Jan Ullrich’s 2003 Bianchi EV3 with Campagnolo Record groupset

For those of us who like to keep our underwear, well, under something, there’s the Tour de France feature, or not… You won’t actually find anything labelled ‘Tour de France’ feature – a little birdie told us that there was some upset over the use of the Tour de France brand – but the feature was there regardless. It’s not clear how much the stand was affected by the alleged rumpus, but we had expected to see more along the lines of the Tour’s history. What’s there is mainly structured around a display of bikes ridden by prominent riders over the years, like Jan Ullrich’s 2003 Bianchi, on which he came second to Armstrong. There’s also Tour-related vidoes playing on a couple of screens and the opportunity to buy relevant books and videos, of course.

Merlin’s head-turning Cielo

On the trade stands one of the larger presences was from the American Bike Group where a queue of people waited for a closer look at Merlin’s rather lovely 2004 Cielo and a chance to weigh it in their own hands. The ti-lugged carbon / titanium frame was kitted out with sculpted and engraved legs in sleek black and silver, Campagnolo 2004 Record groupset, 1″ chainstays and Campagnolo Hyperon wheels. Not new, but nice to see none-the-less.

There were a few tidy-looking Litespeeds out too.

Also with a sizable presence were the lesser-known brands Massi and Fuji. Spanish brand Massi has been importing to the UK for the last five years and they’re clearly now looking to heighten the brand’s exposure. Similarly with Fuji (originally Japanese, now American-owned), whose stand was so big they had to leave the top half of it behind.

Probably the main event for road cyclists will be on Sunday, when up to 3,500 cyclists will arrive in the hall at the end of the Bike Show Ride.

Here’s a couple more pics from the show below, meanwhile we’ve got an appointment with the pub…