Wideopen Product Launch

A couple of weeks back I ventured up to Rotorua for Wideopen's annual product launch. This is one dealer show I really look forward to each year as it's in Rotorua, the current mountain bike capital of NZ and the crew at Wideopen are such a great bunch of guys. It's a family affair, not a just a sales team.

The weather was certainly not the best, having our flight diverted back to Auckland we bused down which wasn't the most ideal travel. It was so wet that my bike didn't even make it out of its bag.

There's always plenty to do in Rotorua, the Whakarewarewa Forest is NZ's best riding, Zippy's Cafe for a bite to eat and a few brews of Rotorua's Croucher Ale won't disappoint. If you haven't ventured there for riding yet, you really are missing out.

The team at Wideopen make claim to being NZ's high-end component customisation centre, which they certainly back up. Let's take a handlebar for example, there are 7 different brand offerings!

These guys are agents for FSA, Stans NoTubes, POC, Absolute Black, Feedback, Thomson, ENVE, Chris King, ODI, SDG, Juice Lubes, Marsh Guard, MRP and newly added Deity. If you know your brands that's a big lineup, and that's only the ones we stock from them.

There was plenty a new product on show for the coming season, ENVE M60 plus rims, Stans new wide MK3 rims and new race sealant, newly added Deity stems, bars and pedals, MRP forks, new Feedback tools and lots of Chris King goodies.

It's always good to get an understanding of how wholesalers work, a quick trip around their warehouse is somewhat unimpressive on the eye, but impressive to the number of high-end goodies stacked high in boxes on the shelves.

The new gear mentioned is expected in October. You can check out the public face of their website which is at wideopen.co.nz.

Big thanks again to the team at Wideopen for their generosity over the weekend, and hopefully next year they'll get the weather right.