Constantly dwelling on superlatives becomes a bit tiring over time, both for readers and writers. After all, you can always top it all to infinity. But we can't just make up something negative right now; that would be silly. Even if it comes across as a celebratory refrain, we still have to briefly touch on the development, simply because we've been on board since Cyclingworld issue 1. And we've never regretted it.

When it comes to bare facts, one could certainly note that visitor numbers in 2025 rose another notch, but for an exhibitor like us, a local bike shop at the trade fair, the quality of the conversations is more valuable than mere numbers. We care about content. And that's precisely where Cyclingworld's strengths lie: visitors are open-minded, curious, and enthusiastic about bicycles and accessories of all kinds. Anyone who is passionate about bicycles knows that you can chat endlessly about the vastness of the bicycle cosmos, sometimes even get lost in it. And given the selection of bikes we had on display at our booth, we weren't entirely innocent of the fact that some visitors hopped from bike to bike, bombarding us with questions about the details. Therefore, Kerstin photographed almost all of the bikes on display at our booth, and we, along with our friends Andrea and Gianluca from Barco, wrote a few sentences about them. So to speak, the Cyclingworld hat stand has been brought into the vastness of the Internet, at least as far as the trade fair cars are concerned.

ABOUT OUR BIKES

But our stand is never "just bikes." It's always a creative department with our own hats, socks, water bottles, our Trailbells, and lots of other beautiful things. This year, the theme of "STYLISH HAT" as headwear was all about the CYCLE4WATER hat, our collaboration with Schorsch and Shado, IRIS, and Royalbikewear in support of the Wellfair Foundation. The hat was available for donation at the CYCLE4WATER stand, as was the delicious non-alcoholic Dortmund beer from the Bergmann Brewery, which was available from the Plato pump. And we'll reveal this much: the campaign was worth it. Since Friday evening, Schorsch has hardly known what to do with all the joy all the donors brought him and the Wellfair Foundation over the weekend. Greetings from us to the entire CYCLE4WATER team. It's a really great fit, and it was great to be able to watch your success from the premium spot right across the street.

As in previous years, we designed our booth with a number of our partners to be truly open, seamlessly displaying our builds, Cicli Barco bikes, IRIS and Albion clothing, and Ciclovation handlebar tape all within a single area. There were more visitors from Italy, including Cinelli and KASK, as well as the German bikepacking specialist Cyclite, and across the hall, the Wahoo crew with Vanwoid – our hood was impressive.

Right on time for the start of the fair at 6 p.m., not much could go wrong. After all, Martin was setting the groove at the DJ booth, and even the slight glitches in the sound system didn't throw us off the beat. If you want to enjoy the mix at home, you'll be happy here on Soundcloud.

While things weren't running smoothly during the day and the swing was a bit shaky, the evening simply carried us along, and despite non-alcoholic drinks, we almost lost track of what was going on at some point amidst all the conversations and encounters. Trade fairs can be quite demanding. We extend our thanks to many people, including Petra from Das Druckhaus in Korschenbroich, whose support was excellent despite the ambitious timeframe.

Since our stand was put to some strain on Friday evening due to the flow of visitors, we used the early Saturday morning to make some minor renovations before the women's movement's first ride with our participation took place, which was a resounding success thanks to the tremendous support of Iris Slappendel, Hunt Wheels and the Bulle bakery.

©Photos Kerstin Kortekamp & Volker Banken

Meanwhile, in the Blogger Lounge, Graeme Raeburn and Wyatt Wees recorded a podcast that we hope to share soon. Finally, in the afternoon, our road bike ride for the Italian moments of Cyclingworld, the Giro del Basso Reno, followed. KASK, Cicli Barco, Climaid, Nils Laengner, and once again our neighbors from Bulle helped turn a good ride into a perfect one. At the same time, everyone met in the Blogger Lounge for a talk by the women's movement and Women in Cycling on the topics of bikepacking and women-specific training with Karla Sommer, Kathi Sigmund, and Iris Slappendel. The place was packed.

©Photos Kerstin Kortekamp & Volker Banken

© Photos Nils Laengner

On Saturday evening, we had a few minutes of fixed crit before moving to the big table at Rigatoni & Riesling to discuss bicycles, the bicycle industry as a whole, the behavior of discounters, strategies for brick-and-mortar retail projects, Cyclingworld as a leading trade fair, and the retail landscape in particular. But that was only a side issue; first and foremost, we enjoyed delicious food and drinks, had a brilliant conversation, and enjoyed ourselves.

Sunday morning, a very special form of modern multi-event began: our booth, the classic ride, gravel, gravel & moss, and two screw workshops for women. Jo (jowillradfahren) did a great job here, and the Wera Tool Rebels equipped the whole team with excellent tools and accessories. While almost 80 riders, including our guests from Albion and the TCR winners in the pairs category, Sherry Cardona and Gereon Tewes, took part in the rides, the numbers in the Schmiedehalle were completely different. Our booth rocked; the term "crowd puller" was mentioned more than once by our neighbors. Thanks for the flowers; we'll do our best to make it happen again next year with creativity and energy.

© Photos Joel Kaumanns

© Photos Volker Banken

But first, we have to give a few compliments to Stefan Torsten and the Cyclingworld team, who once again mastered all the challenges in 2025 with relaxed composure, a touch of edge, and plenty of positive energy. Anyone who makes their exhibitors so happy is doing everything right.

Conclusion: too little time, too much going on. A luxury problem. With a hint of "our own fault." We would have liked to visit many booths, but our excursions to other halls were always rushed, leaving no time for discussion or a closer look. It's a tough call when you're looking for a quiet spot with the GCN team and end up outside, sitting on chairs at the flea market booth, having a quick chat.     

Confetti should rain down on our booth team, our many volunteers, and all the tour guides – you made sure we had some breathing room and were able to implement some ideas. We learned a lot, forgot a few things (SORRY!!!), and were simply overwhelmed at times. Let's admit it in the face of the challenges. Now we'll just wait and see how we can approach Cyclingworld 2026. The lead-up should be enough, but for now, we simply need to shift our focus to a few other things.

Now it's time to head into the 2025 spring/summer season. The sun is shining, our weekly trips are fully booked, and we still have a few ideas up our sleeve.

Greetings and kisses to all

Carsten

© Photos Kerstin Kortekamp

© Photos Volker Banken