Taipei Bike Show
 

Well well... folders are everywhere, which is great for the industry i suppose. But there arent many innovators here aside from the usual suspects - likle Birdy and Dahon.

Birdy has some bikes to test and I saw an electric Birdy that looked cool. Their design is so cool and interest around the bikes was strong.

The Dahon booth looks cool indeed, with some very nice new bikes indeed. a 16" commuter that packs smalls and looks super slick.

Other than that it was just generic made in China style order from a catalog bikes. cheap, cheap and more cheap. I wont mention which brand they looked like as I am sure I will get slammed on this particular forum. :)

Other than folders the show is full of nice things from SRAM, Velo, Sturmey Archer and some cool bags from Knog. The show gets better every year!

I am interested in 16" commuter that packs smalls and looks super slick. Any chances of having pictures?

What about the bags from Knog?

Thank you for sharing.

Rafael

Go ahead, please, we are very friendly in this forum!

> rafael - pix? hmm, will see what i can do... photos arent allowed at most booths.

>caotropheus - hardly. i have been curious/mildy critical about a certain brand on here before and been nailed for it. i think now which brand i am talking about... :)

its one thing to read that downtube stuff , which seems to be really an email extension of the manufacturer and a couple of very "dedicated" users...

its entirely different if a poster feels intimidated and doesnt even want to write the name down.....

over populating a bulletin board can have the effect, that a lot of people will get bored and go away, which is in nobodies interest. This is the best example...

Thor.....

forgot to say thanks to awol for the great report..... indeed pictures are not allowed, the folks running around here( in europe and the USA ) on our tradeshows with cameras and making pictures all day long ( also not allowed ) but in taiwan they getting outright angry if you have a camera with you.... i have been there...lol

thor

I'm pretty neutral about the whole DT phenomena myself, but then again, you see neither BF, Brompton, nor Dahon factory reps visiting these boards either.

As far as the Birdy goes, I also think they look the best and the design is excellent. But when I had one, I found out I didn't like the fit nor did I like aluminum. I just admire them from afar nowadays.

I have to applaud Yan of Downtube for using a public forum to address improvements, complaints, warranty issues etc. As you say, the others don't due that. I did not buy a DT cause it was so much less expensive, but because of the public nature of the discussion about them. By the time I am done upgrading
I should have as much in one as a Dahon, but had some fun and learned about bikes in the process.
I also like the way the FS looks more than most other folders. Of course there are some pretty sexy looking
euro folders.
By the way, Downtube has their own owners forum at the downtube.com site. However, no one uses it and questions are not answered, not even by the owner.There are many questions and discussions common to all folders and having more folder users out there helps us all with our bikes.

hbob
let me say this... I agree fully that more industry folks need to have a look at the relevant bulletin boards..... Having said this, they are also in danger to get flammed and ridicouled . I applaud Yan for obviously trying hard and making good on customers complaints...

The same happens on the Dahon bulletin board which is pretty lively. No bad comment or flammes are taken away by the moderator ( Dahon ) and the community is great.
Let me talk this opportunity to invite all other folder, you do not necessary have to own a dahon over there to be welcome....

By the way I am a dahon dealer ...I am not speaking for Dahon in any way... trying to be very objective in the whole matter... I only "spam" if the person has great difficulty finding specific folding parts, like Schwalbe tires for example...

Anyhow ... Dahon does address all problems in their own bulletin board ... Industry folks are here, lurking or sometimes posting ...like me .. but the overbearing Downtube threads and especially the couple of Downtube friendly posters who are
regulary hijacking regular threads with Downtube advertising are the problem...

If an unsuspecting poster asks about what bike is better ,, Dahon or Breezer, ...I can guarantee you that the fith posts will say something like ...why dont you look at a downtube , they are sooo much cheaper and and and .... Thats something a few folks ( including me ) dont like....

Rant over
Peace
Thor

"If an unsuspecting poster asks about what bike is better—say Dahon or Breezer—I can guarantee you that the fifth post will say something like ..."why don't you look at a downtube—they are sooo much cheaper and and and..."
Thats something a few folks (including me) don't like...."

[quiet applause drifts in on the radio from the uk!]

oh yeah... the other cool thing was finally getting a look at the dahon pump seat post thing. looks cool and seems to work nicely as well. comes in folder size and 27.2mm.

... the quiet applause is suddenly carried accross the room... as more and more of the audience awakens to see that "those" actors are suddenly not on stage anymore....

;)

thanks thor and awol!

The Dahon seatpost pump looks like it will be pretty cool. I wouldn't mind having one if they can integrate it with a Thudbuster too.

Regarding people suggesting looking at DTs it is from mostly satisfied owners who often own OTHER folders as well. This makes a recommendation more valuable as they do have another point of reference.

I spend a lot of time on the Dahon forums too as I have several Dahons too. I appreciate all people's input however I find that when Thor (aka Brakemeister) laments the participation of Yan (DT) it is also in his business interests to be against Yan's participation as her is dealer for Dahon. While I respect Thor and I have done business with him he does have a business interest in selling Dahons.

Anyway to be back on topic it would be really cool to see pics from the bike show in Taipei. Anyone got a camera phone there that would be less noticable to take a few pics? I too would like to see the Knog bags as well as the new Sturmey and SRAM stuff.

btw... I was at the show too.
lots of goodies coming down the pipe from lots of companies.

...though I have to say that I think Giant has gone off the deep end in the wierd bikes they are developing. They had this one thing that looks like a stairmaster on wheels... very strange.

I also have to concur with AWOL... it seems like everyone and their mom has some sort of folding bike in their booth... lots of ugliness, but I think it is a definitive sign that the age of folding bikes are here.

now we just need to get the US sensibility to get more on board with the rest of the world.

This is why I didnt want to mention names. I think its a great attempt at a viral marketing campaign but people see through it.

Well the Dahon guys are active on the Dahon forum and I would imagine they simply dont have the time to check every forum every day outside their own. Just a thought.

Didnt DT used to stock Dahons?

After the last bout of flaming DT posts I have cut back my participation on this forum. It is no fun arguing/fighting here. I have enough trouble in my life offline.

I respectfully ask all pro-DT posters to ignore anti-DT posts. I have not and will not respond to any of them. I think the forum would be more fun if there was no fighting here. Questions and riding tips make this place fun. I love reading and answering questions.

Thanks,
Yan

I can't imagine there are that many prominent folding bike forums around besides this one: Dahon's board gets activity, but it is oftentimes slow. Same with BF's YAK list. The Brompton group is the only one that will rack up 50+ messages per day consistently, but those people talk about everything.

Turning back to politics, I will say the Dahon Boardwalk S1 is THE BEST deal going out there right now. Not the prettiest bike, but certainly the most bang for the buck.

I will respectfully (and in accordance with Yan's wishes) not propogate the argument here. I am sure you all know where i stand now. I think Yan is showing a lot of class and patience with his actions and stance and i want to try to at least follow somewhat of his example on these boards.

I also belief these forums should remain fun and not be so argumentative. I can't promise to never get into a (DT) discussion again but will do my best to avoid 'arguments' which are a different thing all together.

A pity it had to come to self censorship from/to both sides...

these forums were always mellow, with people giving advice freely... it did change noticeably of late. thats all i will say on the matter.

i will get back on topic - and thx to those that did - the show.

the were also some cool recumbents around. super pricey even factory prices.

in folder world in terms of bikes and accessories the local taiwan guys really are pumping out product. oyama and their OE brand - FBI - was on display. again, look like copy dahons. its weird how these companies effectivley steal a patented thing like DFT and the like but dont take the time to spec the bikes. cheap crappy spec is really disappointing. when people cheap folders explode thx to bad spec will the entry level rider blame a pedal or a spoke? doubt it. i hope they are hooked enough to upgrade ot a nicer longer term bike and not be bummed on folders.

giant did indeed have some crazy looking bikes. in some ways they are pushing the design envelope, but to me, the deisgns are so funky that i think they are just high on their own success and being a little silly. the stairmaster bike was odd to say the least. they had one folder (no halfways anywhere) that was crazy complicated.

strida displayed their new 26" folder. again, lots of over-design but it did look (and feel) solid. i finally rode a strida... lets just say i wont be buying one!

none of the other 'big boys' were there...

the cool bikes for me were the 3G cruiser. no saddle and you pump your legs to move forward. fun stuff :)

back tomorrow for public day... lets see if i can sneak a peak at the dahon 16" commuter... one of the distributirs i spoke to said it was very nice. cool color options, small fold and looked good all round.

exciting stuff in our crazy little world! :)

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