A Match Made In Heaven...or Taichung: Taichung Bike Week and Eurobike Sitting in a Tree

Last month the increasingly obsolete Taipei Cycle groaned to a close-- a dinosaur of a show in an industry that has created more bottom bracket standards in the past ten years than I have changed flats. 

Taipei Cycle has been increasingly directed toward the retailers and the emerging markets with many of the major players sleepwalking into town for an expensed drink...if they even bother coming at all. 

The real action in the bicycle industry heats up during Taichung Bike Week in October, when industry managers converge on Taichung to finalize the specifications on the products and their prices that will be coming out the following year or two. As opposed to Taipei Cycle, Taichung Bike Week is entirely about looking into the future. 

With the current state of the bicycle industry when even the Giant mega-empire has lost a quarter of its value over the past year, getting a jump on manufacturing has become essential as it can allow brands to implement new technologies they hope will invigorate stagnating sales, or to nail down the production details (prices) for an extended model run for more than a single season. Production errors and unforeseen market problems in the past have led to far too much overhead failing to sell in the premium market with brands hoping to break even elsewhere in smaller markets past the model's expiration date. 

Taichung's central location plays an essential role in allowing 90% of the top OEMs to be within 40min. of the city. Representatives from the OEMs and brands can hustle off to iron out the details immediately following a presentation. 

One of the advantages of Taichung Bike Week is that it is a closed convention by invitation only, organized by industry volunteers for the industry without having to play ball with the local government or the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA). It also caters to Taiwanese OEMs and their supply chain, keeping the center fixed in Taiwan for the time being. 

This year Pro-Lite CEO, Steve Fenton, who also serves as the chief organizer of Taichung Bike Week, has reached out to Stefan Reisigner, a board member of Eurobike, to help with the organization and logistics of the event aimed at putting more brands in contact with their OEM counterparts more efficiently. Taichung Bike Week, which has often struggled with Taichung's limited exhibition space, has also procured space at the Lin Garden Hotel as a 4th location to host presentations and visitors.

Bicycle Retailer Reports: 

The seventh edition of  Taichung Bike Week will be Oct. 18-21 this year. Eurobike is working with TBW to provide attendees with a new "matchmaking tool."  The matchmaking tool will enable exhibitors and visitors to show off what they have to offer and what they are interested in before the event starts. Using their accounts, they will be able to make appointments and receive contact suggestions customized to fit their profile.

According to Fenton: 

It is all important that we use the 4^th location to bring in even more brands that need bigger space to present their ideas and products and the 4^th hotel will do this. The hotel is Called The Lin [Garden]and is about the same distance from Evergreen Hotel that Splendor is but in the opposite direction. It’s easy for us to arrange a shuttle bus every 30 minutes and as you know it’s never hard to get a taxi in Taiwan as they are everywhere. The location offers a huge amount of space for brands who need either large presentation rooms down to a small booth of say 3 x 3 mts. Best of all its got a huge space for the TBW party which we have struggled with over the last 2 years due to no space left in the three venues we use now. We decided to go ahead with a 4^th venue after asking many exhibitors about whether they feel we should talk to the City Government about using the exhibition centre they are building and the answer was a very clear no. As you know the event is run by the industry for the industry and we are a team of volunteers who do not get paid or take anything out of the event for free.

With the dual pressures of a dim forecast for the entire bicycle industry through 2018, and the rise of the direct sales model for branding online (the Canyon model), what happens in Taichung and how it happens only increases the importance Taichung Bike Week plays as the linchpin of the entire industry and possibly the most important week of the cycling calendar.  

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Also:

Don't miss the this Sunday's 2016 running of the Paris-Roubaix and Taiwan's Feng Chun-kai as he supports Lampre-Merida. Feng scored as DNF last year and also failed to finish last weekend's iconic Tour of Flanders.

The China Posts reports on an up and coming cyclist. 

               

Taipei Cycle 2016: Another Round

The 2016 edition of Taipei Cycle has come and gone, and it is official. According to the organizers, Taipei Cycle grew 1% over last year, with 8300 international buyers from 107 countries.

Despite the usual platitudes and official indications of another rousing success--if you ask any vendor, the show was a success is the standard pat answer--the 2017 edition of Taipei Cycle will be rescheduled for a July opening in response to Taipei Cycle's growing obsolescence in the long shadows cast by the most important Taichung Bike Week in November, Eurobike in late August and Interlake a month later in late September. Taipei Cycle has been struggling to find a niche to appeal to distributors and retailers.

I was already feeling a type of zombie-like malaise about the show last year, and this year the feeling was even more acute, with many of the same vendors going through the motions because the competition is also there going through the motions, but the heart was sadly missing. The feeling in the Nangang Exhibition Hall was subdued at best and, at least of the last day, the day that was open to the public, the cavernous exhibition center was relatively quiet. Many of the long corridors between booths looked like Main Street in a ghost town. Many of the usual carnival barkers pulling stunts and hopping on chain stays sat in silence in front of once screen or another. Even some of the bigger names decided to give it a miss or allow local distributors fill in for the company booth. Even the iconic groups manufacturer, Campagnolo, failed to show up...as if anybody would have noticed anyway.

Now, this isn't to put down any of the terrific vendors who worked their asses off all weekend to make something of the show. I talked with several dedicated people who believe in their products and were busy pulling the deals over coffee and refreshments. The issue is Taiwan's place in the industry and the timing of the event does not make an early March expo a necessity for most companies.

Even more surprising...or not...was the lack of interest in Taipei Cycle 2016 in the wake of the Velo-cities bicycle conference that was held in the week prior. It seemed there was little crossover between the two events.

For Taipei Cycle, I picked up my press badge and strolled among the vendors looking for the story of the expo. I found I was really looking for anything to take home to write about and very little help.


Some of the biggest OEMs were in attendance.


There were plenty of enthusiastic cyclists roaming the carpets dreaming cyclist dreams of n + 1.


For some booths, any answer was the wrong answer.


I was happy to see Los Angeles representing in Taipei.



Several of the booths had been reimagined and looked pretty spectacular, while others simply needed a wall of racks to support product.




Several distributors trotted out some established brands in a variety of settings to whet the appetite of possibility, when a brand earns or develops a reputation that holds the customer's imagination and trust, to increase the imagined value against the actual costs.


If last year was the year of the Fat Bike, this was the year of the gravel / mixed surface / gran fondo bike. I was happy to get a look at Seven's new mixed surface titanium Evergreen. Beautiful bikes... but I'm a bit partial.


I was hugely disappointed with Fuji. The Global Product Manager for the Road Division had put up on Facebook some press and pictures of this bike in the hills of Taipei. I was hoping to get a little more information from the representatives at the Fuji booth. Instead, a group of about eight or nine booth reps were too busy hanging out with each other, and when I tried to have a few questions answered, they just pointed me toward the bike without followup. I may not be the largest publication, but I was treated with much more grace and kindness by other large vendors.

It seems more companies are hoping the average rider realizes he is just that, average, and looks for something a little more practical in comfort and geometry.


The promise of electronic shifting and hydraulic braking was on full display. Several companies were flashing their wares in this realm.


I was again happy to see my good friends at Primavera Cycles. They make such wonderful alloy bikes that are made in Taiwan. Primavera is an excellent example of a Taiwanese company that has worked hard to develop and nurture a brand's growth through shrewd tenacity and measured growth to establish a stable and reliable brand. Several smaller companies try to rush too much product to the market at one time, unable to focus on the supply chain or mismanaging their media. Primavera have been stellar in this.


I have to admit that if I ever got into MTB, I would be looking at Santa Cruz.


Bowman Cycles had this beauty with their partner at Token.


Every year I see so many great ideas coming from Tern as they focus on making bicycles that can fold into our lifestyles rather than forcing our lifestyles to radically change to accommodate a bicycle.

Meanwhile, Brompton was doing what they do best.


Then it was time to play Taiwan Bike Brand Bingo!!!!!

Several names are simply used as place markers (Your Brand Name Here). Others are hoping to establish themselves as viable bicycle brands in their own right.




For Axman, a highly regarded OEM for finish work, it is a careful balancing act as the company is poised to expand its own branding throughout Asia, while trying not to encroach into the markets established by its customers. Several of Taiwan's OEMs are hamstrung by their position between OEM and the retail market.

Others are simply "brands" as far as they paint a logo on someone else's tubes while they sell off surplus bulk purchased components.

In many cases, it is a choose your own adventure with available tube combinations to "create" a new model.



This year the cold war for visibility has gotten hot as several companies deployed a full arsenal of visual enticements to attract eyeballs onto curious new products or at least raise the visibility of a brand and come out hard in a soft market.



At one point there were five competing groups of expo-babes vamping about competing for attention. I thought they might break out into a rumble like A West Side Story in hot pants.


And for those who were not interested in following the Expo-babes, they had an echelon of TdT teams and a few big names who were all too happy to remain anonymous, having been reduced to signing autographs at a wonky trade show.

For the record, DURO Tire and Wheel  won this battle hands down.


In the sea of products where everyone is trying to differentiate themselves from the next guy and it is a shell game of suppliers vs. producers, I was happy to chat with Steve Fenton of Pro-Lite. He was a generous and gracious host to me at his booth and expounded in detail on how he has built up his company, his brand and maintained the valuable relationships that keep a brand viable in a market overflowing in an immense tidal wave of products of dubious pedigree.


BLKTEC had a nice looking booth to test their wares.



I was also happy to chat for a while with the Rob Valentini, a sales manager from DT Swiss, a long time innovator in the increasingly crowded and lucrative market for bicycle wheels. DT is still driving innovation, but those damed 240 hubs will forever remain classics.


There was also an increase in disc rotor availability, with market forces driving the adoption of disc braking technologies.























And then there are all the little things....



I did have the chance to look at a few LED light manufacturers. I am beginning to think that the simple LED is the easiest product to screw up. I find more design flaws in LED lights than any other product. They are usually under engineered. The worst were from Tacx. Two pairs of the Lumos lights simply died. Lezyne has been hit or miss. Usually the fastener is inadequate or the headlight constantly shifts during a ride. Rear lights have been impractical for location, batteries are temperamental and USB charging has not been robust enough for Taiwan's weather. My latest was a bright little bastard by ilumenox that attached to my chain stay. That lasted three outings. It fails to charge.

Why is engineering an LED so difficult?


Lastly, there was the concealed bicycle motor, probably not unlike the one that everyone's friend has in a similar looking bike to our own.

While the company seemed thrilled with their achievement, I am sure Brian Cookson is less pleased.

Another common thread I heard among booth staff of Taiwanese companies, was the two-fold concern with China's encroachment into all aspects of the production of high-end equipment and the lack of interest in the Chinese market for high end bicycles in tandem with a softer European market.

That is the business....