Buying carbon wheelset in Taipei

Hi Everyone,

My wife and I live in Oakland, CA. We’re here in Da’an district near Yong Kang Street visiting her family. I’d like to purchase a carbon wheelset here (Taiwan manufactured) and bring them back to the states. I think I can save some money that way.

So, is that something that can be purchased here? And if so, would I save money? Lastly, can anyone suggest a bike store that could help me? I’ve walked to the Giant store on XinYi Street, but I haven’t visited any other stores. I did check out the thread on bike stores here on this forum, although some of the info there is a few years old.

Thanks in advance!

I do not think you would save money. The idea that you can get a better price where an item is manufactured is false, for the most part. You could try dengfu in China for a cheap price.

Thanks for the info! I’ll do some more looking around at local shops and see what I can find.

Depends on the brand. Yes, if some big name, say Mavic or Easton, carbon wheelsets are made in Taiwan they will not be cheaper here. If anything they will be more expensive as they get shipped out of Taiwan to the US or wherever and then back into Taiwan with shipping and customs costs added on.

However, if the OP is looking for local brands, then I’m sure he could find a decent carbon wheelset cheaper than in the US. I’ve seen plenty of local brand carbon wheels on bikes (although I’m not interested in carbon wheels at this point and couldn’t vouch for whether or not they are any good).

As a separate example, there are plenty of good Taiwan local brand framesets that would be a lot cheaper than buying a similar bike in the US (Gusto, Speedone, Rikulau etc. not to mention domestic-market Giant and Merida bikes).

There must be good local wheels as well?

DT swiss are made in Taichung. Not sure if you can get there?
http://www.dtswiss.com/About-DT-Swiss/Dealer-Locator

Giant’s P-SLR1 wheels have been getting good reviews recently. I don’t know what they cost here (I’d be interested to know), but I’d be surprised if you can’t make a worthwhile saving on those.

Try Velocite in Kaohsiung. velocite-bikes.com/component … -and-hubs/

Taiwan-made carbon wheels. But they probably cost the same shipped to the States.