Events for Bikers

This spring a new edition of the Bike Fair was held in Bucharest. The event had a lot to offer for bikepolo, urban trail or indoor cycling marathon fans.

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Ana-Maria Cononovici, 30.04.2016, 15:12

This spring a new edition of the Bike Fair was held in Bucharest. The event had a lot to offer for bikepolo, urban trail or indoor cycling marathon fans.



Valentin Ionescu, general director with the Association of Bike Traders in Romania, who organized the event, told us more: “This was the second edition of the fair. The Bike Fair is in fact an annual bike exhibition, the only event of its kind devoted solely to the bike industry, to bike enthusiasts and the biker community. We tried to make the fair as appealing as possible to guests. Apart from the exhibition itself, showcasing the latest bike brands from Romania, we also organized a series of activities. During the three days of the event, visitors could basically test-ride brand new bicycles, the latest 2016 models, be they touring bicycles, mountain bicycles, bikes for children or any other model exhibited in the fair. In parallel, we invited biker communities to join us, and we built an indoor bike track. It was a thrilling experience: we had bikepolo games, there was a contest for children, organized jointly with the Romanian police, and we tried to provide some road safety education, telling the children what to do when riding a bike in traffic. We also had spinning classes, organized by WorldClass gym, and many other similar activities”

Valentin Ionescu explains the basics of a bikepolo game: “The guys built a sort of arena, a large area covering some 600 square meters, where the game is played. The rules of the game are virtually the same as those of regular, horseback polo, except that instead of horses we use bikes. It’s a very intense and even somewhat dangerous sport, which is why we gave visitors the possibility of giving it a try, entering the arena, learning to play and seeing how it feels, apart from the demonstration games themselves. It was a novelty for the fair, because bikepolo is an underrated sport in Bucharest, and we thought we could increase its popularity by introducing it in the fair”.

Children coming to the fair had a lot of attractions available to them. Valentin Ionescu: “Children could test-ride bicycles designed for them, coming in various sizes and for all age brackets. My colleagues on site asked them various questions: what kind of rear lighting you need, what kind of headlights to use, what do to when you see a certain road sign, the distance you need to take from the vehicle in front of you, about the right of way, and so on. The idea is to be ready from a very early age, to know the important stuff”.

This was a fruitful cooperation with the Romanian Police, teaching the safety basics of riding a bike in the city.

Cycling is a growing phenomenon, fueled by the expansion of the network of special bike tracks in large cities. This was also visible in the large number of visitors to the Bike Fair in Bucharest.

Valentin Ionescu: “The event is gaining prestige. Prior to last year there was no single event devoted entirely to cycling. The first edition held last year was an important achievement. This year’s edition was on an even wider scale: an exhibition area 8,400 square meters, 65 exhibitors, over 16,000 visitors. The scope of the event shows not only how big the market is, but also how important this market is for Romanians”.

With the success this year, organizers already look ahead towards next year’s edition. A separate bike fair is scheduled to take place this autumn, bringing together bike manufacturers with special discounts on offer.

Valentin Ionescu: “People look for all sorts of bicycles: there are some who take out their bikes 10-20 times a year, so they are looking for a city bike or for a mountain bike, or a bike that you can use in amateur competitions. And then there are the passionate bikers, who enroll in contests, who need bikes that must rise to the expectations of a contest. There are also touring bikers, who use bikes to travel large distances, go on long trips, to the woods near Bucharest. Basically, every weekend the biker community organizers dozens of events, for all types of bikers”.