Leaders of several of the world’s major bicycle and bicycle components manufacturers presented innovative products at this year’s Taiwan New Products Launch during last week’s Eurobike 2013 trade show in Friedrichshafen, Germany. Presented by TAITRA, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council, the gathering of Taiwan’s biking superpowers spearheaded current market trends and insight into the Taiwanese and international bicycle industry.
Frieda Hung, Director of the Taiwan Trade Center in Munich, opened the presentation and cited the new and far-reaching achievements in the Taiwanese bicycle industry. The leading role of Taiwan in the bicycle industry, she noted, is “manifested not simply by excellent price performance ratios and enhanced safety aspects, but today more than ever through exceptional design and innovation– this year through revolutionary lightweight construction technologies.”
Ms Hung’s remarks were followed by words from Agnes Hwa-Yue Chen, Representative of the Taipei Representation to the Federal Republic of Germany, who took the microphone to expound upon the positive magnitude of the German-Taiwanese-European bicycle alliance.
Mrs Chen emphasized the economic importance of Germany for the Taiwanese bicycle industry, and spelt out her campaign for an official economic cooperation between both countries regulated by mutual agreement. She saw this as a ‘triple win’ situation profiting each country, their respective industries and their consumers.
She went on to illustrate how Europe, leading with the Netherlands, Great Britain and Germany, is Taiwan’s most important market – exporting a total of 2,518,700 bicycles in 2012, and these accounting for a total export volume of US$827 million.
On behalf of the Taiwan Bicycle Exporters’ Association (TBEA), Chairman Antony Lo gave his insight into current trends and industry developments. Lo touched on the topic of ‘Branding Across Borders’ in his observations — the top-shelf branding of Taiwanese products to international markets.
Through an ever-closer assimilation of the world’s markets, bringing nearly instant availability of product within each market, Lo emphasized that it has become essential for companies to think and act globally. In light of current developments, Lo sees first and foremost a stronger focus on ultra-lightweight construction in road racing – a development whose timeliness was underscored by the product presentations that followed.
Lo sees this structural trend developing in other market segments, as well. New developments in the e-bike market show a definite growth in demand for sportier, lighter, more powerful bikes. Performance and lighter weight are also increasingly important criteria in mountain bikes.
According to Lo, everything in the near future will revolve around the development of the perfect 27.5” bike. In this segment, too, Taiwanese companies are exerting their leading role as developers of innovative products.
Giant Bicycles’ Steffen Barkhau, Product Manager for Giant Bicycles Germany, opened the presentation together with James Hibbard from Giant’s Global Marketing team, demonstrating the brand’s new Propel Advanced SL. This ultra-light construction ‘follows the decided trend towards uncompromising aerodynamic superiority in the road bike segment.’
Stepping up from its predecessors, the Propel Advanced SL has been completely optimized through the latest technologies and vigorous wind tunnel testing. ‘Relieved of all extraneous ballast and a frame weight first made possible through unrelenting carbon technology, the Propel Advanced SL now makes it possible for the growing base of competition-oriented road cyclists to acquire a bicycle made to meet the latest uncompromising standards for performance and speed.’
Kenda was the second brand to mount the podium, with Mr Uwe Daniel, Kenda’s European Marketing Manager, demonstrating together with Jack Scott the new Nevegal-X Pro tire, set to enter the market in 2014 for trail and enduro applications.
Merida Bikes has been producing long-life, reliable bikes with the latest cutting-edge technologies since 1972. Now, 40 years later, Merida manufactures nearly 5 million bikes a year in four Asian factories according to the same criteria – with research, development and design today ‘Made-in-Germany’. One of the carbon highlights of the 2014 season is the aerodynamic road machine REACTO EVO, featuring all-time low drag and low resistance – developed in close accord with the requirements of the UCI World Tour squad, TEAM LAMPRE-MERIDA.
Whereas the original REACTO was developed as a semi-aero machine, the new REACTO EVO, with new, ‘improved aerodynamic superior shaping, has been successfully wind tunnel tested for maximum speed.’
Tern Bicycles, dedicated to the goal of designing and manufacturing versatile bikes for everyday use, reiterated the ‘recipe’ that has propelled the company’s rapid success during its scant two-year existence. Joshua Hon, Vice President of Tern, illustrated the ‘ingredients’ of success: safety, cargo, comfort, transport, storage and daily use.
The ingenious PostPump 2.0, developed by the young, ‘sibling’ company BioLogic, was also a feature of the presentation. Cleverly enclosed in the seat post, the device lends instant ‘first aid’ at the flick of a lever.
TEKTRO Technology Corporation rounded up this year’s TAITRA presentation with Lance Larrabee introducing the Spyre 2-piston disc brake systems – claimed to be lighter than the competition by 30% and a full 20 mm narrower. Originally developed for mountain bikes, the Spyre 2-piston disc brakes provide even pad contact to the rotors – enhancing braking power and modulation. The new Spyre disc models are designed specifically for road brake levers, offering sturdy braking performance for the road and cyclocross categories.
The Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) was founded in 1970 to promote Taiwan’s foreign trade and competitiveness in world markets. Over the past 40 years, TAITRA has played a key role in the development of the Taiwanese economy. TAITRA is jointly sponsored by the government and commercial associations and is viewed as the business gateway to Taiwan for the international business community.
www.taiwantrade.com.tw
www.taiwanexcellence.org
