How dangerous is bicycling in Taipei and the rest of Taiwan? I am a roadie and a mountain biker by heart. I have a nice Bianchi Roadie here in Oregon…costs too much to ship it. Thinking of just buying a bike when I get to Taiwan.
I hear that GIANT (Taiwanese company) makes great bikes. Anyone know?
Do bikes get stolen a lot? Is it safe? Is Taiwan bike friendly?
I personally think Taipei is a great city to get around on a bicycle. It is relatively compact and there are many small lanes you can use to avoid the big streets. Bike theft is a problem especially around MRT stations. Always lock your frame with a U-lock and don’t leave it outside overnight and you should be OK.
There is excellent road riding around Taipei and extraordinary riding in places like Hsinchu, Miaoli, or in the deep south. I am more of a touring cyclist and I prefer a mountain bike for climbing all the steep hills, negotiating washed out roads, and enjoying the occasional bit of off road fun. Taiwan is very steep and riding here means lots of climbing.
Road riding = amazing
Mountain bike riding = amazing, see www.formosanfattire.com for more
Theft = a problem, esp round train stations
Bikes are cheap but I would bring the Bianchi.
Yes, Giant is a huge company. If you like quality mass produced bikes then buy a Giant, they are reliable and solid. If you dont like mass produced bikes, bring the Bianchi.
Trek, Kona, Banshee, Giant, etc are all available here.
In sum, the riding is amazing.
One of the problems is that the pollution and excessive sun can seriously damage bicycles here. For the traffic its ok.
One of the problems is that the pollution and excessive sun can seriously damage bicycles here. For the traffic its ok.[/quote]
true, but people who ride bianchis would never let that happen to their bike
I don’t think it’s less safe than any other form of transport especially if even these are allowed in traffic.
[quote=“Chris H”][quote=“engerim”]
One of the problems is that the pollution and excessive sun can seriously damage bicycles here. For the traffic its ok.[/quote]
true, but people who ride bianchis would never let that happen to their bike[/quote]
I did. Now I have a scooter 
[quote=“derek1978”]
Do bikes get stolen a lot? [/quote]
Does the sun rise in the east?
Here’s a long thread on the subject you can nibble on:
[Forget the gym - get a bike!
I rode a mountain bike in NYC for 7 years, and I don’t think Taipei is any more dangerous than going from Brooklyn into Manhattan everyday on a bike. I’ve never been hit by a car in Taipei, but I’ve been slammed in NYC (granted, my duration of riding there was double that of Taipei). I actually think cycling is safer than driving a scooter, because when driving a scooter you are in competition with the cars and buses, whereas on a bike they sort of treat you like an “other” (positively). There are also many miles of paved paths along the rivers that go through the outskirts of the city (Jilong River, Tanshui, others too). So yeah, biking is good in Taipei. But as the others have warned, theft is a huge problem. I had a nice, new Giant mountain bike, had it locked up with a serious lock to a street lamp pole, went into the store for no more than 15 minutes (Chungxiao/Dunhua) and that thing was GONE when I came out.
It’s fine as long as you use a bit of common sense. As Feiren and others say, biking here can be fantastic, on or off-road. It will definitely be a high point of your stay here. Just watch out for the giant land squids though if you’re on the east coast. Their suckers can take chunks out of your legs.
And the jumping tree leeches down south here. Some of them suckers get up to 2 kilos before they latch on to ya’.
Is it true that those things can take 2 1/2 pints of blood before you even know they’re on you? That’s what I heard, at least. 
Is it true that those things can take 2 1/2 pints of blood before you even know they’re on you? That’s what I heard, at least. [/quote]
Land squid…jumping leeches… 
You guys are joking right? …Guys?
Is it true that those things can take 2 1/2 pints of blood before you even know they’re on you? That’s what I heard, at least. [/quote]
Land squid…jumping leeches…
You guys are joking right? …Guys? [/quote]
Just ask Feiren. He got nailed coming AND going. You’ll have to talk very slowly and clearly, though – it was a bit traumatic for him and he has… er… trouble focussing, let’s say.
And don’t, whatever you do, let him show you his scars. Not unless you have a cast-iron stomach.
Is it true that those things can take 2 1/2 pints of blood before you even know they’re on you? That’s what I heard, at least. [/quote]
Land squid…jumping leeches…
You guys are joking right? …Guys? [/quote]
Don’t worry. This things are just the nice stuff you can meet here. This things you still have at least the chance to surrvive. 
jumping tree leeches.
Are you talking about the Spotted or Horned variety. The spotted tree leeches are almost as dangerous s those diving vampire bats out on the east coast. I heard a guy got bombed while riding and spent six weeks in hospital just to remove the fangs from his scalp. Lucky for him, most of the venom was injected into the foam of his helmet.
Lucky bastard.
double post.
I suck.
God, I caught one of those things crawling up me legs last summer. Damn lucky I can still call myself Muzha MAN, let me tell you.
I bought a second-hand bike for NT$1,000 at the NTU campus that I absolutely loved and rode for 6-7+ hours a day without incident. Cannot recommend a better way to get around Taipei. Taiwanese will look aghast when you suggest riding longer than 10 minutes on a bicycle but don’t listen to them - even Zhonghe to Shi-da night market only took me around the same time as the MRT. Taipei is small enough to traverse almost any distance comfortably by bicycle and it’s certainly safer than riding a scooter.
I had one bike stolen outside a nightclub at 5am but again I only paid NT$1,000 for it from an NTNU student and had a good 3 month run out of it before then.
In fact, now you mention it I’m going out right now to buy myself a cheap bike to ride around Da Keng.
[quote=“derek1978”]How dangerous is bicycling in Taipei and the rest of Taiwan? I am a roadie and a mountain biker by heart. I have a nice Bianchi Roadie here in Oregon…costs too much to ship it. Thinking of just buying a bike when I get to Taiwan.
I hear that GIANT (Taiwanese company) makes great bikes. Anyone know?
Do bikes get stolen a lot? Is it safe? Is Taiwan bike friendly?[/quote]
I have two bikes, a crappier one (about nt2000) that I ride to work and to run the ocassional errand, and a decent one (nt9000) that I ride for long rides. I have had two crappy bikes stolen from me in the 6 years I have been here. But, my nicer bike never really leaves my sight, and is hanging on the wall in my spare room when I’m not riding it.
Bikes here are cheap compared to the US.
I would never even DREAM of riding around in Kaohsiung city because of the insane and dangerous driving there, but there are many awesome places to ride outside of the Kaohsiung area. I would suggest getting a car and a bike rack to bring your bike to those places (Maolin, Santimen, other aboriginal areas in the south) if you are really into riding. It will be worth your while.
