Here’s a well-guarded industry secret: bicycle shows are quite boring.
Unless you’ve never been to one that is.
For the first-timer, walking through the doors of an exhibition centre jam packed with bright and shiny bike bits, picking up pamphlets and the odd free bidon and mingling with an array of slightly gaunt-looking middle aged men, well, that is some sort of heaven…
By your third, fifth or tenth show however, it all starts to wear a bit thin. Of the near-countless brands and manufacturers showing off their wares, you might find one really interesting product, two if you’re lucky.
And if you ever have to work at one, you’ll find that a bike show can be exhausting too. Chatting with potential distributors, meeting existing partners, sitting at a booth all day drinking coffee to try to wake up from last night’s hangover, all this takes a lot out of you. And then, before you know it, its the dreaded weekend, when the doors are open to… The Public.
Suddenly there are two or three times the amount of people on the days previously, the volume increases to a din and the already frazzled industry folk double up on the caffeine.
Another unknown fact about bike shows is that stuff goes missing sometimes, and by ‘missing’ I mean stuff gets stolen. I was at a show years ago and a guy staffing a famous saddle brand’s booth told me that five saddles had been pinched in a day – and that was on a day when no public were at the show.
But, your intrepid CrankPunk braved the recent Taipei Bike Show and here I will show some of the stuff I did like (you can read about what I didn’t here). Here is what caught my eye.
I like what these guys do, lots of attention to detail and some killer paint work. Yep, they cost a bit, but the reviews are good and they look sharp.
This here I think would be better without the dots on the stem and seatpost, but I’d ride it. It’s just at the edge of being too helter-skeltery for me, which is a fine line.
This below is a bit psycho-delic but I think it works really well with the sombre dark rippled green above. On a road bike I don’t think it would work, but hey, it’s for those kooky gravel kids so all is good.
This below I really dig. Called the Urban Racer, with these bars it has more of a beach cruiser vibe. Get some tan sidewalls on this and you’d be rocking. I just went on the Speedvagen website and saw these are just $1000. Then I saw that was just the deposit.
They start at $4550 and that is a bit of madness right there..
Bike bag producer from Thailand, founded in 1987 by Yingsak Sinhaseni. On their website it says that ‘after co-creating prototypes with the cyclist community, Yingsak then began to support his neighbourhood by providing jobs to local women in Thailand. He passed down this relationship-centered business approach to the next generation.’
This bag below, I was sure I read at their booth that it was made 100% from recycled materials, but can’t see that on their website. Hope it is, and I like their look.
[Hint hint! Ahem..! Hello, Vincita?]
THIS THING!
That’s not the brand name, but maybe it should be…
This was at a manufacturer’s booth where they have examples of products they can produce for customers. I love the look of this thing and should have asked if they make a version for a 186cm kid that I know…
KENDA TIRES
I want one.
Kenda had this e-rickshaw at their booth and it got a lot of attention. I’ve googled e-rickshaws and couldn’t find one as cool as this.
Smart design aesthetics from this new brand. I was hoping to meet their designer who was at the show but I missed her. WIl try to get some of these for a review.
I’ve always like WIlier bikes and had one for testing some years back, great ride. The Filante SLR has a stunning paint job.
This is their Rave SLR which they say is all-road / all-gravel.
And some bling! The Filante in gold.
ROCK BROS
What I liked about these bags in particular was the material, really thick and I assume very hard wearing. Look our for my Youtube review coming soon!
And that’s it, thanks for reading!
