Taipei Cycle, or the Taipei Bike Show, as it is more commonly known, has been running for 37 years and recently had its 2024 exhibition in March. The show looks very much like a space for cycling brands from Taiwan and around the world to display their new products and other shiny wares, and you can indeed spend several hours over the four days of the show strolling around and taking photos.
Yet this is a cycle show unlike any other just about anywhere in the world, as it functions- behind the scenes in the rooms hidden from view in the display booths- as a meeting place for brand managers to connect with OEM companies. On display on the exhibition floor are the new bikes of the current year and next, yet in these meetings, the supply chains for the products that will emerge in two to three years are being discussed.
The show is run by an organisation known as TAITRA – the Taiwan External Trade Development Council. This is a non-profit government trade organization here in Taiwan, founded in 1970.
This year saw more than 950 exhibitors and 3,500 booths at the show, held at the Nangang Exhibition Center in Taipei over 4 floors, making it the biggest bicycle exhibition in Asia and a prime business hub for the global bicycle industry. The event therefore offers a great opportunity to check the current state of the industry and also, as mentioned, to take a ton of photos!
Here are some of the products that caught out eye.
Starting with two Italian brands, Pinarello’s booth rose like some kind of forbidding monolith from the exhibition floor. Italian design is known for elegance and flare, yet Pinarello’s stand, and its bikes, embody a more masculine muscularity.
This Pinarello X9 is a great example of this mood, and features ‘X-Stays’ – the strut from the rear seat stay that connects to the seat tube. A new Pinarello technology, the brand says this is “capable of absorbing vibrations maintaining a light weight frame and a very reactive BB stiffness.” The frame has a wide clearance for wider tires, making it an ‘all-road’ bike, meaning it can be used as a road bike and also a gravel bike.
Also on display was Filippo Ganna’s World Hour record bike, the Bollide, called ‘the fastest bike in the world.’
Over at the Colnago booth they had a hypoxic chamber on display. These are being used more and more by pro cyclists to prepare them for the racing season, rather than doing the usual early season round of racing as was the norm until just recently. Matthieu Van der Poel did this to prepare for the Classics, which seemed to work out pretty well, as he destroyed the competition at both the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix!
Tadej Pogacar’s Colnago TT bike, the TT1 was also on show, drawing covetous glances from many a visitor. It looks fast sitting still this bike, but for sure, none of us would be going as fast as Mr. Pogacar if we ever got out hands on it.
Two wheel brands caught my eye, brands I had not heard of before. One of these was Scope. Founded in 2013 in The Netherlands, the images at the brand’s booth reminded me of a shape-shifting alien force from a sci-fi film. Scope’s top end wheels, the Artech model, retail at 4000 euro a pair.
Next up is the AVIIAV brand from Korea – the first wheelsets I’ve known to come from that nation. Their website states that “established in South Korea in 2007, AVIIAV is the brand that produces carbon parts for bicycles for the first time in Korea with its unique technologies and patents.”
One slight issue I can see for AVIIAV is the name itself – quite difficult to work out what is it when you see it on their rims.
What wheels have ya got?
I HAVAVIIAV!
Now, this next bike, from LOOK, was one of the most beautiful at the show. This is the P24, and the frame set alone will set you back $11,990 of your hard-earned American dollars. It is though a stunning piece of art, in my humble opinion, and would look great on any wall…
As well as these established brands, the show featured smaller emerging brands, that often have come out of an OEM company. Ciclovation is a great example of this. Developed from the OEM company Huang’s Smart Cycling Inc., based in Taichiung, Ciclovation has brought an array of cycling bar tape to the market.
Sustainability was the dominant theme at the Taipei Bike Show this year, with many exhibitors presenting more sustainable products.
Representing the UK, Velobici is a relatively new brand that hails from Leicestershire. A clothing brand, they specialise in high-end shoes and cycling kit. The brand utilises several sustainable practises in the hopes of having less damaging impact on the planet, and has a policy of planting of a tree for every 10kg of packaging they ship. “This is but a small step,” they say, “and we’re working full-on to make sure we introduce similar initiatives across the business that will make Velobici the most sustainable business in our sector.”
Following the sustainability thread, several e-bikes were on show, especially city e-bikes and e-cargo bikes. This super cute little Honda e-bike was developed with Taiwanese company Tranz X, that develops drive systems for e-bikes.
Also at the Tranz X booth was this kids e-bike. Looks cool, but not so sure if a kid really needs any help propelling a bike – surely it does them good to get all that energy out!
This Mini U bike was striking and well-finished and drew a lot of looks. The battery is well-concealed in a leather holder on the down tube, and the copper finish is very attractive. Made by SEic from Taiwan, this retails at just about $1000US.
Regarding safety, there are not often many new things in the helmet department, but I do really like the shape and finish of this OKT-8 helmet. I can find almost no new on this product online, other than it is made by Jiun Hau Trading, but looks good – I’d like to get my hands on (head under?) one of these.
Award for the worst bike at the show has to go to… Ryuger, the German brand! This is their Eidolon BR-RTS model, retailing at around $10,000US, and I do not understand it… at all.
Finally, my favourite thing at the show was this fantastic set up on display by the Swedish brand Thule – perfect for taking the bike and family and friends out for a biking and camping trip.
If only I owned a car…
