The floor at Interbike showed a fundamental change in the key players this year and a shift to more of a participation-based event rather than the traditional trade-show. The Outdoor Demo this year hosted several brands that were not on the show floor – Trek, Gary Fischer, Chris King, Cannondale, and Santa Cruz were some of the bigger names. At the same time, Specialized cut the size of their indoor presence while maintaining their demo booth.

However, this lack of a presence from some of the larger brands is actually opening up the show floor for others to gain attention. Companies like Giant, Kona, Rocky Mountain, Cervelo, and Scott USA all had a considerable presence this year and retailers were responding. Many of these brands reported up-beat buyers, new accounts, and more business with existing accounts this year.

In addition, the absence of these big brands did not prevent their retailers from showing up. While official show numbers are not yet available, nearly every vendor felt floor traffic was at least as strong as last year.

There were several other fundamental shifts this year. While the road market seems to be maintaining itself, the days of double digit growth are clearly over. The people who are new to the sport are still spending money, and according to most retailers, sales of road bikes remain strong, but are relatively flat. This is actually good news for the market, leading many to believe the “Lance effect” was not simply a spike in sales, but a phenomenon that grew the overall size of the road bike market.

This flattening of the road market is being offset by a pair of unrelated trends that are gaining momentum. Mountain biking is seeing a true technological boom in full suspension designs across many brands. Urban commuter bikes are slowly becoming a strong new category on many retail floors, partially driven by rising gas prices, and partially driven by a growing bicycle infrastructure across the country. Unlike the fads seen in past years – like choppers – that were strictly pushed by marketing driven consumer whims, these two categories are being driven by a passionate customer base that actually ride their bikes on a regular basis – an ideal customer for the IBD.

Companies who have been involved in commuter bikes for years are seeing considerable growth. Breezer Bikes, owned by Joe Breezer, has seen 20%+ growth over the past two years. In addition, many larger manufacturers that address multiple categories are looking at the commuter market in a new light. Schwinn’s fastest growing category is commuter bikes. Kona is also seeing the category grow.

These companies are addressing the commuter market with a wide variety of bikes. These range from single speed road bikes with beefier tires to cyclocross bikes to comfort, utilitarian bikes.

Apart from the hardgoods companies, this increase in commuter bike sales is creating the beginning of a new “cycling lifestyle” presence on the show floor. Bike retailers have never dedicated much floor space to any footwear or apparel other than lycra and cleated cycling shoes. However, partially because of the increases in commuter bikes, consumers are asking for more casual apparel that can cross-over from echelon to errands.

Sugoi is offering an entire apparel line to address this market with slim athletic silhouettes that still look casual. This was one of the key drivers behind the company’s 28% growth for the spring season.

Pearl iZUMi is also seeing growth in the more casual performance bike apparel. Loose fitting knickers and shorts, and even several pieces with a faux cotton look highlighted the line this year.

Giro launched its footwear line at WSA earlier this year and brought it to Interbike. These shoes are strictly lifestyle with a skate/BMX/mountain bike feel to them that can still easily translate to the road consumer. The company said that it will be selling the footwear line through IBD’s, but it will not rely on them as the only distribution channel. Specialty footwear boutiques and outdoor retailers will also be offered the line.

Mountain bikes have always told a strong technology story, but much of it was lost on consumers, because the average IBD customer doesn’t know the difference between a four bar linkage and a virtual pivot point. What the customer does understand is a bike that is more fun to ride downhill and still climbs uphill without a chairlift.

This year, the industry is benefiting from a variety of technological advances. Bike manufacturers are refining suspension design; the use of carbon and advanced composites is allowing lighter frames; and shock technology is making giant leaps. All of this is adding up to longer-travel, full-suspension bikes that people can actually pedal – and this story is beginning to resonate with consumers. In addition, the rise in popularity of Whistler-style free-ride parks is adding momentum to the trend.

Giant has been able to capitalize on this trend with its maestro suspension platform, which is now available in a 6.7″ travel bike. This completes Giant’s line-up of full-suspension mountain bikes, so the company has nearly every base covered from XC to DH.

Kona is also seeing success from its positioning as a core free-ride and trail bike brand. The company’s relationship with Whistler and focus on designing long-travel ride-able bikes has helped boost sales 16% in the U.S. for the year. In addition, Kona has been active with its Africa Bike program. This year, the company will be making the Africa bike available to consumers and for every two sold, one will be donated to a third-world charity. The company is also expanding its line of commuter bikes with a total of five bikes now in the Dew series and the paddy wagon, a single speed (fixed or freewheel) messenger-style urban bike.

Mavic also redesigned its entire MTB line to give cross country riders more options, but the real effort went into new wheels for longer travel bikes. Also, the company will continue to market and sell adidas cycling apparel even though it is now part of Amer Sports. As of this year, adidas cycling apparel and footwear are both being licensed by Mavic.

The final trend impacting the MTB market is the proliferation of 29’ers. Nearly every company is producing one, and it is clearly a category that cannot be ignored. While first generation 29’ers were sluggish and difficult to accelerate, the latest generation is using refined frame geometry to make them ride like 26-inch bikes. Bottom brackets are getting lower, wheel bases are getting shorter, and the handling of these bikes is getting snappier. As a result, a product that was once only embraced by a small niche, is becoming mainstream.