April 16, 2015 (Taipei, Taiwan) – After spending the first day trying to get a handle on how large the Taipei International Cycle Show actually is and how many vendors have booths – 1,100 exhibitors from 34 countries – the days that followed allowed for more exploring.

Steel road frames were popping up in many different booths with the hopes that there will be a resurgence of interest. There are a large amount of electric bikes including systems from Germany’s Bosch, Canada’s BionX, Shimano, SRAM along with e-Fat bikes as well. There were also a large amount of folding bikes including electric folding bikes. While Dahon is arguably the best known in this category, there are lots of other players ready to fill the need for this kind of bike.

With the popularity of fat bikes one could see their associated tires abound as well. Every tire company has at least one or more of these chubby rubbers. And they seem to be getting fatter with sizes in the 4.8”.

Several companies are trying new things as well in the shifting area. Box Components, part of Cycle Sports Group based in Anaheim, California, has a new rear derailleur coming out that will be shipping in 2015. It looks very well made and has a good feel to it. It will be made available in three lengths and with or without a clutch in each length including one for 1×11 systems. Apparently component giant, Shimano, has given their blessing to these guys just so long as they don’t infringe on any patents.

TRP, the brake company based out of Ogden, Utah, introduced a road disc brake last year but came up with an idea to add a shifter to it for this year. They are offering a kit that will allow for Shimano’s Di2 climbing buttons to be added to the inside of their hydraulic brake lever to offer Shimano shifting with TRP hydraulic braking – could be a cool option.

Check back for our Taipei International Cycle Show 2015 Part 3 including interviews with some of the sport’s heavy hitters who are also Canadians…