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....

Maolin Madness With A Twist of Climbs

The long weekend afforded us a little more time to explore further afield, so Michael T. and I decided to take the show on the road and bike into the beautiful Maolin 茂林 area all the way to the village of Duona 多納-- long a village site of Rukai speakers that still holds a few examples of traditional slate architecture.

I had visited the area about ten years before, and remembered Duona as a sleepy little town that would occasionally attract visitors to a natural hot spring. The hot spring was destroyed in the flooding of typhoon Morakot, so I was curious how Duona had fared. 

I first learned of the area through my reading of the Scottish businessman and adventurer, William A. Pickering, who wrote a fanciful and entertaining account of Taiwan through the Victorian lens in his 1898 memoir, Pioneering in Formosa-- a memoir that details Pickering's ramblings through the Taiwan of the late Qing.

 Pickering writes extensively in regard to this trip to meet the "Bangtaulangs", or the people of Poponaho. His travels took him through Vidai, Laboa, Taranek, Taldika, Ko Adavan (Duona), and Poponaho villages.

Pickering writes: 

"About ten o' clock, when the moon was high, a deputation requested our presence outside the hut, where in the open a large party of men and women had assembled to see me and hear me sing.  

It was a wild and romantic scene. The quaint savage settlement with its slate roofs, distinct in the moonlight; the rows of dark expectant faces pressing around for a sight of their strange white-faced kinsman; the confused chatter and movement amongst them; and beyond, the great dark mountains, baring their rugged breasts to the solemn night sky, whilst the roar of the hill-side torrents formed an unceasing accompaniment to the scene. How far away England, and even Chinese civilisation, seemed!" --Pickering; The Pioneering of Fomosa (p. 158)   

We headed up the 高132 just where the Highway 27 and Route 185 intersect at the base of the mountains. In this area there is very little in the way of foothills. The Meinong basin pushes snugly against some full-sized mountains. 

We lined up with several other riders at the visitor center at the base of the climb, as the Route 132 has become something of a local ride in the area. This is good for the fact that there are restrooms and facilities to fill water bottles, all within easy reach. 



As we pushed upward, the first difference I noticed since I last went up the river valley, was the massive ramp that splits right between the opposing hillsides. This new feat of engineering was built at great expense to replace the brittle, crumbly roadway that once hugged the northern bank of the river and would rain chunks of hillside during a rain squall.  



Another thing that caught my eye was exactly how touristy the place had become. It wasn't just shops and shanties full of snacks and souvenirs. This was some serious infrastructure. 



After a few corners the glare of busy signage and the promise of various amenities melted into the muted greens and greys of the central mountain range still clinging to winter. It was just a marvellous day to be out there on a bike. 



Despite the increasingly amazing scenery, the gradients remained pretty tame as far as Taiwan road design goes and we paced a group of riders from Kaohsiung on their way to the top. Along the roadway we slipped along the shadows of overhanging trees and between clouds of butterflies that seem to cling to the pocket of warm air around a passing rider. 





The route took us upward into the intricate folds of the river that has lots its way numerous times. It was really easy to forget how short the ride actually is. From the base of the Route 132, it is only about 12km to the top. That is really nothing. It seems as far as the moon when looking out across the layers of mountains in the distance. 



The hardest climbs are a couple 10% grades that really don't feel that bad. A couple good ramps to jack the rider up to the ridge before Duona and spill out a scene of unfathomable beauty below.  



I knew we were getting close as the tour busses and drivers made the final stretch to Duona a little hairier than I would have liked. 

Finally, Duona sat as a lonely patchwork of vibrant color against a dark green background. 



I was in absolute shock as we rolled into town. The place was a Disneyland of tourists packed into the tiny streets of old Duona. The air was choked with smoke from numerous barbecue stalls and the smell of grilled fatty pork became too much to resist. This is not a town for the vegan express. Everything in Duona smells like roast flesh...and it was irresistible. 



Pickering again recounts: 

Their etiquette and hospitality was decidedly curious. I was made to sit down beside the lady, or daughter, of the house, who, with a large wooden spoon, fed me with beans, millet, or broth, after just tasting each spoonful herself. Then with her own fingers she picked out for me the choicest morsels of venison, pork, bear's fat, or sausage from the common dish.--Pickering, The Pioneering of Formosa (p.162). 

We meandered around Duona to take a look at some of the older buildings amid the growing sea of corrugated metal and concrete. 



After a helping of heated meat and an iced tea, we turned tail and blasted downhill back to the base of the climb. The climbs had some bite, but didn't last long enough to do any damage. 

We stopped for one last time for a taste of more heated meat and uncomfortably watch a poor group of Americans become objects for the entertainment of a local tour guide who is himself the object for entertainment. It was a little hard to watch and we ducked out before the guide could turn his gaze to the grumpy old guys in the corner. 



All in all the ride to Duona is by no means difficult. It is not easy. It is immensely beautiful and rewarding for the sightseeing if you can duck the occasional load of tourist sprawl. 

What it was, was a lovely day on the bike through an amazing area that is rich with history and still very vital with culture. 

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