Finally... Electric Bike Expo in Chicago Area

[Griego]

Online E Bike sites are a little behind on this one.

The Electric Bike Expo is coming to the Chicago area.
Electric Bike Expo – Chicagoland
June 23-25, 2017
Hours: Friday 3pm – 7pm; Saturday 9am-6pm; Sunday 10am-5pm
Lincolnwood Town Center, 3333 Touhy Ave., Lincolnwood IL 60712

Just north of Chicago in Lincolnwood
Details (Link Removed - No Longer Exists)

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

I will be there and look forward to meeting some of you at the Expo.

 

[EBike Expo]

As our first ever Midwest stop, we too are excited about the Chicago market. Working with the Active Transporation Alliance and a number of other organizations (including the Lincolnwood Police Department). The Lincolnwood Town Center is rolling out the red carpet for us. This mall is doing great pre-event promotions and our Comcast TV campaign starts this coming week.

We will be packed with national brands like Blix, Bulls, Cannondale (our new Terrain Lane Sponsor), Easy Motion, Elby, Giant, Gazelle, IZIP, Kalkhoff, Ohm, Raleigh, Riese & Muller, Smartmotion, Specialized, Stromer, Tempo (Expo Charity Sponsor), Tern, Trek (Expo Track Sponsor), Urban Arrow, Wallerang, and Xtracycle, with the latest electric drive systems from Bosch (Expo Presenting Sponsor), Shimano, and others.

We can also confirm that local retailers M&M Cyclery (has 2 location Mundelein and Buffalo Grove); Becky’s Bikes (Crystal Lake), and Kozy’s (5 locations in the Chicagoland area) will be exhibiting and showcasing their bikes.

There are still more announcements to come for this event so stay tuned!

 

[fxr3]

Online E Bike sites are a little behind on this one.

The Electric Bike Expo is coming to the Chicago area.
Electric Bike Expo – Chicagoland
June 23-25, 2017
Hours: Friday 3pm – 7pm; Saturday 9am-6pm; Sunday 10am-5pm
Lincolnwood Town Center, 3333 Touhy Ave., Lincolnwood IL 60712

Just north of Chicago in Lincolnwood
Details (Link Removed - No Longer Exists)

Online e bike sites are not behind, EBR has been ready for promotor of ebike expo to start posting about expo for years now. Fortunately, you did it for them.

 

[fxr3]

May I pubically suggest a couple of things to improve awesome ebike expo?
A longer straight away, and side view mirrors- either attached to helmets or bar ends.

 

[EBike Expo]

Actually, both Kort and Pete have been great supporters of the Expo series but I felt it was important to keep you guys up to speed on the little details as things change almost daily. To that end, we just received a commitment from Erik's Bike - Board - Ski to participate in both the Chicagoland event as well as the Burnsville, MN Expo in July.

As to the comments about growing the track and mirrors, I have heard this before but the reality is that we currently use more than 50,000 square feet of surface space, which costs a great deal of money to lease for 4-1/2 days. In addition, we install more than 800 linear feet of chain link fence around the exterior which usually makes up the longest section of the track. We install more than 200 bicycle rack style guardrails and hundreds of aluminum exhibit frames and fabrics. All total, we transport two 53ft trucks worth of our equipment on top of the tents and other items we rent locally. This is not a low-cost operation.

Adding length to the test track has some positives and negatives. Besides the potential of significant added cost for the space, (which the exhibitors must budget for), for the experienced riders, getting the bikes up to maximum speed is a great thrill, but considering more than 50% of our attendees are testing an electric bike for the very first time at the Expo, allowing maximum speed is not always the best as they need to learn how to fully control the added power before pushing the limit. On a side note, it seems that the higher the speeds we allow, the more damage the bikes suffer from riders pushing the limits, particularly in corners that were designed to purposely slow the riders down. The Expos are all about getting new riders to experience the fun of riding an eBike.

As for mirrors, this is completely up to the manufacturers and the retailers to add to the bikes. We have yet to find any sponsor that is interested in funding the installation of these to either the handlebars or the helmets, but we will keep looking as this is a reasonable idea.

 

[bob armani]

Online E Bike sites are a little behind on this one.

The Electric Bike Expo is coming to the Chicago area.
Electric Bike Expo – Chicagoland
June 23-25, 2017
Hours: Friday 3pm – 7pm; Saturday 9am-6pm; Sunday 10am-5pm
Lincolnwood Town Center, 3333 Touhy Ave., Lincolnwood IL 60712

Just north of Chicago in Lincolnwood
Details (Link Removed - No Longer Exists)

Chicagoland is is dire need for this Expo to get the word out. Each and every time I have mentioned the word 'EBIKE' to my colleagues here, they always have a perplexed look on their faces, so there is a need to explain what these machines are and what the general functionality is. Thanks to EBR and the wealth of information it offers, this is becoming an easy task. Kozy's seems to be one of the only dealers in this area that carries many brands, however, it is a daunting task to find local dealers that are certified to work on many of the different motors. I hope the Expo brings many more dealers on board. I have talked to my LBS I do business with, and they all seem to show very little interest to jump in and handle the ebike products. I hope this changes. Thanks so much for coming to the Midwest!

 

[EBike Expo]

Bob,
We are actually very excited to come to this region. The support we have received from the venue has been amazing as is the excitement from the local shops participating. As you mentioned, Kozy's has a number of locations and they are going to be exhibiting at the Expo with a second canopy with IZIP and Raleigh. Becky's Bikes will be there with a display, M&M Cyclery is exhibiting and we have Erik's from the MN area who are actually just opening a new shop near to where the Expo is being held.

In working with the NBDA, we are actually hosting some educational sessions, including one on Friday that is a Peer-to-Peer gathering for local retailers and manufacturers to hold a constructive conversation about what each is looking for from the other. Education and training are two of the key topics of discussion.

I also want to announce that for the very first time, BMW is participating in the Expo as an electric bike manufacturer. They are coming on as our Educational Pavilion sponsor for the rest of the tour stops and will be bringing their bikes, plus a couple of electric cars as well. They will showcase their new electric bike rack on the back of a new SUV. There are three very important points to make here; 1. These are bikes that BMW actually makes. These are not a licensing deal with other OEM producers. 2. They will be marketing these bikes exclusively through the more than 340 BMW dealerships around the country, and 3. the Expo will be an integral part of the dealer education to help them sell these bikes to the public.

Active Transportation Alliance will be promoting the Tempo raffle so come out and support your local cycling advocacy organization in buying a ticket and maybe you will go home with a new $4000.00 electric bike on Sunday!

As for more shops learning about electric bikes, our events have attracted many dealers to come and spend serious time evaluating the market. They get to meet with the manufacturers, they get to see how other retailers are marketing their eBike products and they get to observe what consumers are drawn to.

I can tell you that the number of people that are traveling from multiple states away is significant. Our registration shows people coming from Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Vermont, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, and elsewhere. This is on top of the strong interest from nearby in the Chicago area.

 

[bob armani]

Bob,
We are actually very excited to come to this region. The support we have received from the venue has been amazing as is the excitement from the local shops participating. As you mentioned, Kozy's has a number of locations and they are going to be exhibiting at the Expo with a second canopy with IZIP and Raleigh. Becky's Bikes will be there with a display, M&M Cyclery is exhibiting and we have Erik's from the MN area who are actually just opening a new shop near to where the Expo is being held.

In working with the NBDA, we are actually hosting some educational sessions, including one on Friday that is a Peer-to-Peer gathering for local retailers and manufacturers to hold a constructive conversation about what each is looking for from the other. Education and training are two of the key topics of discussion.

I also want to announce that for the very first time, BMW is participating in the Expo as an electric bike manufacturer. They are coming on as our Educational Pavilion sponsor for the rest of the tour stops and will be bringing their bikes, plus a couple of electric cars as well. They will showcase their new electric bike rack on the back of a new SUV. There are three very important points to make here; 1. These are bikes that BMW actually makes. These are not a licensing deal with other OEM producers. 2. They will be marketing these bikes exclusively through the more than 340 BMW dealerships around the country, and 3. the Expo will be an integral part of the dealer education to help them sell these bikes to the public.

Active Transportation Alliance will be promoting the Tempo raffle so come out and support your local cycling advocacy organization in buying a ticket and maybe you will go home with a new $4000.00 electric bike on Sunday!

As for more shops learning about electric bikes, our events have attracted many dealers to come and spend serious time evaluating the market. They get to meet with the manufacturers, they get to see how other retailers are marketing their eBike products and they get to observe what consumers are drawn to.

I can tell you that the number of people that are traveling from multiple states away is significant. Our registration shows people coming from Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Vermont, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, and elsewhere. This is on top of the strong interest from nearby in the Chicago area.

Ebike Expo-
Wow, This is very exciting news! I'll have to head over to a local BMW dealership and take a test drive. I spoke to Erik's bikes in MN and they indicated that they will be opening a new store in the Deerfield, IL location. This is much farther north from where the expo will be held. Thanks for all your hard work and I will like to attend the educational portion of the Expo if I am allowed to. I have done the pre-registration process. Have a great day and ride safe!

 

[EBike Expo]

Bob,
I don't believe that all of the local BMW dealerships have bikes as of yet. As they go through the training we are providing, I believe that some will add bikes into the accessory department. I would call and check first. You can always come and ride them at the rest of the Expo series for 2017!

As for the new Erik's shop, you are correct it is not super close to Lincolnwood, but it is much closer than the shop in Wisconsin or Minnesota!

 

[harryS]

One more day to attend tomorrow. All the exhibitors are super nice. Good time.
.

 

[bob armani]

I will be there and look forward to meeting some of you at the Expo.

Hey Ravi- It was great to finally meet you at the Expo. It was an awesome event that I hope others were able to enjoy as I was able to meet with many kind reps from all of the leading ebike manufacturers. Very informative and a wealth of information on most of the 2017 models. One of my absolute favorite new models was the Trek Super Commuter 28mph speed pedelec. Smooth, well balanced, light weight and very responsive Bosch motor with a Carbon fiber fork.

 

[bob armani]

One more day to attend tomorrow. All the exhibitors are super nice. Good time.
.View attachment 17097 View attachment 17098 View attachment 17099 View attachment 17100

Hey Harry-The expo layout was great and the testing track was large enough to test the speed and responsiveness of the commuters. I was also happy to see BMW join in on their presentation of their new BMW Cruise ebike with the Bosch motor. Hope to see the Expo here next year! Enjoy.

 

[Over50]

Is Haibike represented? If so, did anyone have a chance to ride the Trekking Xduro 4.0? Its the class 1 2017 model. I'm thinking of purchasing one and would be really interested as to any review/feedback any riders have.

At the D.C. expo I attended in 2016, there was a BMW branded bike in the Bosch tent that I took for a spin. It was a class 1 bike but I found the geometry to be excellent. It was a nice ride for sure but it didn't look like any of the BMW bikes I saw when I just did a Google search ... maybe it was a prototype or something.

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

Is Haibike represented? If so, did anyone have a chance to ride the Trekking Xduro 4.0? Its the class 1 2017 model. I'm thinking of purchasing one and would be really interested as to any review/feedback any riders have.

At the D.C. expo I attended in 2016, there was a BMW branded bike in the Bosch tent that I took for a spin. It was a class 1 bike but I found the geometry to be excellent. It was a nice ride for sure but it didn't look like any of the BMW bikes I saw when I just did a Google search ... maybe it was a prototype or something.

They only made limited number of them. We had a long discussion about it long time ago.
https://electricbikereview.com/foru...w-cruise-ebike-2014-compiled-april-2015.1706/