Show us your bike(s) [as in bicycles]

Nice paint job! make sure to whack a whole lot of extra clear coat under that BB area, and along also go heavy along the bottom of the down tube. The thin paint you get from spray can paint jobs always rust out there first (shit from the front wheel hits there first).

mine also always rust along the cable guides, because that’s a sweat trap, and they never get much paint on them.

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Thanks, normally I should do that.

However, I still want the Jaguar bike, but it seems impossible right no; everyone is busy, asks crazy prices, and shipping is nuts in some cases.

So I will do the copy Bottecchia version for a while, then hopefully rip the decals off at some point, re-paint if needed, and make it final with some good layers of clearcoat.

Right now its coming together nicely :wink:.

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I finished her up yesterday, just some little cosmetic issues to fix next week (white bottle, white tape, saddle base).

So finally able to show you my newest ride …

Just passed a little shake- down ride with flying colors.
Very happy with this Italian beauty :joy::joy:.

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Very nicely done. Enjoy.

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Damn, that thing is purdy. Nice job.

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I have to show this … the only positive thing in the last months, I am sooooo fed up with the rain…

And yeah, I know that whole bike is a fake, but it worked out wayyyy nicer than ever expected.
So nice indeed, that I am not sure I will proceed to change it into the “Jaguar” bike I was intending to make out of it.

Had a little signature made, it really is the icing on the cake …

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I see a lot of high end bikes in Taipei. Are most build up from a frameset? Most standard bikes don’t come with power meters or Lightweight MEILENSTEIN.
If so, are European frames made in Taiwan cheaper here or are they re imported with a high markup.Even Specialized S-Works are made here but are more expensive here.

Ridden by people with stupid money. Yes they’re built up from frame sets. High end shops mostly sell frames that are built up to custom specs. Just look at how many people are wearing Rapha out there. It’s hideous. I’m still wearing my Breton National kit from 20 years ago. :sweat_smile:

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Some of the bikes I see :flushed: admitted I do like the vintage Italian ones, class and style.
I ride Aster :joy:

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I’m on an old Fuji.

But I do got Campy wheels.

They are usually re-imported. And Rapha is anyhow only for slow people. The others ride around exclusively in their team clothes - often also by Rapha or some premium brands.

Yes it’s quite common to see 300.000ntd bikes without a powermeter. In that case you know the rider just has the money and doesn’t care.
As for those with powermeter - if you have not several hobbies but just one - why not? Yeah for a road bike the marginal gains are way smaller than in Mountainbiking when you go from a 90.000ntd to a 300.000ntd bike - but they are there…

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How do people who look so young here afford such expensive bikes?

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Rich dads obviously.

Marketing answer: “Cycling keeps you young and healthy”

Reality: Four years interest-free credit.

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Is the credit via a credit card or a loan? Do most bike shops offer this?

My experience is within the UK. A lot of the big (online) shops offer monthly payment plans, technically a loan.

Well I think you are mistaken. Road biking is a bit of an elite sport in Taiwan. I did notice that money in the industry is quite lose - because there are many people buying those expensive bikes new every 2-3 years.

Some of the racing series are clearly costing a lot of money and organisation. I pays because they can bind customers that way.

Why can you have photographers riding on scooters on every Saturday morning group ride shooting pictures, providing them for free to all participants? Because it binds and pays off.

I would guess 20-25% of the road bikers in Taiwan are amongst the top 1% money wise (and not on the low end of the top 1%).

I very rarely saw people riding a bike as cheap as mine (65k ntd list price). Usually on group rides everyone is on bikes >200k Ntd. But yes it’s fun turning up on group rides looking like a tourist and then smoking most people. But doesn’t work long as soon people just know you and it’s the same 300-400 people, with a core of 100 that show up in the group rides in Taichung all the time.

Please explain how taking pictures of riders profits the photographer.

The photographere are employed by the shops/brands sponsoring or organizing the group rides. I would have guessed this is easy to understand…

Oh yeah another marketing channel are those female Instagram bike riding girls… Though I guess they don’t get much, their followers aren’t the target market…