The View From Pingtung: Michael Goes South

Be sure you check out Michael Turton's excellent ride report on his trip through Pingtung at The View From Taiwan.

It looks awesome and I have to say, Michael is looking pretty good too.

Low Budget: Another Great Taichung Bike Shop

Here is another addition to my list of Taichung bike shops.

Hong Shiang - Irland GT

Manager: Chen Bing-hong

No. 527 Taiyuan Rd. Sec-3

Beitun Dist. Taichung City, Taiwan

Tel: (04) 2437-0663

Cell: 0923-234544

email: d0923234544@yahoo.com.tw

I am not simply interested in the high end, but I also feel there is plenty of room for the lowest end. These are the work horses of Taiwan. The Irlands, The Top keys and the Jelums. These are the bikes of students and foreign workers. This shop sells low-end Irland alloy bikes and just about everything under the sun. I am sure you can find a cheap set of wheels and parts to boot. The atmosphere was relaxed and I didn't see a hint of carbon fiber. Excellent! Check it out if you are simply looking for wheels.

Bryton GPS Loses Way And Finds Lawsuit With Garmin

The clip above comes from the Steve Martin/Eddie Murphy film, Bowfinger, and depicts a trailer for the fictitious movie, Fake Purse Ninjas. When I saw this movie at the theater in Taichung, either the government or a patriotic distributor scratched out the sound when the on-screen duo declare in unison, "We're going to Tai-Wan!"

Film censorship and speech freedoms wax and wane in Taiwan (waning now), but some things are more constant... like ripping off the competition.

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According to the Kansas City Star, Bryton, the Taiwanese Cycling GPS manufacturer is being accused by Garmin of patent infringement for its line of Rider-30 cycling GPS cycling computers.

The story states:

Andrew Etkind, Garmin's vice president and general counsel, said the company is "proud of the intellectual property rights awarded to our innovative products and we have little tolerance for companies that attempt to trade unfairly on those rights."

The company is seeking a preliminary injunction to bar the sale of Bryton's Rider 30 product in the United States.

In a related development, a district court in Germany has issued a preliminary injunction against Bryton and several of its German distributors banning the sale of the Rider 30 in Germany.