Mike Hoffman was kind enough to write this up about the Seattle International Bike Expo, and posted it as a comment yesterday. I really appreciate his insight so I’m promoting it to a full post. His full comments are below – what a great community!

I went to the 2009 Seattle Bike Expo. It was funny because the official web site portrayed cycling as a “sport” and assured the expo would cover “all aspects of the sport” — but Portland showed up in full force, overwhelming the sportsters with a massive dose of transportation cycling consciousness. I reported the need for more transportation angle in the PR material to several organizers. They tell me that next year, per the Portland infusion and input such as mine, the Expo will be variously portrayed as a “sports” expo *and* a transportation cycling expo.

In various ways, when cycling is portrayed *only* as a “sport” and not as a daily utilitarian means of transportation, there are harmful effects, including the reduction of the number of bike trips, the affirmation and encouragement of car culture, so that the bike becomes an accomplice and accessory to car culture. In Seattle and most Washington State cities, these harms of the lopsided “bike = sport” paradigm are magnified by the $100 helmet fines that discourage cycling and encourage driving — a trend that is accomodationist (to car culture’s predominance) rather than leading in the direction of a bike revolution.

It was encouraging to see the sports booths overwhelmed by transportation booths. At the main entrance bottleneck, everyone had to go past the Momentum magazine booth, followed by the booth for the new transportation magazine, Bicycle Times. http://bikeportland.org/2009/03/11/dirt-rag-publisher-begins-era-of-bicycle-times/ I got to meet and talk with the rockstar editors of Momentum magazine. Momentum is about to do an issue with a Seattle focus. I’m only now starting to be able to contribute to it — I’d prefer to have a couple months experience with the Breezer Uptown 8 with Premium Nexus before contributing to Momentum or presenting on City Bikes at the Expo.

At the Expo, I was glad to spot some Batavus Dutch bikes, particularly one with a NuVinci continuously variable transmission, which I was interested in a year ago when I discovered contemporary Dutch city bikes. At the Expo, I bought an $1800 Batavus Ouverture NuVinci-hub bike for $650 total (new, 2007 model), and then returned it a week later for store credit toward a Breezer Uptown 8, Extra Large, diamond frame, the most recent variant, with LED lights, 1.75″ Schwalbe City Plus tires, and full chaincase (discounted a little to $1000 total).

A real star of the show were the test rides of electric-assist bikes — aside from the high cost, these could really be the right solution for transportation cycling for normal people in hilly cities.

There was a beautiful Danish brand of European city bikes available with shaft drive or with chain and a beautiful Art Deco cutout large all-around chainguard (not a chaincase), and mini-bungee skirtguard. Dynamic brand also showed shaft drive, but with no chaincase, too-flat handlebars (not angled back), and no built-in lighting system.

I met Val of Seattle Bike Supply, who rides a monster Big Dummy with NuVinci hub and maybe a StokeMonkey electric assist. I met the L.A. company that reconstructs new Flying Pigeon bikes — a great idea. He regrets omitting the O-lock, which I consider the most unappreciated and misunderstood feature of European city bikes.

There were many interesting Portland bike designers/builders. Never did I feel that people were trying to push a “bike = sports” or sports-freak paradigm onto me. It felt — it was, de facto — the 2009 *Portland* Bike Expo, except named “Seattle” and held in Seattle.

It was cold, rainy, and windy, but was still comfortably crowded. Had it been fair weather, it would have been packed.

– Mike Hoffman, author of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_city_bike