Yesterday, Friday 27th September 2013, was the day of my usual annual visit to the Cycle Show at the NEC, Birmingham. I usually love this event, now in it’s third year in Brum, the 2012 event was indeed a fine day out for all the cycling tribes – however, this year’s left me feeling somewhat disappointed.

Yes, there were loads of bikes for adults, kids and most disciplines – road, mountain, commuter, utility, BMX, free ride. But there was a massive and disproportional focus on electric bikes – almost a whole hall of the three – and big names were conspicuous by their absence. I had gone to investigate tyres and luggage – yet my favourite tyre manufacturer, Schwalbe, were not present as they have been previously. Luggage was non-existent, too, as Carradice, Ortleib and others weren’t there. There were no stands by Fisher/SRAM, Brooks Saddles or Wellgo. Good bike manufacturers like Madison, Pearson, Charge were absent. To add insult to injury, Madison Genesis displayed only their team bikes, out of reach atop team cars.

The displays of riding were good, and there were all the usual test tracks and chances to tire-kick; but at £14 a ticket in advance (including a weaselish £1 booking fee for what amounts to the supply of a barcode you print yourself) it simply wasn’t worth the cash.

Yes, I saw some great stuff – Enigma, the disability bikes, Hope Technology, Van Nicholas were all great, as they always are. But this event needs more than these dwindling numbers of regular brands to pull in the punters.

Cycling in the UK is an expanding market, increasing annually despite the recession, and local bike shops cannot hold the range to give true choice. A show like this is surely the best opportunity to reach out to cyclists – both the committed enthusiasts and the curious beginners. It’s sad that a show that was going well has been reduced to this.

The show runs tomorrow (Sunday 29th), but if I were you, at £16 on the door, don’t bother – go and ride your bike instead.

Rugeley’s Zipvit were popular for their energy food samples.

BMW kids bike. Wonder who’s designing them?

Heavens to Bertha, what is the point of and electric mountain bike?

Some interesting folders. Bet that’s fun in a pothole.

Hope Technology components. Made in the UK at Barnoldswick by hard northerners on oily machines. Beautiful engineering.

Raleigh do irony. This bike is £2,000. The original bike like this – a 70s/80s classic – was the bike you’d buy from Kays catalog for £2 a week

Classic surgeon’s plastic steed.

Titanium makes for a lovely frame. Enigma make a lovely bike.

Handcycles are fearsomely fast with an experienced user

Enigma belt drive. A dream commuter.

Enigma mountain bike. Gorgeous

Helmet covers that make you look like Paul Simon in 1972. Er, OK.

I did like these fun paint jobs

Van Nicholas – killer combination of titanium, hub gear and belt drive.

The freeride kids are serious, and don’t need none of your steenkin’ saddles…

Thankfully, the hipster fixie silliness is coming to an end

Lights were about the only product well represented

The only Cannondale I saw at the show, in it’s natural environment. That’s a workshop stand, waiting to be fixed.

As if rust wasn’t enough, we now add dry rot to the list of cycling worries

A lot of the electric assist bikes look a bit fudged

This is so wrong, on any number of levels.

It was busy by the time I left, but few I spoke to were happy with the content

Balance bikes are the way to teach kids to ride. Brilliant.

This is a £1,500 electric, self balancing unicycle – the solution to a problem nobody has.

Exhibitors were glad to demo their products

Hope’s R8 light for off-road. A very long time coming, this is enough to blind a badger. Hardcore isn’t the word

Hope are my light of choice. I love them.

Why do marketers imagine the only things one buys and puts in a bike basket are French loaves and flowers?

Comes to something when one of the biggest stands is by a car manufacturer not known for bikes

Tyres were sadly underrepresented, with Schwalbe absent, but the Continental stand was interesting.

This is a ladies bike. We know this because it has a partially pink paint job. When will the industry get over this?

That’s a Gates Center-Track drive. Silent, clean, no lubricant, no stretch.

Enigma titanium. Beautiful, British designed and build, arm and a leg. Want one.

Murphy were doing some fine safety work. Never, ever get up the inside of a HGV.

Ride a rolling road (‘Trainer’) and take part in video races. The bike is a Genesis, another brand largely absent.

Nice to see the BMX fans looked after

Easy rider? Wow.

Downhill is an interesting thing. Don your body armour and throw sense to the wind

Pink. Oh dear.

The engineering on this is impressive, though

On the Wheels for All stand, guys were doing sprint rolling challenges on hand cycles. These guys could go.

This is a moped. Come off it…

One for the leather lovers

Wooden wheel rims. Why, dear lord, why?

More of BMWs curious design ethos

The Bosch electric drive was present on a lot of electric bikes and seems the best engineered

BMW bikes: the ideal bike for the inconsiderate pavement cyclist