I am travelling to Taiwan in April and I am very keen to explore on two wheels. I am an ex Elite level cyclist and particularly enjoy riding in the mountains. I am most keen to ride the Taiwan KOM challenge route up Taroko Gorge.
As this is not specifically a cycling holiday (I am travelling with my wife who is not a cyclist) I will not be bringing a bike!
My plan was to bring helmet, kit, shoes, pedals etc and hire a bike. I have done this in the past all over the world and it has often worked out well.
However it seems that I will struggle to find a decent road bike for hire in Hualien/Taroko.
Does anyone on here have any advice or tips? It doesn’t have to be the best road bike ever just the correct size (56cm top tube), mechanically sound and with the correct gear ratios.
My other thought was that maybe I could hire a decent road bike in Taipei and keep it for a week or so. Would that be possible and does anyone have any idea about price, places to rent from etc? I would not be able to leave my passport behind as security as I will need it for car hire etc.
Glad to hear you’ve decided to make the trip over to our little hidden gem!
I’m aware of your problem, Hualien simply does not have somewhere in which you can rent a decent road bike. The best you can do is higher a flat bar from Giant, but I know the difference between a flat bar and drop bar when it comes to riding the Taiwan KOM route.
Here’s what you can do:
Give Specialized Taipei (https://goo.gl/maps/y7EJiC8W6eP2) an FB message and ask if they have bikes in your size available. I believe rates are roughly 2000NT (roughly 60USD) per day, but do not quote me on that, some friends and friends of friends have reported back with that rate, but I have never confirmed for myself. I believe they may require to keep your passport, but you’ll find that some rules are flexible and you can try to talk them out of it with an alternative.
If you are an RCC member, you can rent straight from the Rapha Clubhouse in Taipei (https://goo.gl/maps/hbtwfKrLtur) . I am not too familiar with this process, but I know that RCC members get priority when it comes to renting from clubhouses, not sure if you can if you aren’t RCC.
The issue you will have with both of these options is that you may need your own bike bag to bring your bike onto the train. If you don’t have one, it doesn’t hurt to ask Rapha or Specialized if they can accommodate. You’ll find that Taiwanese are more than happy to help you out! If the shops can’t figure out a solution, I would be more than happy to lend you mine!
Another issue you may run into is paying daily rental fees, but only using it one or maybe two days out of the days you rent.
If you have trouble with Specialized and aren’t an RCC member, give me a PM. I got a friend who’s RCC.
I just left Hualien and I cycled up Taroko Gorge myself. I was able to rent a fairly decent GIANT road bike from the Giant rental store right next to Hualien station.
It was 800NT for the day.
I was also able to get them to put my pedals on the bike.
I was quite surprised because I had researched this before hand and was told it was not possible to rent a road bike from them. But I went in anyway and they do have a few road bikes which they rent out.
The route up Taroko is beautiful!
This is their email in case you want to contact them just to be sure they have a bike your size.