Another Taiwan check in...

Sorry for the lack of posts lately- the hotel internet connection only partially worked and the wifi at the show itself was terribly unreliable for me. I would frequently log on and then the signal would vanish... so I relied heavily on the iPhone, but the battery wasn't holding much of a charge for very long. So it was a technically challenging week at the show.

Here are a few pics from the show- hope you like'em.

Outside the new Nangang exhibition hall. The bike show last year was the first ever event in the new building. The surrounding area is much more developed now as well. Very cool building

A nice line-up of Masi Mini-Velo bikes. These were developed with the close relationship with both our Japanese and Taiwanese distributors. I personally believe they could find a happy home in the US as well- they really are fun to ride and fit in with the emerging commuter market in the US and elsewhere. We've been working on a fixed gear version as well... which I WILL be getting a sample of for myself!

Remember Mitsue? She's the Masi spokesmodel for Taiwan. She's also a very lovely young woman and incredibly sweet. Needless to say, she drew a bit of attention to the bikes and the booth when she was there.

The wonderful Stella Yu- owner of Velo. She's easily one of the most important people in the Taiwan bike industry and is also an incredibly generous and gracious woman. She's one of the vendors I sincerely have a lot of respect and appreciation for. I arrived in Taiwan early so that I could attend her annual pre-show party. Stella is a fantastically shrewd and successful business woman and I have immense respect for her and what she has done with her company in such a male dominated industry. I always learn a little something from her.


A view of the presentation from the back of the room. The presentation and live entertainment are always a big part of the dinner party.

I would love to have this wonderful old La Pavoni espresso maker!



Some cool items on display on the shelves at my favorite coffee shop here in Taichung. The walls are covered with cool artwork/ photos and the place is just a wonderfully cool and hip spot to hang out and enjoy an afternoon.


The famous Taipei 101 on my way out of Taipei after the show- it's an amazing structural marvel and a true testament to the strength and power of the Taiwanese people. It's a jewel on the island and a source of pride... for good reason.

More pictures can be found on my Facebook page in my Taipei 2009 gallery... if you're in the mood for more.

That's it for now... more to follow.

Thanks again for all the birthday wishes as well. It was a great day and I am thankful for all the friends I have.

Tim

Home again, home again...

Got back into San Diego this afternoon after a series of flights from Taipei to Tokyo to Los Angeles to San Diego. There were no problems with any of the flights, even the last leg from LA to SD where I had to nearly run from the Customs and Immigration security to my gate. I boarded the plane just 5 minutes before taking off, but I made it!

The three of us- Wayne Doran (my Product Manager), Pat Crosby (Haro MTB/ Adult Product Manager) and myself- managed to all make it back home safe and sound. After being away for 15 days, it will be nice to sleep in my own bed and see my daughter- though I do already miss my girlfriend.

As always, my camera was with me all the time and I have tons of great pictures to share. The first week of my two week stay in Taiwan was for a bit of a vacation with my girlfriend and going to a wedding for her best friend. Getting a chance to see more of Taiwan than just bike factories in Taichung and Taipei was long overdue and much enjoyed. I'll share some of those pictures as well as all of the usual bike-related ones too.

Yes I know- she's much better looking than me.

The second week of my stay was devoted to working with Wayne to see key vendors before finalizing the spec of the bikes you will get to see (and fall in love with) in 2010. We're working on some really incredible bikes and I am so proud of how the Masi line is growing and shaping up. We visited with many different vendor partners- either at their factories/ offices, or in ours- and are much closer to having all of our homework done to deliver some incredible products to you.

Part of that second week was spent at RideOn/ Taichung Bike Week. It's a mini-"tradeshow" for the OEM market only. It's a valuable chance for us manufacturers to meet with our various suppliers and vendors to finalize our spec and see anything that might get a last second add to one of our bikes. It has grown very organically over the past 4 years or so and is now something that is actually quite important to the industry. It has become important to the city and county of Taichung as well. On Monday, many of us who attended the RideOn/ Taichung Bike Week had a private meeting with the Mayor of Taichung and some of his representatives. Several of us sat in a "round table" discussion panel to talk about the pros and cons of the current event and listen to the city explain how they want to help facilitate what we are already doing. Honestly, it was very exciting for me personally to sit in a room of my peers and industry kin and talk about how we can all work together to make the little un-tradeshow work for us all. It was also very exciting to see how much the city of Taichung wants to help us do our jobs. After all, much of the Taiwan bike industry is centered in the city and county of Taichung and is a major economic force in the Taiwan economy. But, sincerely, the best part was the feeling of being a part of something that was about the greater good of the industry itself. Those who cared to attend clearly represent those brands and people who actually care about the health of the cycling industry and not just the bottom line of their respective brands. To me, that's the best part of the industry I care so much about- the people in it who also care.

The Mayor of Taichung and his liaison to the bike industry, Anna Wang.

Last Sunday I also took part in a 75km "race" in the mountains surrounding the city of Taipei. I say "race" because it wasn't an officially sanctioned event, per se, and was more like many of the "fun rides" we have here in the US. The riders ranged from the elite to the novice... and everywhere in between and on every conceivable type of bike you can imagine. Of the 75km, 50km were uphill... some parts of the climbs were steep enough that scooters were being pushed up the hills! Needless to say, with the total lack of fitness I have, it was beyond painful. I am not too proud to admit that in the last 5km, I had to walk my bike up the climbs 3 or 4 times. I was blown to pieces by the end, but considering that I have ridden 3-4 times over the past 2.5 months... I'm happy to have even finished at all. I am also happy to report that the bike I shipped over for the event rode flawlessly- aside from not making me not have to pedal uphill. The new Scandium frame I have been testing rode perfectly- it accelerates like a dream and corners flawlessly. The road feel is everything Scandium is supposed to be and has very stiff power transfer to the pedals. The updated SRAM Rival group worked perfectly but I was totally over-geared and needed a compact crank for the amount of steep climbing we did, but I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Also, the new Shimano RS80 wheelset rode awesome! These new carbon/ alloy clincher wheels are sweet and I can't wait to get the bike back from Taiwan so I can start putting more miles on it.

It's time for me to try and get some sleep, even though my internal clock is all out of whack. I'll have more to report soon and will have plenty more cool pictures now that I have reliable internet able to handle the images.

Tim

Can you feel the love?

So today we cruised around to a couple of new Masi dealers here in Taipei and hanging out at a cool coffee shop/gallery/ bike space place. It was great to see a few Masi bikes "in the wild"!

Even in Taipei, the SoulVille is a popular bike! This shops sold one of the Antique Beige mixte bikes to a guy who has one of the Speciale Fixed in Shamrock Green on order. Very cool indeed.

Speaking of Speciale Fixed... check out the one the same shop customized for the window display... sweet!

This is the front of the Frog Cafe- it's a coffee shop, gallery, special event venue and bang "hang out". It's a very cool spot in the heart of Taipei.

Gotta love the simple logo- I tried to get a picture of the one that looks like a guy on a bike, but it didn't come out well enough to tell what it was.

This shop was displaying a pre-production sample of the Mini-Velo, taking pre-delivery orders from consumers. Very cool!

More to come, but now it's time for sleep!

Tim

Welcome to Taipei!

Made it to Taiwan without too much trouble. My leg seems to be doing just fine- meaning no signs of new clots... which is a very good thing. I wore my Skins compression tights again, which really do seem to work. I have been using them for all of my flights since the crash and I can say that I do feel like my legs are fresher when I arrive. I admit, I've worn lycra (or other cycling gear) for the past 26 years of my life... and yet wearing the tights (under another pair of pants) just feels "funny"... I have nicknamed them my Mantyhose. I never could quite get comfortable on my flights, as it seemed that either my leg/ foot or ass was always uncomfortable. I had good enough seats that I was able to get into multiple positions to try and remedy the situation, but it never quite worked. However, after taking 3 Tylenol PM... I did eventually drift (collapse) into a nap.

Meeting for lunch with the woman I am coordinating with to do the Masi brand launch here in Taiwan. The after lunch, we are likely going to meet with the fashion designed who is providing the clothes for the event- which is exciting. After the launch tomorrow, I am going to be doing a full-on media blitz, I am told, introducing the line to the Taiwan retailers and consumers both... and I'm both excited and nervous st the same time. My Mandarin is pretty non-existent, so I am very lucky to be working with a great translator.

Here's a few shots of Taipei so far...


After checking in to the hotel, I went for a little walk- around midnight local time- to stretch the legs and get the blood moving. 20 hours worth of flights can leave you a little crooked.


This is one of the larger intersections near the hotel. The lighted wall is pretty cool, as the image keeps moving and changing. There are several smaller sculptures near it that are hard to see here. Many of the intersections around Taipei are like this, with cool art placements.


If you were ever wondering what Mickey's ride of choice is... it's a fixed gear. I knew that mouse had class!


This is from this morning; beautiful waterfall and koi pond downstairs from a large hotel. It is next to a nice restaurant with seats right at the water level. It's one of the many little natural spots sprinkled throughout the city.

Here's the world famous Taipei 101- which is was the world's tallest building before the Burj Dubai completed it's antenna structure this past September. As you can see, the top of the antenna structure of the 101 is obscured in a cloud... as it often is.

Ok, gotta get ready for that lunch, so I will see you all later...

Tim

Taipei Cycle Show 2008- a few friends.

Our geeky bike nerd reporter carried his camera with him all the time, everywhere he went. Sadly, for some folks, that means he took lots of pictures- a few of them were even in focus. He's no Helmut Newton, but the little (big) dork tries.

So we've done the parts pictures and some other random images from the first day, etc, so now it is time for the people of Taipei Cycle Show... at the least the few people who were unfortunate enough to stumble in front of my camera lens.

Names have not been changed to protect the innocent (or the guilty for that matter)...

(John Webber, Pat Crosby, Joe Hank... I mean Hawk... and Wayne- Fuzzy- Doran.)

The lines for the hotel shuttle buses were very long on the first night of the show... so in our great wisdom, we decided to go walking to a spot where we thought we could find a taxi easier and faster. About 48 hours and 100 miles later, we did find a couple taxis to take us to dinner with a friend of ours.


Our friend... Kendall- Short Bus- Young of Ritchey Components. He's a lot smarter than he looks here... no really, I swear he is.


The happiest Brand Manager in all of Taiwan...


... and with good reason.


A bunch of guys with big steaks and one guy (of questionable manhood) with lasagna- Maris Adamovics (Ritchey Taiwan), Kendall- "I like beef"- Young, Pat- "my wife thinks I'm cool"- Crosby, Wayne- Bearded Lady- Doran, John- "snoring chainsaw"- Webber, Joe- "I'm not signing that expense report"- Hawk and Masiguy.


Meet Matt McClendon, our good buddy from Kenda Tires. Though his Wii form might be a little odd, he's a great guy... I promise.


On my last day in Taiwan, the last day of the show, there was an amazing political rally/ parade. Thousands and thousands of people filled the street and carried signs and waved flags, chanting political slogans. It was 100% unlike anything I've ever experienced in the US. It was moving- I had goose bumps and even got teary-eyed a few times. The people were so amazingly passionate about their political experience. People came up to me to shake my hand and say "Taiwan #1" and then moved on or told me all about their political views- some even did so in English. I stood there in awe as I watched the throngs of people marching by- men, women, young, old, children... it was amazing. Taiwan has a precarious and tenuous relationship with China- China claims Taiwan as part of China- and Taiwan wants to remain (essentially) independent. It has created some incredibly high tensions between the two and the rest of the world is watching very nervously. All I can say is that I hope the two work it all out without a single shot ever having to be fired. I've never been to China, so I can't make claims about the country or people, but I have been to Taiwan several times now and have some very close relationships there and have a great fondness for the people and the country. It is my sincere hope that this political process yields a strong leader for the country and that this new leader can work well with the leaders in China to secure an enduring peace between the two.


Even the dogs get into the process in Taiwan!

That's all for tonight...

Tim

More Taipei '08- Cool Products

Now we move on to the product section of our Taipei 2008 coverage. Our intrepid reporter picks up where he finished and continues with the highlights of the products that made Taipei Cycle Show 2008 so exciting...

Thanks for your patience- let's get to the good stuff now!


As a race nerd, I still seriously geek-out on cool stuff like these wheels. I never did find out who the actual manufacturer is, but several brands had their labels on them. They were pretty cool and light though.


There are many very talented frame makers in Taiwan. This particular one struck me for its very fluid lines and nice structural features- check out the beefy dropout area and the ridge by the seat collar area. The frame had a lot of great and complex shapes.


Biomega continues to make some of the coolest bikes I've seen. I just love their simple designs and creative touches. This bike just made me smile when I saw it.


One of my favorite trends developing right now is painted/ colored bars, stems and seatposts. Sure the finishes may scratch over time, but when you are creating a really beautiful bike and can add some awesome colored accents... parts like this are a great thing to have available. Keep your eyes open for a few well-known companies to be doing this... trust me on this one.


It's no secret that I'm a big SRAM fan. I still love my Shimano and Campagnolo parts too- in fact I just finished building a new steel sample frame with my Dura Ace parts (pictures later) and rode it tonight. But I've been one of the folks who claimed that SRAM's entry into the road market would be a good thing for all of us. Well, the venerable Rival group is getting nice updates like a black finish to match the Force and Red groups and is also getting a new carbon fiber brake lever. What was already a good looking group for the money is now a drop-dead-sexy group for the money. (Don't worry though... the folks from Japan are not going quietly into the night... not at all... but I can't say anything yet.)

One of the biggest product highlights of the show was these guys; Grammo.


I'm a true racing geek and love cool looking race gear, but these wheels were simply off the charts!


Thing is, they spun incredibly smoothly and felt very nice in the hands. The large carbon bladded spokes were very cool with two steel threaded spokes that went in to the rim and used regular spoke nipples.


These babies were just simply stunning- they really did a great job on the cosmetics.


I pretty much fell in love with them and fondled them each time I walked by the booth. They were starting to get a little concerned.


I'd love to say I talked my way in to a set of the wheels to test and report on for you, my faithful and wonderful readers... but I failed to even get any words out of my mouth because I could hardly breath from the hyperventilating.

So those are the product highlights that I'm allowed to tell you about... (nudge, nudge, wink, wink...). Next up will be some of the people who make going to the Taipei show such a good time.

So until the next time- good night!

Tim

Taipei Cycle Show 2008- words and pics (part 1).

I'm gonna try and keep these short and sweet... umkay? And yes, I'll have more of these later too.


The view outside my window of the San Want hotel in Taipei around 10:00PM on my first night in town. The city never really sleeps... it gets quieter, but never actually quiet.


I know it's a crappy picture, but this is the Taipei 101 (world's tallest building). You can barely see what looks like smoke billowing from the top. I don't know what it actually was, but it was creepy looking.


This really cool sculpture stands in front of the new convention center. It's huge! Probably over 100' tall. It's a really cool sculpture- it's on the cover of the current Bicycle Retailer and Industry News too.


The architecture is very cool and modern- my pics do it no justice. The metro rail passes right in front too.

The main reason I arrived in Taipei a day early was so that I could attend the annual Velo/ Wellgo party. I use a lot of Velo products from handlebar tapes/ grips to nearly all of my saddles. Stell Yu is an incredible woman and I have immense respect for her. She has built an empire in the industry and is still as genuinely humble as you can possibly imagine. So I arrived a day ahead of my co-workers so I could serve as the company representative for this annual party thrown by Stella and her sister company, pedal/ shoe maker, Wellgo (Xpedo).


Here, George Lai of Velo kicks the evening off. George is another great guy to know in this industry.


The highlight of the evening for me was the HanTang Yuefu traditional Chinese folk art performance group.


These women put on the most wonderfully elegant and beautiful performances you can imagine. I really enjoy traditional performances like these and I was greatly impressed by the show we were provided- it was simply amazing.


The evening wrapped up with a toast to the attendees (a few hundred people) from Stella. It was a great night shared with some wonderful people.

So my next post will be from the show floor- people, products and more... I promise.

Tim
(PS- And thank you for all the birthday wishes. It is sincerely appreciated. )

Back... sorta...

So I'm back from the Taipei show. I'm also in one hell of a jetlag coma too. I never sleep well on planes so I took a few Tylenol PM and had a couple glasses of cheap airplane red wine and slept most of the way back... but I feel like somebody slipped me an elephant tranquilizer.

I have pictures and even a few videos to share, as always, so stay tuned.

I'm gonna go to bed now... sucks to be so wiped out on one of my favorite days of the year (St. Patrick's Day). Tomorrow is also my birthday, so hopefully I'll be semi-coherent long enough to blow out my candles.

Good night,

Tim

Busy in Taiwan...

Sorry for the lack of posts and pics- it's been a very busy show this year and I've been unable to connect to the inter-web-net-thing I've been reading so much about (I hear it might catch on).

As soon as I get the chance to sit down and do a bit of writing and downloading of pics, I'll get you updated.

The new convention center here in Taipei is awesome. I have a few pics and will post them once I can. This show is the first in the building- the paint is still wet and it still smells of wet cement. The president of Taiwan was here to open the show and present the center to the press. It's pretty cool. If you dig modern architecture, Asia is the place to go. Lots of great design here.

Ok, back at it again.

Tim

Made it!

Made it in after my 14 hour flight from San Francisco to Taipei. As usual, I didn't really sleep much. The plane was full of bike industry wankers like myself- my good friend Daniel Limburg from Shimano and nearly every body from SRAM, including my friend and "SRAM guy" Brian Billington. There were many other faces from other companies that I also recognized. Fortunately, we had a handful of Buddhist monks on the plane as well, virtually guaranteeing that the plane would not crash and wipe out half the US bike industry.

Since it is nearly 9:00PM here and my body thinks it is nearly 6:00AM... I think I'll go for a walk and find something to eat for dinner.

Pictures to follow soon.

Tim

Back to the island...

Tomorrow morning is coming fast and furious and I am heading back to the island nation of Taiwan for the Taipei Cycle Show again. Last year was my first time to the show and I had a great time seeing so much of the world's cycling industry on display. Going to a tradeshow as a buyer, versus a seller, is always a nice switch. Plus, after all my recent visits to Taiwan, I have a few great new friends that I always sincerely enjoy seeing.

This weekend was a spastic blend of activity and errands and the usual "etcetera". My daughter stayed with her mother Friday night and Saturday morning, so I was able to get out for a nice ride on Saturday... even though my legs were totally useless. All the missed rides lately have taken a toll on the legs that were beginning to come back around. Still, it was great to get out and ride.

Saturday evening, The Princess and I went to my sister's house to babysit my nephew overnight. This morning and afternoon, the three of us waded through the day in a nice lazy way, enjoying the beautiful weather we've been blessed with the past few days. My sister and brother-in-law returned later in the afternoon and then Masidaughter and I headed home. She went back to her mother's and then I ran out to get a quick haircut before heading off to the tradeshow and innumerable meetings and dinners.

Once the haircut chore was done, I was home and getting into my riding kit and headed off for a nice ride on my Speciale Fixed before the sun could set on the day- thank goodness for Daylight Savings Time! I rode my usual sprint workout loop down on the bay- the sunset was spectacular and the weather was ideal. It was a great ride and a great end to the weekend.


After the ride, I came back home to finish laundry and packing. I also grilled up some yummy fish, along with some black eyed peas (I am a Southern boy after all).

All things considered, I guess I'd have to say it was a good weekend. Now comes the hard part- a long flight with my knees thrust up under my chin and the eternal battle of good and evil (and possession of the arm rest).

As always, I'll do my best to get some blogging done- along with some podcasting and maybe even a bit of video. Whenever possible, I'll do my best to get photos too... as always.

Ok, gotta run and get a little sleep before the day kicks off and the miles tick by.

Stay beautiful.

Tim