April 04, 2014 (Taipei, Taiwan) – On the fourth and final day of the Taipei International Cycle Show, the doors were opened to the public. Large crowds were on hand, which also gives you a sense of how big a cycling country Taiwan really is. This was also the day prior to the start of the Tour of Taiwan, so several of the Pro team sponsors were on hand for autograph sessions with their pro riders.

UnitedHealthCare was on site at the Maxxis booth, their tire sponsor, and Swift Carbon bikes hosted team DRAPAC at their booth as their bike sponsor. Team Cannondale was also seen visiting some of their sponsors as well.  Large crowds greeted the pros as fans were happy to get autographs and shake hands with their heroes. Pro mountain biker, Cedric Gracia, was also on site at the Lezyne booth signing autographs and joking with fans. Kenda Tires also sponsors a baseball team in Taiwan, the Lions, and they brought in a couple of players who also drew a big crowd of autograph seekers.

While this was the last day of the show, there were still lots of things to see. If you thought that Shimano, Campagnolo and SRAM were the only companies making shifting systems then perhaps you haven’t heard of Micro Shift or Sun Race. Both make solid 10-speed road shifting and derailleur systems that looked well built. Micro Shift, also sponsors of Team Exergy, had a demonstration display for their Arsis road shifters that offered crisp shifting and handled the full range of gears well.

Sun Race’s RZ 10-speed shifting system uses a good amount of carbon in the shifter levers and derailleur body. The company also owns Sturmey Archer, an iconic internal shifting rear hub. These component manufacturers provide another option for bike companies looking to create a unique spec for their products.

Shimano is rumoured to have a new Di2 shifting system for 2015. It sounds like they will have a 105-level electronic group coming out which shows that they are trickling down this technology to an even more affordable price point.

SRAM is also rumoured to be close to releasing their electronically controlled shifting system in the near future. We are looking forward to seeing what they will introduce to the marketplace.

Road bike disc wheels were all over the show, with several companies offering carbon-rimed versions. DT Swiss has a very nice looking carbon clincher, the RC38, that uses a unique splined method to attach the rotor to the hub. Reynolds also had several models on display with the Attack 1454gm clincher, a great looking all-round wheel and their RZR46 wheelset that makes use of carbon spokes affixed to the rim and hub, similar to Lighweight’s wheels.

Dahon has a new model of folding bike that folds down in less then 30 seconds. The EEZZ 3-speed is quickest and easiest folding bike that Dahon has ever come out with. They even had a contest to see who could fold the bike the fastest. I believe it got as short as 26 seconds. That’s pretty quick!

Bygen is a new start up company that had one of the most unique bikes at the show with a 20” wheeled carbon framed that uses articulating cranks for good leverage but still offers good ground clearance. The cranks connect to the internally geared rear hub so there is no chain which makes for a unique design. The Bygen bike also slides together along the top tube for a more compact set up for easy storage.

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