local colour copy shop for fliers, posters and handouts. We gave away clementines (green in eco terms, orange which is our corporate colour) and had some He filled orange balloons to help us stand out.

We were at the interface between the Boat Show and the Bike Show and so had many yachties and families come through and stop and chat at our rather primitive stand. But no one seemed to mind our low budget unpreparedness.

So we Big Cat Electric were there - not very interesting - I attach a couple of photos of our stand for the extreme minority who might be interested..... Who else was there?

Well, Bike Republic was showcasing a collection of e-bikes: Ultramotor A2Bs and fast4wards (what a brilliant name!! ) (Mark who was supporting Bike Republic came over and introduced himself which was kind of him), Wisper, GoCycle (described as a 'folding' electric bicycle) and the EBCO bikes (apparently a recent addition to their collection). The stall was unfortunately to my mind very full (confusingly full) of bikes, and the guy I spoke to was not really clear about the comparative advantages of his range of electric bikes. I was surprised that they only offered the A2B and the EBCO in the demonstation area. But they seemd quite busy.

EBCO had a very impressive top of the range corporate style stand which was beautifully lit, laid out, corporately logoed etc and put all the rest of us to shame. Both of the prinicpals were there a lot of the time and were reasonably busy with enquiries.

The other electric bike in the demo area, besides ours, was a Spencer Ivy - this is a bike rather like a Kalkhof and priced quite high. They had a fairly modest stand with a couple of bikes - minimalist and clean as is their corporate web site.

The only other electric bikes were the Batribikes. A clear stand giving the advanatages of their product on well designed banners. A full set of their bikes well dsiplayed. The products of course show their origin and lineage but are very keenly priced and are right for their target market. They had a constant stream of interest, and I would think had a good show. They are clearly used to doing shows and were the most comfortable of all of us.....

I hope I did not miss anyone...... It was very busy for us and I had little time to wander.... It was a great show.

Bruce

 

[EdBike]

Nice pictures, looked like a busy event!

Clementines?

 

[RoadieRoger]

Big Cat E Bikes

Just looked at their site , but nowhere can I see the prices of the 16 Models mentioned . Are they so expensive that they don`t like to list them ?

 

[eTim]

Bruce,

I was at the show and I missed your stand, I must have been busy getting my photo taken with Ben Fogle, or buying some giant outdoor beanbags or just standing in awe at the size of that yacht in the boatshow (how many £££10's of millions).

Tim.

 

[brucehawsker]

Hi Roadie Roger. Sorry, site still in beta. Our base bikes - Mountain, Step over road, step through road and folder are all £1650 but are on special to forum members and those who saw us at the Show at £1500 for the next few weeks. We are not at all ashamed of our prices - they stood up well (very well) at the Lonodon Bike Show against a full fields of competition - see earlier post on the Show.

Happy to give more details if people are interested.

Thanks

Bruce

 

[brucehawsker]

Intellectually Challenged

Hi Edbike - in your generation I thought you always hit the Wikepedia Button :

A clementine is a hesperidium, of a variety of mandarin orange (Citrus reticulata) so named in 1902.[1] The exterior is a deep orange colour with a smooth, glossy appearance. Clementines separate easily into seven to fourteen moderately-juicy segments. They are very easy to peel, like a tangerine, but are almost always seedless. Clementines are, thus, also known as seedless tangerines. They are typically juicy and sweet, with less acid than oranges.[1] Their oils, like other citrus fruits, contain mostly limonene as well as myrcene, linalool, α-pinene and many complex aromatics.[2]
The traditional story is that it was "originally an accidental hybrid said to have been discovered by Father Clément Rodier in the garden of his orphanage in Misserghin, Algeria."[3] However, there are claims it originated in China much earlier. James Saunt has commented that "Some authorities believe it is virtually identical to the variety known as the Canton mandarin widely grown in Guangxi and Guangdong Provinces in China."[4]
The Clementine is not always distinguished from other varieties of mandarin oranges.[citation needed] However, it should not be confused with similar fruit such as the satsuma, which is another name for the Japanese mikan, 蜜柑 honey sweet orange, and is another popular variety. The clementine is occasionally referred to as Algerian tangerine.
This variety was introduced into California commercial agriculture in 1914, though it was grown at the Citrus Research Center at the University of California, Riverside as early as 1909.[5] Clementines, usually grown in Morocco, Spain and south of Bosnia and Herzegovina, have been available in Europe for many years. A market for them in the United States was created recently, when the harsh 1997 winter in Florida devastated domestic orange production, increasing prices and decreasing availability. California clementines are available from mid-November through January; this availability has them referred to in some areas as "Christmas Oranges". Clementines are typically shipped in small wooden or cardboard boxes[6] with a move in recent years to net bags.[citation needed]
Clementines lose their desirable seedless characteristic when they are cross-pollinated with other fruit. To prevent this, in 2006 growers such as Paramount Citrus in California threatened to sue local beekeepers to keep bees away from their crops.[7]

 

[eddieo]

I thought they where from Lidl?

 

[indalo]

Hi eddieo.

I'm with you on that one. The fruits come from Lidl; that's all we need to know.

Now, I don't know what possessed me but I just decided on seeing that lengthy piece from Wikipedia that I'd like to know what happens when you look up Wikipedia and punch in, "Wikipedia." Talk about too much information! My scroll finger, (it's no longer an index finger!) got tired and I was only about 20% down the page. I suppose I should read more though as I only got 3 questions right on University Challenge last night. Mind you, York University didn't do much better!

Indalo

 

[EdBike]

Hi Edbike - in your generation I thought you always hit the Wikepedia Button :

A clementine is a hesperidium, of a variety of mandarin orange (Citrus reticulata) so named in 1902.[1] The exterior is a deep orange colour with a smooth, glossy appearance. Clementines separate easily into seven to fourteen moderately-juicy segments. They are very easy to peel, like a tangerine, but are almost always seedless. Clementines are, thus, also known as seedless tangerines. They are typically juicy and sweet, with less acid than oranges.[1] Their oils, like other citrus fruits, contain mostly limonene as well as myrcene, linalool, α-pinene and many complex aromatics.[2]
The traditional story is that it was "originally an accidental hybrid said to have been discovered by Father Clément Rodier in the garden of his orphanage in Misserghin, Algeria."[3] However, there are claims it originated in China much earlier. James Saunt has commented that "Some authorities believe it is virtually identical to the variety known as the Canton mandarin widely grown in Guangxi and Guangdong Provinces in China."[4]
The Clementine is not always distinguished from other varieties of mandarin oranges.[citation needed] However, it should not be confused with similar fruit such as the satsuma, which is another name for the Japanese mikan, 蜜柑 honey sweet orange, and is another popular variety. The clementine is occasionally referred to as Algerian tangerine.
This variety was introduced into California commercial agriculture in 1914, though it was grown at the Citrus Research Center at the University of California, Riverside as early as 1909.[5] Clementines, usually grown in Morocco, Spain and south of Bosnia and Herzegovina, have been available in Europe for many years. A market for them in the United States was created recently, when the harsh 1997 winter in Florida devastated domestic orange production, increasing prices and decreasing availability. California clementines are available from mid-November through January; this availability has them referred to in some areas as "Christmas Oranges". Clementines are typically shipped in small wooden or cardboard boxes[6] with a move in recent years to net bags.[citation needed]
Clementines lose their desirable seedless characteristic when they are cross-pollinated with other fruit. To prevent this, in 2006 growers such as Paramount Citrus in California threatened to sue local beekeepers to keep bees away from their crops.[7]

Oh yes, very witty...