I haven’t even started on locating the retail shops, but have just spent two days scouring the 2014 Taipei Bike Exhibition.
The impression I get from talking with sellers is that Taiwan is not a bicycle-friendly nation compared to USA/Canada and Europe. This is a MANUFACTURING and trade Center (with done manufacturing being done in China) but there are NOT a lot of end users here - at least if the folding bikes I have in mind.
Fact is, I haven’t seen a single Dahon, Brompton, Tern or any premium Bicycles on the streets here. Wait a second. I haven’t seen a single bicycle period. The closest I have seen is motorcyclists on the sidewalk. Perhaps Taiwan is like the rest of Asia - bicycles belong to two classes of people: high end bikes to middle-class weekend sports types and the lowest status of society such as little boys and old men riding cheapie, very we’ll worn. Fact is, in my observation it’s been at least ten years since even in China if Vietnam bicycles are primary transport.
I’d say cycling has become a lot more popular here than in the past. I live in small town Taiwan and there are at least two bicycle manufacturers. Giant is a major player.
Unlike the places you mentioned there’s not a whole lot of open wide space suitable for cycling and the summer weather is horrible to cycle even short distances in due to the humidity,
Dude, I myself have had plenty of hissy fits when I can’t find what I want in Taiwan (yeah, it can be a bitch) but you are just spouting a bunch of uninformed nonsense about Taiwan cycling in general. How long have you been here? A week? I’ve been here for over 6 years, and have been a pretty avid cyclist for the last 2+ and I feel the need to correct you on pretty much all of your points.
The cities here are NOTHING-friendly. Not car-friendly, not bike-friendly, not pedestrian-friendly… pretty typical for East Asia places that had a rapid economic boom within the last 50 years. Outside of the city, Taiwan is a road-cycling paradise that is gaining international attention. The roads are fantastic and varied (you can hit beautiful 5000-9000ft high passes within 25 miles of modern amenities), drivers are a mixed bag but no worse than in the US, trains are becoming increasingly bike-friendly (the new trains have special cars for cyclists - the new high speed local even has a bike as part of its logo!), locals are friendly if you need help etc. etc. etc.
Most if not all of the manufacturing, at least on mid- to high-end road bikes, is done in Taiwan. What do you mean by “done manufacturing?” Final assembly? Please clarify…There are plenty of end users here, but they all tend to ride whatever is cool and whatever the dealers feed them…expensive racing bikes…not a ton of diversity as far as bike types go (very tough to find "weird"stuff like touring bikes, cyclocross bikes etc.)
Haven’t seen Tern but a few Bromptons and quite a lot of Dahons on the street. And I don’t even give a flying f**ck about folding bikes so it’s not like I’m going out of my way to look for them
Taipei city’s rental bikes (the orange step-through “U-bike”) are EVERYWHERE. You pretty much can’t walk down any major street in Taipei without seeing them. Wildly popular. So really, no idea what you are talking about. Sounds like you are pasting some generalizations you have about Asia onto Taiwan without even doing a quick 180 with your head to see whats around you.
Sorry if I sound a bit flamish but I gotta call it as I see it.
I’d also add that Taiwan cycle engineering is one of the few things they do well here. Colleague of mine was at the Giant factory the other day and was well impressed. World-class stuff.
The cycle show was packed yesterday (ridiculous registration queue) so I turned around and went home; but previous shows have been very good.
Having moved on to Khaoshung I observe at least in my part of town many bicycles. Funny thing is at 10 am they are ALL parked and crappy models. This city is a relief after Taipei. Suppose it is like expected bicycles in business center of downtown Toronto.
Oh, and Dahon is coming out with a new model that will compete with Brompton to fit in a standard airline suitcase. Tern models that interest me the most are not sold in Taiwan.
Sounds like you are pasting some generalizations you have about Asia onto Taiwan without even doing a quick 180 with your head to see whats around you.
Yes. An accurate assessment. First impressions only. To compare with 1993 small cities in China where streets had each way separate bicycle leaned for transportation.
It would appear that bicycles are used by working-class workers and students to get from home to MRT station, from which presumably they go to work or school. However so far I have not seen the urban bike culture for commuting and physical fitness - the ‘green’ people between 25-35 who are not uncommon in Seattle and a broader spectrum in Amsterdam. I speculate that there are cultural and other reasons why this is so. In fact, this bike ‘subculture’ of USA and popular culture of some European cities is a minority. I erroneously expected to see it here based on export trade.
I’ve ridden thousands and thousands of kilometers here. One thing I will say, Taiwanese are cycle friendly. You get zero, and I mean zero, aggro from drivers. They’ll even sit behind you waiting for space to pass. They’ll cheer you on from their windows, offer you smokes and betelnut They’ll give you a ride when you puncture miles from anywhere. No one pushes you into the gutter or calls you gay for wearing lycra. And the numbers of riders on the big climbs/rides out of Taipei are getting larger and larger. A whole lot of high end Italian carbon and Swiss clothing out there these days.
ALL of the bikes left at MRT stations are rusty old junkers. I can only speculate why…
Middle-class and wealthy do not ride bicycles?
Humidity destroys metal?
Risk of bike theft?
Taiwanese aesthetic is minimal?
Transportation status is important to ethnic Chinese?
Rentals look better
Gender bias…
Unlike in Vietnam, females do not ride bicycles? In Mekong Delta and small cities I see, even today schoolgirls on bicycles as the norm. Their parents don’t pick them up after school. They don’t use the bus. They walk or bike for very local transport. However in Thai cities bikes are used by MALES. There is a distinct gender bias. However, Iam just now passing through countryside and school is in. To be continued…
BTW, saw my first folding bike - parked and locked at Kaohsiung Train main station. An Dahon that looked 20 years old.
Taiwan is full of bikes actually. I ride motorbike everyday, and everyday I see people riding them. During the weekend I go out to the mountain and so, and there are lots of packs of people biking, and also single cyclists too. When I came here I was so happy because I thought I could bring my mtb or buy another good one here, given that they produce lots of them. I haven’t done it yet because a) I think it sucks for MTB, and b) road biking could be cool… but I’m afraid of how motorbikes and cars race in the mountain. Though If I lived closer to my job I would ride bicycle instead of motorbike for sure.
As previously said, you are comparing potatoes and apples. Or microchips to durians, to make it more localized. Giving you the benefit of the doubt but still the troll stench is strong on this one, if it wasn’t for this: forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopi … s#p1586377
This is Taiwan, not Thailand. Scooter rules. Pace of life is faster. People need speed. And yes, it is more affluent as a whole. Bikes are considered for leisure and exercise. Plus you cannot accommodate 5 people including Grandma and the family dog on a bicycle. Get a few pics of that for your research, OK?
That said, in my personal experience, the clunkers you see around the stations is because if you leave anything of certain value parked there 8 hours it is most likely NOT to be there when you come back. Instead, the clunker gets you from A to B. Even better, the EasyBike system, no maintenance involved. The high end ones are enthroned in family garage or living room, polished and cherished. Don’t tell me you actually expect a 2000 usd bike -that I know quite a few locals and furriners own- to be parked on the street?! You are new and young, but that is pushing it.
Try the same experiment with umbrellas. They even have public umbrellas at stores and restaurants that people have left before for the same purpose.
Anyways, we are talking to a wall since you have all the explanations… Ask questions without bias, and you may have a decent answer.
It’s not bad at all if you know where and when to ride. Mainly, you stay off the popular “blue sign” highways in mountain areas (In the north: 7, 7-1, 3 in miaoli county, 9/bei-yi) from 9am to noon if possible. However, closer to Taipei even the provincial roads are pretty bad north and south of Taipei (Pinglin, Yangmingshan, Pingxi, Shiding etc). But elsewhere, there are so many nice provincial highways, county roads and “agriculture industrial” roads that never get racing motos or cars, often not even bikes. A couple of months on google maps and on the road and you’ll know whats up.
Oh yeah, the ubiquity and success of the U bike in Taipei is noteworthy in the extreme (even tho’ I wouldn’t be caught dead on one). I’d be interested to know if there’s any flow through into more serious cycling pursuits. The fact that all those folk can knock around town on U bikes with no serious injuries that I can see suggests that Taipei’s not a bad place for cycling after all.
They seem to cycle on pavements a lot, Japanese style. Changhua and Greater Taichung (wherever that is) are getting you bike systems soon also. Wonder how that’s going to work.
I’d also bet Taiwan has the highest % of folders per head in the world, he just didn’t come here at the peak of the craze!
It’s not bad at all if you know where and when to ride. Mainly, you stay off the popular “blue sign” highways in mountain areas (In the north: 7, 7-1, 3 in Miaoli county, 9/bei-yi) from 9am to noon if possible. However, closer to Taipei even the provincial roads are pretty bad north and south of Taipei (Pinglin, Yangming Shan, Pingxi, Shiding etc). But elsewhere, there are so many nice provincial highways, county roads and “agriculture industrial” roads that never get racing motos or cars, often not even bikes. A couple of months on google maps and on the road and you’ll know whats up.[/quote]
Yeah, I guess that there are places and places. However, I don’t own a car, and although I’m sure that you can go to very good places for biking by train, that’s a problem…
It could be that the dearth of bikes was due to them being used more at beginning and end of work/school day however. Hmm, Taitung’s lighter traffic and super wide streets is far more appealing than the two bigger cities I have briefly explored - Taipei and Kaohsiung. No smog. No rush. Sea breeze. And perhaps for the ESL teachers on this board - no work!
Fortunately I am not here to work. I am here to bicycle and compare the pros and cons of Taiwan versus other places.
Nice and sunny and hot.