Belle of the Ball

The setup at the Riverside State Park Military Airstrip.

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to work at the Trek Factory Bike Demo on Friday and Saturday this last week.  There were a lot of folks who came by to say hi and try-out some of the Trek road and mountain bikes that were available.  Some were just riding by and saw the set-up and came over to check it out.  Most people got to compare several bikes and all came back with smiles.  It was great of Rider 1 and Rider 3 of Team Two Wheel to swing by for awhile.  I even got to give both Trek reps a tour of the 24 hour course after we shut-down Friday night.

I had to control my hillbilly tendencies and not obsess too much about the custom Trek Truck

The most interesting thing from our standpoint was which bikes were getting the most ride time and the feedback on each from the customers.  If the event were a ball I can say which dance cards would have been full - yup the 29" mountain bikes were out the entire time.  People wanted to ride the Rumblefish, HiFi, Superfly and Superfly 100 and the vast majority came back with very favorable impressions.

One guy came back and said, "wow I thought all the 29" wheel stuff was hype, but it is not."  Another, more mature rider commented on how at first he was picking lines through the rough-stuff and how quickly he adjusted to the bigger wheels and plowed over obstacles.  The same rider even offered that he was faster over most sections according to his GPS data.

All of these comments were validating independent reviews and information provided by Trek on the 29" bikes.  We also discussed a lot of the features of the big wheels in Mythbusters, Investigate 29-Inch Wheels a few weeks back.

So there you have it - the 29" bikes generated the most interest and rider comments which is what a Demo Day is all about - let people learn for themselves by first hand experience.

No promises, but we are already trying to pin the demo guy around for next year.  Stay tuned.