The Final Mega Randoms - Taipei Cycle Show 2024
Lots of wide-eyed excitement from all of us this trip. Hannah (social media manager) and Dario (tech editor) had never been to Taiwan before, and Alvin (Velo tech editor, not pictured) hadn't been back since he was a kid.
After a long week we are wrapping up the final day of the Taipei Cycle Show. We've still got a bunch of stories to publish and a podcast to record before we get on the germ tube home, but in the meantime I've pulled together a final Randoms for your entertainment.
XPEDO's slightly more eco-friendly Felix pedals
You may not be able to buy a better future, but it's still nice to see that the market is demanding products that are slightly less environmentally impactful. XPEDO, Wellgo's aftermarket brand, was showing off their new Felix composite flat pedal—including a variant that foregoes the chemicals used to dye the plastic for colorant from tea leaves.
Their silhouette reminds me of Deity Deftraps, but a little less squared up—which is not a slight on XPEDO, there are only so many shapes you can make a pedal. They look like they have a good platform, the pin placement appears reasonable, and the pricing seem fair. We'll try to get some in for testing.
Details:
• Weight: 340g
• Material: Nylon
• Spindle: Chromoly
• Bearings: 1 sealed 1 bushing
• 40 pins
• Size: 109 x 109 x 16mm
• Colors: Black, red, pink, rasta, and tea
• Price: $49 USD (TBD for the tea variant)
Their marginally less eco-friendly version is available in Rasta and a bunch of other colours.
Clean work at Genio.
How Calvin from Genio gets between buildings at one of their factories.
Robot welding is one of the buzzwords these days. Genio has a lot of them, but they weren't keen on us showing anything beyond this photo.
Tiny Rock's full suspension carbon kids bike
Tiny Rock sells carbon kids full suspension frames, and seemed vaguely affiliated with the Hayes Group booth—including the Protaper kids bars. Regardless, their 20" Master S looks absolutely badass. It's got 120mm of travel, and the best brakes I've ever felt on a kids bike. Seriously, anyone recognize these Tiny Rock branded brakes that look vaguely like Trickstuffs?
Details:
• Ages: 5-8 years
• Height: 110-135 cm
• Frame: carbon
• Travel: 120mm travel front and rear
• Claimed weight: 10.9 kg
• Price: $3,199 USD
• More info here
These feel great.
So nice.
Ora's 13° titanium handlebar
It's not new, but I feel the need to validate my impulse buy of an Ora titanium handlebar. Ora is an OEM frame and component factory that is well known for their titanium products. You may recognize this bar as sold under a variety of other brand names, but I got to choose this one unbranded and with a Scotchbrite finish. I don't generally love high backsweep alt-bars, but I do want to experiment with slightly more backsweep than I'm used to, so 13° should be a good starting point.
Details:
• Material: 3Al 2.5V seamless titanium
• Rise: 25mm
• Backsweep: 13°
• Width: 800mm
• Diameter: 31.8
• Weight: no idea
Check out Dario's factory visit to Ora here.
Crank parts at Ora.
Unlike the bars, they wouldn't sell me these unfinished eeWings cranks.
Molds.
More molds.
As requested, more Dario fits.
Will these be as polarizing as his normal glasses?
Probably not.
Hyperspace-ready.
Prologo's 3D printed saddle
This spaceship-shaped thing is technically a road saddle called the Nago R4 Pas 3DMSS (a very simple and memorable name), but I'm told MTB things are coming. It's 3D printed so of course I'm interested, but it doesn't look all that different from what's been available from Specialized and Fizik the past few years. The crew at Velo (our sister publication, not the parent company of Prologo) will go into more detail when they cover it, but the most interesting part for me is that Prologo has designed in drainage along the sides. It weighs a claimed 149g and should be available in April. Price TBD.
Speedholes everywhere.
Inexpensive wireless drivetrains soon?
L- TWOO's flat bar electronic shifter
L-TWOO is a Chinese drivetrain manufacturer run by some former SRAM factory managers that set up shop when SRAM pulled out of Guangzhou in 2013. Their drivetrains look like (you guessed it) several generations old SRAM. We've played with their derailleurs a few times over the years and still don't believe they're ready for prime time, at least on the mountain bike side—they're hampered by questionable QC, poor materials, and a lot of lateral slop.
That said, they released a very interesting eRX electronic road group last year, and we've heard constant rumours of an MTB version coming soon. While we couldn't talk our way into viewing an MTB version, we were shown what we believe is an electronic flat bar shifter. It's compatible with L-TWOO's wireless derailleurs, 10-12 speed, 80g, and has an 18° angle adjustment.
Details:
• 10-12 speed compatible
• Wireless
• Aluminum
• Compatible with L-TWOO's electronic series drivetrains
• 18° angle adjustment range
• 80g
• Designed for flat bar installation
• Price: TBC
Nice to see that they're thinking about flat bars, but...
The eRX group isn't ready for prime time, at least for MTB.
Taiwan has left hand drive Kei trucks and I want one.
Or possibly two.
Tomorrow's mission is to find some of these toy trucks for my son.
We may have found the limits of the short crank phenomenon.
Aerozine's XEON mini A1 crankset
Aerozine is the house brand of G-MA Engineering from Taichung. The first thing I saw at their booth was a blatant SRAM crankset ripoff, so my expectations were low. But I will say that their kids' cranks look great.
Details:
• 9/10/11 speed compatible
• 7075 aluminum
• 30mm B.B. spindle
• Lengths available: 120, 135mm, 140mm, 145mm, 150mm
• Narrow Q-factor is more natural for kids
• Available in 52mm, 48.5mm , 51mm, and 53.5mm chainlines
• Colors: Blast Red / Blast Orange / Blast Gold / Blast Green / Blast cobalt Green / Blast Blue / Blast cobalt Blue / Blast Purple / Blast Black / Blast silver
• Direct mount compatible
• Weight: 556g (135mm/30T)
• Price: $180 USD
• More details on their legitimately incredibly helpful website (seriously, why can't all websites give this much clear detail)
They also make an interesting looking riser stem.
Looks about 1kg lighter than my old Azonic Hammer stem.
They also make an interesting looking riser stem called the XNC-10. No word on certifications, but it's apparently designed for trail, all mountain, and enduro.
Details:
• Material: AL-6061T6 CNC machined
• Diameter: 31.8mm
• Angle: +15°
• Width: 28.6mm
• Stainless bolts: M5*16 x4 & M5*18 x2
• Length: 10mm
• Colors: Black/ Grey/ Blue/ Red/ Gold/ Green
• Weight: 104g
• Price: $64
• More information
Their titanium chainrings look nice but cost over $300.
Out and about.
Taiwan does a lot of light roast pour overs.
More food photos as requested. This place was great, here's the location. It was nice to meet the crew from Coboc (ultralight city e-bikes) with April and Calvin from Genio.
The enigmatic Owen Pemberton of Forbidden Bike Company.
Paralyzed by choice.
Icetoolz SuperLifter-III hand crank repair stand
It turns out this isn't new at all, but it was news to me. Icetoolz was showing a hand-crank repair stand. It felt pretty easy to operate, and could be a good solution for people who need to raise e-bikes to work on them. That said, at ~3000 euros it's still a shockingly expensive stand.
Details
• E-bike compatible up to 60kg
• Rotatable 25.4mm – 55mm rubber clamp
• Adjustable height from 50cm to 180cm (20"~7')
• 1 turn on the handle = 10cm in height
• Large base for stability
• Includes integrated work tray
• Price: €2,949.95
• More info.
Food for smashing machines at KT.
Hub shell forgings.
Goals.
More ingredients. This maker appears to make stanchions for RockShox as well and lowers and forgings for other fork manufacturers.
Time for a nap on the flight home.
We've still got more coverage from Taipei to come in the next few days. A few more products, a podcast, and another "Meet Your Maker" factory tour. Thanks for following along!
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No middlemen, lots of bitching about the price, though.
Mountain bikers can whine out of both sides of their mouth.
Yamaha was there with their new line of full suspension ebikes, along with a 450 and 700cc adventure bikes. The 450 was listed at $12,000can., and I know there are numerous adventure bikes in the 250-400cc range for way under $10,000can.
Meanwhile there were numerous 105 equipped gravel bikes listed at over $6,000Can where not too long ago 105 were on bikes in the $2,000 range.105 used to be the groupo for the people and if you want Ultegra or Dure Ace for example, I you want those groupo's be prepared to spend over $10,000. Bikes have gone totally bonkers with their prices.
Most of the time the product ideas, the design, the product R&D and real world testing and feedback is done by the Western Brands (and their sponsored athletes). The manufacturing is then outsourced to a select few cities in Asia where they have the materials supply, the volume, the heavy machines and specialist know-how to produce this stuff efficiently on mass. They also have all the equipment in Asia to test to the ISO standards and ensure compliance. We are so lacking in this kind of manufacturing in the US and Europe often it would cost you more to buy the raw Ti material in the US or Europe than to buy a manufactured part from Asia, so there really isn't any point trying to do it all in-house domestically unless you're an artisan interested in super super high end.
(Sometimes factories do have ideas, access to new technologies and do change/improve the designs (particularly for manufacturability) but most of the time the ideas come from the brands.)
Customers do end up paying a multiplied version of the product cost but this is because you're paying for the design, R&D, the sponsored athletes, the distribution (it isn't free or easy to move products between countries and hold them in stock) and also the staffed bike shop/retailer through which you get access to customers service and warranty etc.
This is how it works in all industries - a loaf of bread probably costs like $0.20 to make in an industrial bakery, but by the time it's been packaged and through a massive distribution network and made it to a store and made available to buy in a staffed store it needs to be sold for like $2.00. Same with clothing, a pen, a watch, a smartphone or literally any manufactured item.
If the manufacturer wanted to cut out the Western brand and sell to western consumers directly they would need to hire all the staff from that brand to do the design, R&D, marketing, real world testing etc, they would need to sponsor pro riders to test and promote the product (so take on all the brands expenses). They would then need distributors to distribute and stock the gear in each territory and they would still need a network of retailers with staffed stores all over the world to sell and give warranty/customer service in each country... It would end up no cheaper and instead of buying from majority rider-owned western brands you would be buying from an Asian factory. I don't see how that would be preferrable.
The edge some western companies still have is it's easier for them to make bikes the way we like them.
There used to be a manufacturing base in Europe It was competitive and it worked fine. You (I don't know if you were in the industry back then, I was) chose to go for a cheaper option.
Time will tell, but it's not looking good for the business model you defend.
Sure, selection for the market is reduced but honestly how many different iterations of a carbon fiber 150mil FS mtb. does the world need?
What bikes were you looking? at I'm genuinely curious what company was that far out to lunch.
Many brands assemble bikes in Europe but the frames, suspension, brakes and drivetrain etc all come from Asia. You need to buy an EU fabricated frame (e.g. Hope, Pole) and then parts from Hope/Trickstuff/Garbaruk/Intend and similar brands. This will not be a cheap bike but if you want to vote with your wallet you should. Support those great companies.
@Mi-bike: It's not only cheap labour. Most full suspension bikes (the type of thing we pinkbikers are into) are produced in Taiwan where the wages are similar to most western countries
GDP per capita in Taiwan is higher than Australia for example (or Germany, the UK, Canada etc). The production is focused in Taiwan because of manufacturing capability, access to materials and equipment etc.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)_per_capitaPPP
Cheaper bikes sub $2000 are generally made in China, Vietnam, Bangladesh etc and they're made in those countries for the same reason most of your clothes are.
@tom666 that's one way to defend your brand strategy but keep in mind that if the whole industry didn't decide to send production to China, then we would still have the machinery, know how and tools to produce and certify stuff, maybe not all in France but at least on a EU scale. Also you only address a small faction of the reality, yes some brands try to actually develop products, prototype and test but many (dare I say most ?) simply buy their products off of a Chinese manufacturer catalog and stick they sticker on it. When you have clothing companies deciding to release a full line up of helmets and body protection without doubling their head count do you really want me to believe they designed that by themselves ? And once you start looking at the products on the markets and see glaring similitudes it just reinforce that feeling. I worked for 6 years in the industry until last September in Marketing, it only reinforced my position as a consumer.
All the bureaucracy and red-tape when it comes to trade. Duties' and tariffs, etc. Freight is a legitimate business killer unless it's supported by scale. A manufacturer would go bankrupt pretty quickly of they had to service the consumer market directly on a piece by piece basis. They ultimately need the volume afforded by Brands, distributors, and retailers. Or they would only really be able to operate in their own regional markets. It can't be really economically feasible for a manufacture to get to the mass market on their own....
The industrial revolution was far from driven by the bicycle industry.
@dmrluc nothing like a good ol' woke lefty to put words in your mouth right ? I literally advocate to buy Chinese (or Asian in general) products to cut the sticker companies and you tell me that I don't believe China can produce quality products, quite a thought process you had there to come to this conclusion. I use French custom made frames along side direct to consumer AliExpress parts like hubs, some cranks and some carbon rims too for instance and do so considering it is as good as any other products I ever got from sticker companies. Which isn't surprising as it probably comes out the same factories. And while I'd rather have my countrymen or fellow EU citizens produce and get a living out of this, it is mostly non existent right now so I'd rather pay whichever Chinese or Asian company directly so they can earn more money that when they sell to a sticker company and I will save a few bucks by not paying marketing companies. But yeah I am a bigot that believes those xeno chinese lads are up to no good lol gtfo
90% of the parts on a motorcycle are made by the motorcycle company or are being made for them directly by other manufactures there is not nearly the amount of hands on each part like there is a bicycle.
Plus for some reason we need 8 options of cranks/wheels/drivetrain/handlebars on each size of each bicycle frame so many SKUs.
Nope. All made here, but $9000 Canadian.
But, some of the young people growing up in this economy know that, although lenders will gladly tell you the maximum amount you can borrow, it is smarter to buy below your means, make smart financial choices, and pay off the debt before the end of the loan term.
An even smaller number of young people growing up in this terrible economy have heard of the saying "you can't change the wind, but you can adjust your sails". The ones that have, tend to do well for themselves.
No thank you.
SQlab measures rise differently than everyone else. Some creative squinting going on over there. I actually did want some rise, so I went with the creatively named Ergotec Riser Bar 50.
And on my ht I have a Farr Supa-Rise alloy for 12° sweep and that old-school crossbar look.
Anyway, where could I find such a 13dep riser ORA titanium bar for sale? Branded or not?
I first tried a SQlab 12° high rise. My experience has been very positive on the wrist test, but as others have noted the claimed rise compared to other brands is overshot by 2cm. Since I needed more rise my next purchase was an Ergotec 70mm riser, which was around 40€.
Now, for a new bike I am eyeing a 50mm riser from Ergotec, 12° obviously.
feels really good compared to the 7-8° I was running before
Cheers!
That thing is pretty cool.
Tools and prototypes are cool,but I get the feeling that there were few inovations.
So yeah, the bike industry has always been that way.
There a few around here, and they always seem to be in the way! lol
They didn’t, your fellow pinkbike readers have downvoted your comment enough such that it is now down in the basement,“below threshold”.
You’re welcome.