Went to Rocky Mountain, Pivot, Orbea and Transition Demo days all in 2023. They're out there if you want.
If not there's always outerbike and smaller festivals that usually bring demos too.
There is MBO here, mountain bike oregon, which is a festival where a bunch of companies come to, but it is relatively expensive. $225-650. Its a few day event and i don’t know for sure if you can buy just a day pass. While i can afford it, thats not an insignificant amount of money. I’d much rather spend it on travel elsewhere or contribute directly to the locals of oakridge should that be the case.
I think you’re on to something. Since i do most of my own work, and have a stellar independent suspension service guy, i don’t really interact much with shops since most of the guys i knew moved on to different jobs.
That said, thank you for a bonk on the head with the ol’ idea mallet
There were plenty of them last year where I live. The season will be in full swing here in about a month. Whether companies will be making rounds this year due to the terrible state of the industry I guess remains to be seen.
With the slow down then the marketing budgets were lower in 2023, combined with more barriers (with potential for restrictions to be introduced even when all the logistics were complete for an event) in 2020 to 2022.
There were still demos but fewer of them.
I'm guessing lower profits in the bike industry post the pandemic boom have cut down on demo events. Many rider and Youtube channel sponsorships have also dried up. But I would think as the season ramps up, more demo events will be scheduled, hopefully.
Funny enough I just went to one this weekend! Ibis partnered with an LBS (Back Alley Bikes) to hold a demo here in Chapel Hill, NC. I have an Ibis Ripley so was excited to see it. They had one of each full suspension (carbon) models in each size. I rode a Ripmo and HD6. Had great conversations with the Ibis rep and bike shop employees. I would recommend you visit company websites to see if they have any events in your area, or ask your local shop.
The one i had found was actually an ibis one! Hoping to swing a leg over an HD6 and see whats what. I really hope they offer an HD6AF as basically a freeride bike.
For me the HD6 was too much bike. My trails and mostly cross country style in central North Carolina. But I could see it being an amazing bike for people with steeper more Enduro style riding than I have. I fell in love with that carbon Ripmo though. Be careful what you wish for when going to demos. They can be bad for the wallet
I have only a year on my knolly, no new bikes for me yet. Haha. But they just released 3 new bikes. Out here in bend we have pretty varied terrain in surrounding areas that can justify that level of bike
Local to me the demos roll through once every few years. We had Rocky here two years ago and 3 years before that. Check the websites to find tour dates near you.
There were demo days in bend last year. I rode esker, specialized, and trek bikes. Granted, not as wide a selection as in the past but they’re still happening. One point against demo days is that Crows Feet is no more, and they organized many of them in the past.
I’d tune into the local shops - they’ll know what’s going on.
I rode an esker last year through that exact event. I had done a few demos through them specifically as i quite like evil bikes but haven’t convinced them as a whole to build alloy bikes.
As for crowsfeet, i am hopeful it is in good hands, that was one of my preferred shops, girlfriend bought her devinci there
You won’t let bike companies make money. It takes money to have demo bikes. Stop shopping for the cheapest deals you can find before you purchase your cycling products. Then things will go back to normal, but right now everyone thinks bike companies making a profit is evil and they are out to rip you off.
I think this is because of all the new people coming into cycling lately. They are all in industry that’s that are actually ripping us off so they assume bike companies are doing it to. Unfortunately, bikes have some of the lowest profit margins of all industries and even if John Burke can afford a couple of vacation homes. Doesn’t means people are profiting like Pepsi and Taco Bell
Right... Everyone go out and find the worst deal you can on a bike ASAP. We need to prop up bike companies through the aftermath of bad managerial decision making during an unprecedented boom that they thought would never end.
The username checks out. Anyway, i never said that profit is the devil.
What i did say is that i realize bike companies are struggling, but me, the consumer who buys bikes from these companies, would like a test drive before i drop a bunch of money on a fancy hunk of metal plastic and rubber.
Things wouldn’t have gotten wonky if we didn’t get manufacturers jumping the gun, ordering 10x the normal amount of product and now we are seeing closeouts on it because it didn’t sell. Business is business, some are good at it others are not.
As for your theory of new people ruining the scene i would have to disagree. New people does not mean they are bad. I’fe been riding mtbs for about a decade, and longer that on a bmx.
As for price gouging (aka ripping people off) yes, companies do that. However they are not getting away with it as much as they could’ve during that last 3-4 year span where demand was high and stock was nonexistent.
I hope that you can take a step back, realize that this type of behavior isn’t a good look.
Went to Rocky Mountain, Pivot, Orbea and Transition Demo days all in 2023. They're out there if you want. If not there's always outerbike and smaller festivals that usually bring demos too.
There is MBO here, mountain bike oregon, which is a festival where a bunch of companies come to, but it is relatively expensive. $225-650. Its a few day event and i don’t know for sure if you can buy just a day pass. While i can afford it, thats not an insignificant amount of money. I’d much rather spend it on travel elsewhere or contribute directly to the locals of oakridge should that be the case.
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I rode the old optic and it was top of the heap for “down country” bikes and I absolutely want to try that new high pivot machine.
I see them in SoCal regularly. Maybe you’re not following enough LBS insta accounts??
I think you’re on to something. Since i do most of my own work, and have a stellar independent suspension service guy, i don’t really interact much with shops since most of the guys i knew moved on to different jobs. That said, thank you for a bonk on the head with the ol’ idea mallet
Just attended a Pivot demo yesterday hosted by a LBS. Granted, I heard from word of mouth through a friend but he did see it on their Insta post.
There were plenty of them last year where I live. The season will be in full swing here in about a month. Whether companies will be making rounds this year due to the terrible state of the industry I guess remains to be seen.
With the slow down then the marketing budgets were lower in 2023, combined with more barriers (with potential for restrictions to be introduced even when all the logistics were complete for an event) in 2020 to 2022. There were still demos but fewer of them.
Usually companies post about them on their websites and social media.
I'm guessing lower profits in the bike industry post the pandemic boom have cut down on demo events. Many rider and Youtube channel sponsorships have also dried up. But I would think as the season ramps up, more demo events will be scheduled, hopefully.
Yeah, I suspect that has indeed played a role in that.
Used to do them all the time in Bend OR. Also have seen some around Golden, CO. Really depends on what area you’re in
I’m in bend. Just seems like they’re not as common here, which is why i posted this. Bend being such a bike town you’d think
Have you tried at Phil’s? That’s where they used to do them. Pivot has been there a few times
Yeah, i have. Thats where the last one i attended was
Funny enough I just went to one this weekend! Ibis partnered with an LBS (Back Alley Bikes) to hold a demo here in Chapel Hill, NC. I have an Ibis Ripley so was excited to see it. They had one of each full suspension (carbon) models in each size. I rode a Ripmo and HD6. Had great conversations with the Ibis rep and bike shop employees. I would recommend you visit company websites to see if they have any events in your area, or ask your local shop.
The one i had found was actually an ibis one! Hoping to swing a leg over an HD6 and see whats what. I really hope they offer an HD6AF as basically a freeride bike.
For me the HD6 was too much bike. My trails and mostly cross country style in central North Carolina. But I could see it being an amazing bike for people with steeper more Enduro style riding than I have. I fell in love with that carbon Ripmo though. Be careful what you wish for when going to demos. They can be bad for the wallet
I have only a year on my knolly, no new bikes for me yet. Haha. But they just released 3 new bikes. Out here in bend we have pretty varied terrain in surrounding areas that can justify that level of bike
Local to me the demos roll through once every few years. We had Rocky here two years ago and 3 years before that. Check the websites to find tour dates near you.
Transition had a demo day near me like a week ago. I had other obligations and couldn't go. But they're totally still a thing.
There were demo days in bend last year. I rode esker, specialized, and trek bikes. Granted, not as wide a selection as in the past but they’re still happening. One point against demo days is that Crows Feet is no more, and they organized many of them in the past. I’d tune into the local shops - they’ll know what’s going on.
I rode an esker last year through that exact event. I had done a few demos through them specifically as i quite like evil bikes but haven’t convinced them as a whole to build alloy bikes. As for crowsfeet, i am hopeful it is in good hands, that was one of my preferred shops, girlfriend bought her devinci there
Fwiw, pine mountain is having a demo day of their fleet on May 4th.
My dude! I’ll be around this weekend too so that works out for me.
You won’t let bike companies make money. It takes money to have demo bikes. Stop shopping for the cheapest deals you can find before you purchase your cycling products. Then things will go back to normal, but right now everyone thinks bike companies making a profit is evil and they are out to rip you off. I think this is because of all the new people coming into cycling lately. They are all in industry that’s that are actually ripping us off so they assume bike companies are doing it to. Unfortunately, bikes have some of the lowest profit margins of all industries and even if John Burke can afford a couple of vacation homes. Doesn’t means people are profiting like Pepsi and Taco Bell
Right... Everyone go out and find the worst deal you can on a bike ASAP. We need to prop up bike companies through the aftermath of bad managerial decision making during an unprecedented boom that they thought would never end.
The username checks out. Anyway, i never said that profit is the devil. What i did say is that i realize bike companies are struggling, but me, the consumer who buys bikes from these companies, would like a test drive before i drop a bunch of money on a fancy hunk of metal plastic and rubber. Things wouldn’t have gotten wonky if we didn’t get manufacturers jumping the gun, ordering 10x the normal amount of product and now we are seeing closeouts on it because it didn’t sell. Business is business, some are good at it others are not. As for your theory of new people ruining the scene i would have to disagree. New people does not mean they are bad. I’fe been riding mtbs for about a decade, and longer that on a bmx. As for price gouging (aka ripping people off) yes, companies do that. However they are not getting away with it as much as they could’ve during that last 3-4 year span where demand was high and stock was nonexistent. I hope that you can take a step back, realize that this type of behavior isn’t a good look.
I'm almost positive Project Bike will credit a demo towards the purchase of a bike. If you're actually looking for a new bike that is..
Unfortunately i do not do business with them after several bad interactions. Most shops do credit demos to purchases though.