Carbon/Disc All-Purpose Taiwan Road Bike: James Reveals His Ultimate Taiwan Machine

Photo by Michael Turton

The hard part about building up a bike for Taiwan is trying to figure out how you are most likely to use it. This creates a bit of a conundrum, as Taiwan's unique riding features lead to two very different types of bicycle.

Taiwan has some of the most amazing roadways for a fast road bike. Without snow, and a healthy construction industrial complex fueled by local politics, the roads are often beautifully paved. There are long stretches of flat, fast tarmac all along the western plain.

The mountain roads are also pretty nice, but with Taiwan's typhoons and heavy rains, there are many roads that are under constant repair. There are also hundreds of rough mountain roads that string across the central mountain range. These offer high adventure and technical bike handling, but they are often worth the reward.

To tackle these two conditions with one bike is a daunting task, but not impossible. I did that with my old Salsa Las Cruces.

Now, James Murray from Warehouse 185 has introduced his own take on the ultimate Taiwan bike.

This new rig is a carbon composite frame, which will be featured as a Warehouse 185 house model. It offers internal cable routing, disc tabs, and room for knobby cyclocross tires in the 32/38mm ballpark.

This bike is also built up with a few intriguing extras.

James is using SRAM Apex, the groupset that is making the triple chainring obsolete. This is matched with a Mtb derailleur for a rear cassette range from 11-32 teeth.

The wheels are Crank Brothers Cobalt 29ers to be strong enough for the hard stuff and the stresses of disc brakes.

Ah... now for my favorite part. This is one of the few road bikes out there that is equipped with hydraulic disc brakes using a hydraulic cylinder mounted on the front. The added hydraulic cylinder is not as stramlined as a typical road bike... yet. The technology is evolving rapidly and the industry interest in hydraulic disc brakes is certainly there. It may only be a matter of time before the hydraulic discs move from dirt to pavement.

This bike is really a great study in the form of a Taiwan Bike.

For more information on this bike and its components, or on the availability of this frame, feel free to contact James Murray at Warehouse 185.

185 Warehouse

321 Buzi Rd.

Beitun Dist.

Taichung, Taiwan

Tel:o4-223-93185

http://zh-tw.facebook.com/pages/185che-ku/134381256607731

Warehouse 185 is located HERE

Marketing Missteps: Time To Hire Professionals

I recently stumbled across this little gem of a bike. Steel, disc brakes... I like.

Unfortunately, this is a marketing FAIL.

Cycles For Heroes:

Exhibit A:

LiveStrong coloring is a bit cliche for a bicycle that is trying too hard (No Todd... the Yellow Fever doesn't count).

Exhibit B:

If you are marketing a bike from Germany, a country with a recent history of ethnopolitics that resulted in the atrocities of genocide, I would probably avoid calling my product the Pure Blood. Sadly, there is still a strong association between Germany and ideas of racial purity.

Exhibit C:

The marketing department took a few too many liberties with the term "aircraft steel" for 4130. As most people know, 4130 is an alloy of Chromium and Molybdenum a.k.a. Chrome Moly. The term "aircraft" is more frequently used by marketing departments to sell aluminum as the word "aircraft" implies lightness. Consumers are aware of the wide use of aluminum in aircraft, but less so of steel. Yes, 4130 has been used as aircraft tubing, but the connection between steel and flight if far from the consumer's imagination.

• Superlight custom drawn 4130 aircraft steel - double butted & heat treated
• combined Fillet brazing and TIG welding, wishbone rear end
• segmented DiscO straight disc fork
• FIXIE Inc. Weenie CNC dropouts saves weight
• Direct Postmount Standard: no adapters needed
• forward moved bottlecage position offers room for shouldering
• tapered seattube offers superior comfort

Road Bikes With Disc Brakes Coming To A Future Near You?

I just came across this little article from Cycling News about the recent UCI ruling on disc brakes for cyclocross racing and its effect on the future of road bike braking systems.

Quote:

The rear disc mount puts more stress on the frame, requiring an strut between the stays to bolster the area.

The UCI's recent lifting of the ban on disc brakes in cyclo-cross has been widely heralded as a positive step forward for the sport, finally allowing a critical piece of equipment to advance past what is essentially decades-old technology. The move from rim to disc brakes has already changed the landscape for mountain biking and 'cross riders – especially racers – stand to make similar gains:

• Braking performance – both in terms of power and modulation – will improve dramatically, especially in adverse conditions where even the best rim brakes can become virtually inoperable
• Mud clearance: by moving the brake hardware away from the rim, bikes are less apt to clog up with debris
• Overall weights could potentially decrease: even when factoring in a disc rotor, 'cross bikes' lower braking demands should make for smaller and lighter hardware than on mountain bikes plus even lighter rims than what is currently available
• Fewer pits during muddy races
• The ability to continue on if a rim becomes slightly out of true