Gravel and Adventure Bike Expo joins Adventure Travel Show
With the continued rise of gravel and related sectors, the organisers of the Adventure Travel Show are adding a gravel and adventure bike area to the show next year with off.road.cc as the media partner for the new expo.
This year’s show was the 25th edition of ATS and is organised by Chris Holman, part of the COREbike team and a long-time organiser of cycling events in the UK, with fellow experienced industry exec Elaine Curtin part of the Expo organising team.
The show is held at the Business Design Centre in Islington which was home to the Cycle Show in its first two years.
“Obviously the time of year is when a lot of riders are off their bikes and we think there’ll be a lot of interest in meeting up in London, sharing stories, and of course looking at new bikes, kit and places to ride for the year ahead,” said Chris. “So we’ll be running promotions targeting the gravel and bike trekking communities as part of the marketing campaign and it’s great to have the off.road.cc team on board with us as the media partner for the Expo.”
Space will be limited to 20 stands in year one and the ATS team are utilising the stand build solution from the Bespoked shows to give brands a turnkey solution.
“We’ve made sure that taking part in the show will be as quick and easy as possible,” said Chris. “The Bespoked team will provide their expert stand build services so brands can just arrive on Friday afternoon with their product and have a brilliant-looking stand set up in minutes.”
The last ATS included talks from the likes of former BikeBiz editor Carlton Reid, ultra cyclist Kate Rawles and author of The Slow Road to Tehran Rebecca Lowe along with a live link with Duncan Covey from Australia on his round-world bike ride. Among the adventure travel specialists taking part in ATS are cycling holiday operators and destinations that want to attract cyclists of all levels to their shores.
“The Expo area will have a dedicated cycling stage hosting ‘round the campfire’ talks with seasoned gravel riders, transcontinental competitors, biketrekking experts as well as the brands taking part. They’ll be chatting about their favourite rides, recent trips and the best kit to take. But like the last show there’ll also be folks who just have epic wanderlust levels and have set out on amazing adventures by bike to get a unique take on the countries they’ve visited.”
ISON Distribution and Reilly Cycleworks attended this year’s show. Pat Joscelyne, Surly UK manager, ISON Distribution, said: “ISON returned to the Adventure Travel Show in 2025 with Surly and once again we met a different type of customer there – one that had a genuine interest in our bikes and the type of riding that each was designed for. They were knowledgeable and enthusiastic, often with 1,000s of miles of adventure under their tyres.”
Chris Ratcliff, Business Development Manager, Reilly Cycleworks, added: “It was a different type of event for Reilly and we were glad we made the effort to attend. The crowd at the show were good quality, a nice mix of riders and a new demographic that obviously want to get out and explore the world and were keen to know more about the brand and the Gradient and Reflex gravel bikes.”
The organisers intend the Gravel & Adventure Bike Expo to be focused on bikes, bags, GPS products, helmets, clothing, tyres/wheels, tools, lights, locks, plus other cool tech and outdoor kit, food and energy products.
Brands can chat to Chris or Elaine about the show.
www.graveladventurebikeexpo.co.uk
