Sea Otter 2019.

[tabl10s]

Just got back last night from my first visit. I didn't see any races as was there just to buy stuff and get out of town. Windy, dusty, and hilly with an hour wait to get out of the parking lot but I got to meet some manufacturers and people.

The new Look 795 looks great and goes for $4k for the frameset. The Force AXS was in attendance and seems very nice. Cane Creek had the new "El Platino" brakeset and Jagwire had their new links in metallic Green which I have to have.

The event seems geared mostly towards MTB and will probably be my last until something peaks my interest.

[MoPho]

I was there too, the wind was crazy.

[desperado95219]

Agree completely with TABLE10s. Defintely MTB oriented. Well over 200 exhibitors, but very little actually for sale. Took be almost an hour to get to directed parking and discovered when I left that I couldn't have been parked any further away from the event.
Last time for me too!

[TobinHatesYou]

The wind is like that every year. Thursday was particularly bad. Saturday was borderline not windy and I even did the circuit race with my 5.6s. If you are expecting t-shirt weather, that is going to be rare. Most Sea Otters, the temperatures will be moderate, but the windchill will have you wishing you had a sweater or jacket.

Without a doubt Sea Otter is MTB centric, but with Interbike questionable to return, it’s the only North American bike show of any consequence for medium/small businesses to showcase their wares besides NAHBS. Expect Sea Otter to keep growing the road/gravel side of things and maybe spin-off a second expo.

As an trade show, you will see what you need to see in one day. It runs 4 days because it’s more than that. It’s MTB and road races of all categories. It’s road and gravel fondos. It’s shmoozing at exhibitor tents while they smoke some pork shoulder.

As far as parking goes, buy a reserved parking pass and also be smart...plan your day to arrive earlier. I was able to park within 100 meters/yards of the main bridge on all three days.

[tabl10s]

Darn traffic and accidents turned a 2.5 hour drive to six. Walking downhill with bad knees sucked and spent $1k in 30 minutes.

The good news is that I purchased a muscle stimulator that I'm using every day and was able to get a show discount along with a military discount.

[Brynhildr]

Anyone going to Sea Otter Canada in Blue Mountain?

Thought I might sign up for a race if I can get some buddies to go with.

[TheRich]

The wind is like that every year. Thursday was particularly bad. Saturday was borderline not windy and I even did the circuit race with my 5.6s. If you are expecting t-shirt weather, that is going to be rare. Most Sea Otters, the temperatures will be moderate, but the windchill will have you wishing you had a sweater or jacket.

Without a doubt Sea Otter is MTB centric, but with Interbike questionable to return, it’s the only North American bike show of any consequence for medium/small businesses to showcase their wares besides NAHBS. Expect Sea Otter to keep growing the road/gravel side of things and maybe spin-off a second expo.

As an trade show, you will see what you need to see in one day. It runs 4 days because it’s more than that. It’s MTB and road races of all categories. It’s road and gravel fondos. It’s shmoozing at exhibitor tents while they smoke some pork shoulder.

As far as parking goes, buy a reserved parking pass and also be smart...plan your day to arrive earlier. I was able to park within 100 meters/yards of the main bridge on all three days.

Mountain bikes are in an almost constant state of change, so just about any bike show is going to end up more MTB-centric.

[TobinHatesYou]

In the US, MTB is healthier than road in basically every sense imaginable. In competition, MTB has NICA supporting student athletes. Women and men are closer to equal footing in terms of popularity. Kate Courtney is what I consider the the brightest star in American competitive cycling. MTB has always been on the forefront of pushing technological boundaries...and the people involved are just more "chill" in general.

Like I mentioned before, Sea Otter isn't a trade show at its core. It has no core...it's a festival celebrating anything and everything bike related.

[TheRich]

In the US, MTB is healthier than road in basically every sense imaginable. In competition, MTB has NICA supporting student athletes. Women and men are closer to equal footing in terms of popularity. Kate Courtney is what I consider the the brightest star in American competitive cycling. MTB has always been on the forefront of pushing technological boundaries...and the people involved are just more "chill" in general.

Like I mentioned before, Sea Otter isn't a trade show at its core. It has no core...it's a festival celebrating anything and everything bike related.

It's a trade show that has a few races now.

There isn't much road bike innovation that requires "hands on" experience in order to evaluate because the basic bike really isn't changing. Aero, weight, stiffness compliance, that's changing, but the geometry, the basic bike, is stubbernly static...so they're going to show the stuff that is changing, mountain bikes. This is in addition to how modular a MTB is, where a road bike is much more of a package deal. If not for all the mountain bike stuff, what would there be? Road bike stuff to take it's place? Doubtful.

[tabl10s]

In the US, MTB is healthier than road in basically every sense imaginable. In competition, MTB has NICA supporting student athletes. Women and men are closer to equal footing in terms of popularity. Kate Courtney is what I consider the the brightest star in American competitive cycling. MTB has always been on the forefront of pushing technological boundaries...and the people involved are just more "chill" in general.

Like I mentioned before, Sea Otter isn't a trade show at its core. It has no core...it's a festival celebrating anything and everything bike related.

It's a trade show that has a few races now.

There isn't much road bike innovation that requires "hands on" experience in order to evaluate because the basic bike really isn't changing. Aero, weight, stiffness compliance, that's changing, but the geometry, the basic bike, is stubbernly static...so they're going to show the stuff that is changing, mountain bikes. This is in addition to how modular a MTB is, where a road bike is much more of a package deal. If not for all the mountain bike stuff, what would there be? Road bike stuff to take it's place? Doubtful.

What was SOC originally?

[surfinguru]

I've done my share of Sea Otters (racing MTB's) and I'm over it. The weather WILL be one of the following or a combo of each:

Rainy
Windy
Hot

Not a fan of waiting in line for an hour to get a practice run in then getting crammed into a van for the ride back up the hill while my bike gets packed into a box truck like a sardine in a tin; stupid traffic; weather.

At one time you could bargain/get good deal on gear, but those days are long gone. Now it seems, as others have pointed out, it just a big display for the manufacturers.