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. 

               

Biking Taiwan's East Coast: The Glory of Green

Michael Turton over at The View From Taiwan has a wonderful write-up and pictorial spread on his adventures riding Taiwan's East Coast and Green island. It is obvious why the area is ranked the number 2 area in the world for cycle tourism.

Here is one little excerpt on the routes they took and especially on some of the trouble that occurs where the bike meets train. In Taiwan the left and right hands of the civil service are merely the anonymous sperm donors to the same policy.

The next morning, the dawn of a cool, overcast day, we cruised the 193 back to Hualien city, and picked up the 1:02 express back to Fengyuan. It turns out that 193 is much easier and faster done from the south -- I had underestimated the extent to which it is one long uphill slog from Hualien. It's a lovely road, one of the best on the island, never trafficked, and the views over the rift valley are incredible. Highly recommended.

The train proved to be another encounter with the TRA's bike train crapshoot. We bought the tix for the 1:00 pm express in Taitung the day before. There we were informed there were no bike places for our bikes and we would have to bag them --- even though it was a designated bike train with the special car for bike storage without needing to disassemble them and on which bikes could travel for free with a ticket for car 12. The spaces for the bikes were all taken, we were told.

The reality was that, as usual, the TRA staffer was wrong about the policy. In fact, we were able to pay the baggage fee and bring the bikes on the same train as luggage in the same compartment as the free bikes with the bike tickets. In fact, there were no such bikes, for the entire trip ours were the only bikes on the train -- meaning we could have had one of the four free bike spaces. The computer system associates the bikes with a seat in car 12, the car with the luggage facility, meaning that if the seats in car 12 are sold out, then there are no free bike spaces (that's right, bikes do not have priority in that arrangement -- it is impossible to get a free bike shipment if you have to sit in another car, as we did). Someone needs to give the brains of TRA planners are thorough scrubbing. There was absolutely no reason we couldn't have been treated as a free bike shipment and no reason not to reserve seats for cyclists in car 12, since it is a designated bike train. Argh!

Some really lovely photos in this set: HERE

*photos courtesy of Michael Turton

Bike Train

• Tern, the new folding bike company that emerged from the odd family feud from the founders of Dahon, will be advertising heavily in Taipei this week. I would love to know where to actually buy a Tern.

• Taipei Cycle opens today. See what is shaking at the Nangang Exhibition Center.

• The Velocity wins the International Bike Design Competition.

• Formerly on Formosa, David Reid showcases his new bike. This would be ideal for a lot of Taiwan-based riders.

Also:

People laughed at me 4 years ago when I was zipping along roadways with a disc equipped drop bar bicycle. Now, Colnago releases a C-59 Disc roadbike. Vindication is mine!

Trade Shows, Prologues and Weekend Links

Iced Latte at Warehouse 185

My weekend riding was pretty much a wash. I rode the La Cruz "The Moose" for a little bit on Saturday, and took the Seven up to Dakeng on Sunday. The leg issue is still a rehab assignment in progress, where I can ride for several kilometers without issue and then things get painful. When the pain sets in I'll so dome stretching and I'll be fine for a while longer... and repeat. So, I climbed two-thirds the way up to the CKS Campground and enjoyed a descent nice enough to put a smile on my face. I then cooled my knee at the 185 Warehouse cafe with James Murray, the sales manager there.

In other Taiwan related bike news...

• The Taipei International Cycle Show wrapped up with mixed reviews. I guess it depends upon which end of cycling you're from. Sabinna from Cycling Satin Cesena and Primavera Cycles loved the colors, lights and the collection of the entire supply chain under one roof. OzSoapbox was a little less excited by a show that is more geared toward industry wonks rather than the consumer. Still, I think I could get excited about bamboo bikes.
• The Tour of Taiwan is now well underway with the South Korean, Park Sung-baek, taking the first stage (I'm sure he cheated *wink!*), after the prologue was taken by the Aussie, Adam Phelan. It appears Taiwan's government is shilling for TOEIC standardized testing by requiring a TOEIC certificate to serve as an official translator for the Tour of Taiwan.

Well Spoke: Bike Links

• In the aftermath of the Sendai earthquake, some athletes have come together to raise money for some of the victims. If you are interested, you can follow the links provided by Craig Johns at Taiwan Racing.
• Taiwan's BioLogic has been hard at work on an iPhone mount for your bike. This will allow you to better tune out traffic and ignore other cyclists with a game of Angry Birds.
• The Tour de Taiwan is getting ready to launch March 19th. Keep your eyes peeled for its use as a propaganda tool. Yes, I am serious.
• Taipei Cycle kicks off this weekend. Be sure to stop by the booth operated by Leeche International Sports Co., Ltd and say hello from Taiwan In Cycles. I hope they will be more professional and courteous with you than they were with me. For a real look at a company with class, see Primavera Cycles. Lots of stuff to see in Nangang.

The Perfect Bike For A Great Pair Of L'eggs!!!

For a design that is well over 100 years old, we sure hear a lot about making it better. Taipei Cycle is just weeks away and bicycle designers already have a whole slew of new technologies and concepts they would like to showcase.

For a while now, bike makers and their marketing departments have been selling us on new materials to make us better cyclists. We have heard plenty about the weight of steel, the harshness of aluminum, the expense of titanium, and the brittleness of carbon fiber. Then there are the fringe materials like magnesium, bamboo and various alloying elements.

The fact of the matter is, they can all be used effectively to make fantastic bikes with some amazing abilities. Each material has its strengths and weaknesses. They each have certain design limitations specific to the material. There is no magic material, no matter how much the marketers would like to lead us to believe it is true.

Now, from the land of Harry Potter magic, comes an amazing new frame material developed by Du Pont in 1935.... Nylon!

Engineers in the UK have designed a new manufacturing process using powdered materials, using it to “grow” a weird ivory-colored bicycle made of nylon. They say it is as strong as steel. The designers hope the growth process, a type of 3-D laser printing, could revolutionize manufacturing, according to the BBC.

The process is called Additive Layer Manufacturing, and it works somewhat like a 3-D printer. Guided by a computer-aided design program, a laser fuses together several layers of finely powdered metal, nylon or plastic. The laser melts the powder, which solidifies according to a chosen pattern. Then more powder is added, melting and solidifying to add layer upon layer until the object is fully formed.

Being able to employ 3-D printing technology to create bike frames could do a lot to reduce costs and allow for unlimited forms of customization.

But will it be laterally stiff, yet vertically compliant?

Taipei International Cycle Show 2011: March 16-19

Pre-registration has now opened for the 2011 Taipei International Cycle Show, which has grown to become one of the "monuments" in the cycling industry calendar year. Interbike, Eurobike and Taipei almost stand as the Tour de France, Giro and Vuelta in the industry, with maybe NAHBS representing a spring classic like the Paris-Roubaix.

If you want to shake hands, rub elbows, make contacts or just ogle bikes... sign yourself up right here.