Over in Taiwan for a preview of the Taipei Cycle Show as well as to visit a handful of factories in Taichung. Here are some pics:
The Great River Queen Traveling Ship. TAITRA hosted a press conference onboard to talk about next year's Taipei Cycle Show.
After the press conference, TAITRA invited eight Taiwanese brands who will exhibit at Taipei to showcase select new products. Here, Duro's Steve Chiang shows the Eurobike design award Duro won for its TruShine reflective strip. Chiang said OEM business was slow this year, and overall revenue from the bike division is down 20 percent, but he's confident sales will rebound in 2010. Duro's US team is focused on fostering partnerships with IBD's to continue growing the brand's aftermarket business, which now makes up about 30 percent of sales.
The Sliding Bike. Why fold when you can slide? This new product will be sold solely in the Asian market.
Wayne Moore, general manager of Ashima, had several new products to show including a hydraulic brake without pistons for the XC market and a prototype hydraulic road brake that will be launched at Taipei. The 4-year-old brand is imported by J & B in the U.S.
A bit of rain didn't stop the group from a planned bike ride along the banks of the Danshui River. Willem Sipkema, a journalists from the Netherlands' Wilier Revue, is super excited about his yellow poncho.
The bike tour stopped by the Mazu temple, which is the oldest temple in Northern Taiwan. It was built in 1661 and named after the goddess of the sea.
A fish head stuffed with its own tail. Talk about adding insult to injury. But tasty.
Taiwan's domestic bike market has grown exponentially in recent years, and both Taipei and Taichung have bike share programs in the city. And it looks like they actually get used. I saw this rider cycling on a bike from Taipei's UBike program downtown near Taipei 101.
