The behemoth of the North American cycling trade shows is over for another year, bike geeks from all over the world are stumbling home with sore feet and hangovers. The industry has blown it’s load, showing us all what we have to look forward to over the next year and all I have to say is…meh.

One thing I noticed with this years coverage is that there was nothing truly new at the show. Yes there were the always crazy one off items that get their 5 minutes of glory…but what came out of the show that we have not already seen or known about? Nothing new from Shimano and nothing we haven’t already seen from another show or product launch, it was quite disappointing.

So this begs the question, should we take Interbike on a walk into the back 40 and put it out of it’s misery? Do we even need a big trade show in North America? Taipei, Sea Otter, Crankworx, and Eurobike have already come and gone, the industry has already shown their big stuff off at those shows and product launches. Is it purely an ego thing for North Americans to keep it running, or is Interbike really needed?

Maybe it’s just the world we live in today where everything gets outed early and posted on the Internet but it seems to me that since the manufacturers are getting information out faster and faster is it even necessary to bring everyone together to gawk over next years products?

We do need a place to show off the new shiny bits, network and let the manufacturers and distributors meet the dealers, and the Internet paparazzi, but is Las Vegas the place to do it? Do we as cyclists want to be surrounded by sin city, booth girls and all the glitz and glamour that comes with it? Is the middle of the dessert the right place to put a bunch of people who love being outdoors, to have them test all the latest and greatest bikes on the planet on the dry dusty trails of bootleg canyon, with the sweltering heat and high wind?

Would it make sense to have it someplace with better riding, cooler temperatures and a setting more befitting of the industry it is representing? My first thought is to have it at Whistler the week before or after Crankworx….just have a huge bike festival the likes that the world has never seen. This would bring it earlier in the year and make it relevant again. Could Whistler handle such a huge event? Would they move Interbike out of the US, probably not…so what would be the answer?

What do you think needs to happen, just take it out back and put it out of it’s misery…or give it a new face, location and life again? Share your thoughts in the comments below.