Welcoming A New Member To The Stable: It's A Nag!

My wife and I would like to share our joy in welcoming a new member to our stable at home. Yes, my wife brought home her new bundle of joy last night and I thought I would post the pictures of her brand new Colnago Prima.

For the past two years my wife, Joyce, has been completely devoted to her graduate studies in Translation at Fu Jen University, and for the past year she has spent countless hours hammering away on her all consuming thesis paper on the effects of patronage in the publishing of Taiwanese literature. A magnificent and provocative paper, which will greatly contribute to the field. Unfortunately, to finish in minimum time as the top student of her class for four semesters, she hardly had much time for anything else. I am very proud of her accomplishment.

Now she has time again to devote to her physical and mental well-being and wanted to buy a bicycle, so she could get out and exercise without having to renew her membership and Taichung's World Gym, which is not much more than a self serving shithole of deceit and ignorance. Vincent Chen, the manager, is (rumored to be) a real asshole and she would rather not go there again. A bike made a great alternative. And so... and much as I protested (not)... we went bike shopping.

I tried not to be too pushy or go shopping for myself and so I first had her identify what she wanted to do with a bike if she were to buy one. She wanted to do regular rides for fitness and recreation. Mainly road riding and group rides. She wanted a road bike with drop bars and something light enough to carry up stairs and most of all, she didn't want a bike that would have frequent mechanical problems or need for costly upgrades.

After a fit session and some geometry gazing, we started shopping around to see which bikes were available and not just for viewing in brochures, we narrowed things down. In each case we tried to find WSD bikes. Unfortunately, many of the women's bikes are poorly equipped.

The final choices came down to: Specialized Dolce with Sora Triple, Colnago Prima with Shimano 105, Kuota Korsa Lite with Campy Veloce or Sram Force and a Giant Avail with Sora/Tiagra mix.

The liability for most of the bikes we were looking at was the reliance on Sora shifters and Alex rims. It can be argued that Sora takes too much hand action to shift up and down the cassette. The Alex wheelset is a staple for bringing a price point down, but they are not the most reliable wheels. Most of the bikes had too few spokes as well. 2o ft and 24-28 rear. The Sora triple crank can be quickly rendered unreliable and is known for frequent derailleur adjustment,

My wife chose the Colnago Prima, their entry level road bike, as the one she wanted and Rocky at T-Mosaic made us a pretty good offer on it.

The Colnago was the only bike we saw that came with a complete Shimano 105 gruppo and FSA chainrings. It was the only 10spd and therefore offered a little more breadth in the rear cassette. My wife got a wide ranging 11-28 cassette to get her started off to go with the 34/50 FSA compact crank. The chainrings seem sturdy. The rims are contracted out to a Taiwanese company that does other alloy rims of quality and this bike and the most spokes (28ft 30r).

The frame is double butted alloy (Made in Taiwan) and I guess the fact that Colnago is willing to put their name on the bike may be a vote of confidence. Most of all... my wife loved the fit and feel. She felt good on the bike and it made her smile. That is the most important thing. It helps that it is a pretty bike. The Kuota was just a bit on the ugly side for my wife.

Some of the other factors that led my wife to this decision was that Rocky is a highly respected builder and fitter with some scruples and opinions on proper fit and gear. Many industry people come in for builds and fitting.

There is also T-Mosaic's weekend rides where there are several women who ride and the instant support of other "sisters" is an attractive proposition. She can always join a group ride.

So, my wife got everything she needed to get started: gloves, cyclometer, clipless pedals, front and rear lights, seat bag, bottle and cage, fitting and everything for NT58,000.

That may sound like a lot, but when buying a bike you should always go a little over budget to fight off the "shoulda's". "I shoulda' got this and that."

My wife feels that as long as she is investing in herself, it is worth it. Now she can't wait to get out there and get her money's worth.

Vuelta a Espana...Ole!

This weekend the Vuelta a Espana kicks off in Seville on August 28, to cap the grand tours for the season and there are still quite a few riders out there who are hungry for a little victory. Yes, many of the big winners will be missing and this one is a bit of a consolation prize for those who fared worse or were injured at the Tour or Giro, but there should be some good racing.

Denis Menchov, who has been just out of reach of some glory is due for a victory. The mighty Schlecks are in it. Italy's Vincenzo Nibali, who put on a show during the Giro, will be back at it, as will Spanish favorite, Carlos Sastre. Maybe Christian Vandevelde can also put something together for a return to the peloton.

It should be an interesting race.

Mixed Messages: Giant's Message Abroad

I would just like to draw the comparison to this promotional video for Giant to a non-Asian audience. The message is markedly different.

Hill Climb Equation:136+100+21+133+14+136=Pain

This morning I decided I was going to do some climbing and find the fabled passage between Hsin She and the 136. I got a late start and the thick morning haze just held the heat and humidity to the ground. It was the least comfortable type of heat.

I took off through Taichung to the Route 136, Taichung's fabled hill climb. Just after the Bat Cave I took my detour and headed up into the mountains of Taiping. I remembered some of the roads that cut through the county from my earliest days riding a scooter in Taichung and I thought the road up Jiu Tong Shan 酒通山 might lead to the other side near Hsin She. I climbed up in that humidity and was not liking it at all. Finally, I found my road and was off on a smaller, more interesting road down the other side.

The road to 中和 is not very well kept and I was reminded again why I got a CX frame. Even with 25c tires I just cruised over the ruts, cracks, bumps and mud.

The climb was higher than I thought and offered up some fantastic views of the valleys below.

I finally emptied out in 中和 right behind the elementary school. If you decide to take that road, it is the right.

I decided to keep climbing as it was still early, so I headed out toward the Highway 21 to Guo Xing. The climb was steady and I felt like I had been neglecting my climbing skills as of late, so I did it at a steady and not a hard pace. If only I could magically keep the Big Bike Club on their side of the road.

I was having the most sublime descent off the mountain, just totally in the zone and keeping my speed up. I was tracking well into the corners and having done that route enough times I know exactly where the palm husks are always laying in the road (every time). And then... and then... I crept up on a slow moving car. I hate that. I was eventually able to pass the car and then I encountered a tour bus. I could only breathe the fumes for so long before I found an opportunity to accelerate around him. I felt kind of smug with the feeling that the driver must have been surprised to have been passed by a bicycle. I kept my distance from the bus as he shadowed me into Guo Xing township. He would creep up on the hills and I would lose him on the flats. The bus kept me hammering at some good speeds all the way out before I pulled over to check out some fruit. Not long after I stopped, the bust pulled up and stopped too. I expected to get some crap about passing busses or frightening the driver, but instead, the driver opened the door and had his assistant give me a coffee. I thanked them and they were on their way.

I followed the 133 to the 14 and although tired, I kept a good pace out on the Puli Basin. My mind wandered to the ride ahead on the 14. I have done it dozens of times and it is a long, flat, windy ride with a few cars. It isn't bad, but I am sick of it. I am especially sick of the two little hills near Caotun. I just hate them for their ability to sneak up on you and they are annoying and not fun. So, to avoid the hills, I turned onto the dreaded 136 and somehow found the energy to put a good climb together for 3/4 of the ascent. As I neared the top a great roll of thunder ripped me from my zone and a light rain started to fall. I took refuge under a makeshift carport and waited 20min. for the rain to abate. I was more worried about the descent on wet roads.

Eventually, I made it out onto the road again and slid off the mountain back to Taichung without incident. No great distances today, but I claimed three rough peaks in a single ride.

I just wish I didn't climb like a sprinter.

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Treatise On Superfluous Things: Giant "Woos" Women

The New Face of Women's Cycling?

“To get more women on the road, we have to get them to think of these things as accessories... Natural, everyday accessories, like handbags."-- Bonnie Tu, Giant CFO

As a man talking about women and women's cycling, I am sure I am putting myself in great danger of talking like an ass. When was the last time a man really understood women? I also have to say that in order to write this I had to... er... man up and actually put my sophomoric maleness aside or at least under a critical light to better do justice to this topic in a more mature way than I am usually comfortable doing. Since when has acting mature ever been fun? I am also inspired by the many women riders I have met and seen in my time as a cyclist in Taiwan.

Ok! Here goes nothing...

Now that my wife has finished her thesis, she has been exploring the idea of buying a bicycle for exercise and recreation. I have tried to keep my distance and only offer help when she asks, as I have a tendency to get really excited about bikes and then kill the buzz. Shhhh!

My wife has been doing a really good job with her research and I am having fun watching her do all the responsible stuff that comes with buying a bike. She has bought books, magazines and searched online for as much information as possible for what she should be doing.

And then I got the following email:

"I hate how they promote women's bikes"

Along with the email she included a link to the the Liv/giant website.

Liv/giant is a company-wide concept of products and retail space aimed primarily at women and at increasing the number of women who ride bicycles. According to Giant CFO, Bonnie Tu, who is also taking point on the Liv/giant campaign, the goal of the concept is to "woo women into cycling".

On this blog I have explored the idea of how women approach and interpret cycling, and moreover, how increasing women's involvement in cycling can transform the cycling landscape. Although Giant offers a range of bicycles for women, I am sadly disappointed in the way Giant perceives women and women's cycling. Despite the company's massive revenues and leading R&D, Giant by no means lives up to its name as a leader in the future of women's cycling.

The Liv/giant website linked above provides a fantastic opportunity to analyze and discuss the semiotics of Giant's message; a message that makes me increasingly uncomfortable.

The Website:

The link leads to a slick, modern website with large photo images and soft graphics. The sequential photo montage depicts a glamourous young woman in fashionable clothing, make up and stylish hair, relaxing and enjoying a life of leisure outdoors and on a boat. The images are indistinguishable from those you might find in the scented pages of the top fashion magazines, like Elle, Cosmopolitan, Vogue, and Marie Claire. In every picture the model is wearing a skirt or tube dress, and high-heels. At first it is difficult to discern what exactly is being advertised as a bicycle only appears in only four of the ten slides, the other slides seem completely irrelevant to cycling. It actually appears that the bicycle is merely an accessory to the clothes, make-up and the girl. That may be Giant's point after all... not to sell bikes, but to sell bicycle clothing to women.

Ready To Ride?

"We should not be too familiar with the lower orders or with women."--Confucius

It is obvious the model depicted in the advertisement does not ride a bicycle. If she were riding a bicycle she would not be wearing skirts, heavy fabrics or clothing that might drape into a chainring. Her hair would surely not be glossed into place and her make-up would have run down her face in the heat and humidity. She would not be white, and would have much better muscle tone. Unless she has clips in the base of those heels, I don't see how she does it. Nothing about the woman indicates that she rides a bike.

I am actually having a hard time believing this concept and marketing campaign was headed by a woman and a cyclist. Not only does Giant buy into and promote the oft repeated stereotype of women in Taiwan as vapid, silly creatures, who shallowly concern themselves with fashion and spend someone's money on handbags and accessories, but Giant, a company that sells one of the greatest tools for mobilization and liberation, employs imagery of their object from what feminist theorist, Laura Mulvey, identifies as the "male gaze", a term which borrows from Jacques Lacan to demonstrate how media images can be gendered to reflect the sole view of the heterosexual male as the predominant frame.

The fetishized, gendered images of the slender female body with ample necklines, bare, airbrushed skin, and voyeuristic glances up skirts, long, slender legs, appeals more to the mass-marketed male frame of of the eroticized woman that has been the the predominant grammar of fashion photography for decades. This type of fetishization of the sexualized female (for the pleasure of the male) does not empower women, but rather reinforces feelings of insecurity and a negative body image: These are not empowering images for the majority of women and they do not reflect women's athleticism, strength, power and determination. They are the exact opposite of how cycling should make a person feel. Nothing can encourage positive ideas of body image faster than by pushing the body to do amazing things and to accomplish the "impossible".

Gear For Cycling?

"Nobody should doubt that our women’s bikes are designed for women by women.”-- Bonnie Tu, Giant CFO

Bonnie Tu presumptuously claims to be the "godmother" of Women's cycling and yet I can't help but feel she views Taiwanese women through the chauvinistic and dismissive lens shared by so many men. Although many women (and men for that matter) in Taiwan (and elsewhere) buy expensive name brands and buy into modern materialism, Giant's concept feels even more awkward and patronizing considering the new roles of women in contemporary Taiwanese society... including Bonnie Tu, who holds the deputy post in one of the nation's largest and most successful companies. Compared to many countries around the world, including the United States, it is not uncommon for women in Taiwan to excel to become leaders in their respective fields and vocations. Taiwan has already had a female vice president and may very well have a female president or at least presidential nominee in the near future. Women not only hold high positions in politics, but also in every major vocation in Taiwan. Women in Taiwan have taken the agency to plot their own lives and careers to pursue a variety of interests. I am always surprised by the great plurality I have experienced in Taiwan. This is why I am so puzzled that Giant would reduce women's cycling to "an accessory, like a handbag". This is an insult to all the strong, intelligent and capable women out there who do not need to be coerced into buying a bike just to go with a good pair of pumps. Women in Taiwan are perfectly capable of buying a bike for any number of intelligent reasons, and do so.

On A Pedestal: Liv/giant Boutique in Taichung

Lastly, I feel this marketing approach is short sighted and irresponsible in many ways, not the least of which is the impact of selling bicycles as simply accessories. If this is a successful approach and manages to convince more women to buy bicycles it is easy to view it in a positive light. It might even be economically savvy and make lots of money for Giant. More power to them if women respond to this type of marketing. The downside is that although cycling is more friendly to the environment than automobiles, they do not come without an environmental price tag. The metals have to be mined, the materials transported, the electricity spent, and all the other little things that go with industrial production . A bicycle can only negate that footprint if it is actually used and used well. Selling bikes as superfluous fashion accessories that may do lots of sitting really does little to negate the environmental deficit of the bike's production.

I see nothing wrong, and lots right about a large bicycle company targeting women and giving women a space in the marketplace to explore cycling without the feelings of intimidation and inhibitions in dealing with a male dominated sport. The Liv/giant store does a lot of things right, but I DO wish Giant would approach women cyclists with more respect and the acknowledgement that Taiwanese women have the ability and the intelligence to approach cycling for its obvious merits and not for the superficiality of the runway.

"Let me tell you what I think of bicycling. I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. It gives women a feeling of self-reliance. I stand and rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a wheel... the picture of free, untrammeled womanhood."-- Susan B. Anthony

She Pedals Magazine

For an excellent alternative in the portrayal of women's cycling, I suggest the approach taken by SHE pedals magazine, a magazine devoted to women's cycling that depicts women cyclists enjoying the sport while maintaining their femininity without falling into a dated male caricature. I picked up a copy in Palm Desert and found it to be a provocative portrayal of the sport. Even in the cover image we see a silhouette postured to display independence and power. Her physique is not waifish, but fit. She is confident and assertive.

Good Advice

I would also suggest picking up a copy of Every Woman's Guide to Cycling: Everything You Need To Know, From Buying Your First Bike To Winning Your First Race by Selene Yeager. It offers more confidence building information for beginning female cyclists than Twiggy. Muscles like those will never get her in a Giant ad, but I bet she can kick some ass on the bike.

Women deserve far better treatment from Giant.

Bike Pic Of The Day

It's ok... he's a derailleur hanger

via flavorwire

10yo Boy Collapses During Forced Bike Ride

Ummmm... This report from the China Times is so amazingly shocking and so full of ridiculous quotes, I am going to post the whole thing:

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Police were called to rescue a 10-year-old boy, who collapsed by the roadside with exhaustion after his mother made him cycle part of the way on a 63-kilometer trip yesterday.

With not enough room on her 50cc scooter for her three children, the mother forced them to take turns on a bicycle during a journey from Nantou to Taichung.

The family was traveling from Taichung to visit relatives in Nantou. A one-way trip using their form of transportation took them six hours to complete. Their return trip was brought to police attention when a passerby saw a little boy sprawled out on the side of the street in exhaustion.

The woman claimed that she and her children — aged 12, 10 and seven — were unable to fit onto the small scooter. She found them a bike and made the siblings take turns riding it while she gave the other two a lift in the scooter.

When a passerby noticed a 10-year-old boy lying by the side of the street, they quickly took him to a nearby police station. The officer in charge described the boy as “soaked, tired and hungry,”noting that there were wounds on his elbows that possibly resulted from falling off the bike.

After treating the boy's wounds and feeding him instant noodles, the officer was told about the extent of his onerous journey. The family had already made the trek once, when they left home in Taichung for the children's grandmother's house in Nantou. It was on their return trip that they were nearly crippled with exhaustion.

In total, the family traveled 120 kilometers in 12 hours. Under questioning, the mother said she did not want to spend money on train tickets because she was afraid of motion sickness. When the police officer offered to give the family a lift home, the mother reportedly refused, put on her raincoat, and told her kids they had a long journey ahead.

Most of the insanity speaks for itself, but there is one issue that was only touched upon at the end, and that is how Taiwanese society deals with incidents of domestic abuse and neglect; especially in cases involving children. According to a recent report, of the 13,400 cases of child abuse reported last year, 87% involved one parent.

Although the number of reported cases of abuse and neglect has risen 35% since 2005, anyone with experience working around Taiwanese children and young people will immediately view the numbers with caution as the majority of cases are never reported.

Although the Child and Youth Welfare Law has been on the books and regularly amended since 1973, very few citizens who suspect cases of abuse, harm or neglect to a child actually file a report. Even government employees who are bound to report these cases, like the officer cited in the article, look the other way.

The reason many people in Taiwan do not take action in domestic issues has several causes that are both traditional and structural and these influences manifest themselves throughout Taiwanese society in many different forms. The first is a traditional Confucian view of relationships, which is constructed as a pyramid with elder males on the higher end and women at the lowest. Children and women have been viewed both traditionally and within the ideology of the ROC, as something "lesser" or "lacking" (I have another post on the way). Another traditional component may be the valuation of "harmony", which has been a major factor in social negotiation in traditional and contemporary society. Taiwanese often would rather restore harmony than incur the risks of disharmony. We often see these points negotiated at traffic accidents where it is more efficient and harmonious for the police and claimants to quickly negotiate a solution. Another related factor may be the Taiwanese recent experience with a strong, centralized state. In inserting oneself into other people's relationships one stands the risk of linking onto a wider network of relationships that may bring a whole new set of social and political liabilities.

In this case the officer restored harmony by allowing the woman to simply leave after reviving the child. Saves on paperwork!