And just like that, poof, U.S. Eurobike was gone!

Messe Friedrichshafen, owners of the popular Eurobike trade show and Interbike's proposed competition in America, announced that it was postponing the Portland event.

The press release announcing that there would be no 2007 show came less than a month after the initial announcement of the trade event's existence. Oddly, this latest announcement buried the news of the show's no-show in another announcement trumpeting a partnership between Eurobike and the Sea Otter Festival.

In announcing its abrupt change of course, Eurobike is blaming its postponement in part on its inability to generate a staff in time to make the event happen. Concurrently it's moving the ball forward, it says, by pairing with Sea Otter, a large and popular bike racing extravaganza in California's Central Coast. "We'd like to harmonize the trade show with the sporting event for the Spring start of the cycling season," said Eurobike's CEO Klaus Wellmann, "in order to reach manufacturers, retailers, the media and consumers more consistently."

Linking the Sea Otter event to Eurobike's prospects for a large industry trade show is curious. While Sea Otter has its own self-billed "trade show," it consists of 250 exhibitors and the attendees are 9-to-1 Californians. Eurobike is a major sponsor of Sea Otter, but it remains to be seen whether this foothold in the U.S. market can be leveraged into a major trade show presence.