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FRIEDRICHSHAFEN, Germany (BRAIN) —Traffic clogged all roads leading to Eurobike Thursday as thousands of visitors poured into the exhibition center’s 13 halls to get a firsthand look at 2008 products. They weren’t disappointed.

European retailers were lining up to get a glimpse of SRAM’s new “Red” road group, plus a resurrected RockShox SID fork in retro blue as Greg Herbold explained the new fork’s technical features to a crowd of retailers. Other exhibitors like Kore had a shelf full of new products, and Crankbrothers’ Andrew Herrick seldom got a moments peace as he showed off new headsets and new tubeless mountain bike rims. But if there is a new product theme at the show it has to be a proliferation of carbon fiber mountain bike frames.

A light rain fell off and on throughout the day, but it failed to dampen enthusiasm for the show. “It was busier than I’ve ever seen it,” said Tom Kavanagh, a veteran trade journalist who has attended 15 of the last 16 Eurobikes. While the show office has yet to compile attendance figures, the number of attendees is almost sure to set a record.

As for Eurobike’s first Outdoor Demo, most who were there deemed it a qualified success. An Le, Giant’s global marketing director, said it went well despite the rain. And Scott Montgomery, Scott USA’s vice-president and general manager, said exhibitors were worried early in the morning as heavy rain drenched the site. But by 11 a.m., however, skies began to clear. –Marc Sani