March 5-19, 2024 While this is not a usual bikepacking through Nevada’s high desert trip report, in fact it might be the furthest from it, but it was a great trip and I will tie in as much to bikepacking as I can. After a cross-Pacific flight from San Francisco to Taipei I was picked up at the airport by Tomo and Cola, my hosts for this trip. My first impression of the airport was I was super appreciative of signs in English getting me to where I needed to go. We hopped on the freeway system which whisked us to the convention center to drop off the booth supplies then onto our hotel for an early check-in (just dropping off our luggage) then we had my first Taiwanese meal, Dan Bing. I described this to Google as a stuffed crepe. Google knew exactly what I was talking about. Ordering came on a menu where you select what you want and turn it in. I was in trouble, the menu was just Chinese print. I had yet to learn about my phone’s Google Translate. But I just let Cola do the ordering. She is Taiwanese, from Changhua, speaks Taiwanese, Chinese, Japanese, and English. I was in good hands. We had 5 different fillings and I was definitely full.

Taiwan is 14/15 hours ahead of the West Coast of the US, so jetlag was a thing. But it loosened its grip after a couple of days. I arrived the morning of March 5th, and the Taipei Cycle Show started at 9 am on the 6th. This also coincided with my 53rd birthday! So no time for jetlag. I have known Tomo for 25 years. I am his oldest (longest) American friend. Tomo was a student at University of Nevada in Reno and wanted to hangout in the bike shop I managed, no problem. The way he tells it, I was running the local mountain bike races, he forgot his helmet but was strongly encouraged to race, so I lent him my helmet. The rest of our friendship is history. After leaving Reno he ended up in Taiwan and developed his tool brand, Clever Standard. Now I was there to help with any explanations in English as well as share ideas for future products. When Tomo asked me what I wanted to experience in Taiwan I answered, FOOD.

Trade show lunch so generously ordered by my booth-mates Cola, Teressa, and Eva. I am a huge fan of milk tea now. And the branding is so cute! Purple Rice Fan Tuan was another favorite! And I could eat a rice burger from Mos Burger every day!

The Taipei Cycle Show is the second largest bicycle trade show (EuroBike being number 1). I was a regular attendee and even a couple of times helped friends with their booths at the Interbike Tradeshow in Las Vegas. I loved geeking out over all the stuff. I love all those shiny objects promising to make my bike go further and faster! I only made a few quick passes through the Taipei show, I was committed to working Tomo’s booth. I picked one particular interest, I wanted to see how bikepacking/adventure touring was portrayed. But our booth was featuring a DIY plugger tool, like putting together a plastic model, and the plastic was made from recycled marine waste, specifically, fishing nets. Recycled products, from plastics and rubber, were getting a lot of attention at this show. Tomo has a few products out there under other brands such as KMC, Maxxis, and WTB, so we had meetings with these companies as well as several others for Tomo’s next ideas.

I had limited view of the show, but the flavor was manufacturing. The booths represented large factories that made all the pieces that come together for the global bike industry. There were individual brands as well. But in comparison to Interbike, where I was going to hourly meetings with the distributors and brands I sold in the shops I managed, I didn’t see that going on. At Tomo’s booth we were looking for global distributors (such as KHS Bicycles which carries some of Tomo’s tools), brands that want branded tools (such as WTB has several of Tomo’s tools in their lineup), and collaborators (a few tool designers met with Tomo to incorporate some of his designs). The booth was fun. We dressed as sea turtles and attracted a lot of positive attention. The media coverage and feedback was better than we hoped. After one such interview I got an email from a rep saying he just saw me on YouTube. And then other messages starting coming in. The world is a shrinking place.

Who doesn’t love a food court! And late night sesame chicken soup! And beer and meat-on-a-stick, my two favorite food groups! And soup that is staring up at you. And Birthday Dinner Noodles with Teressa and Cola!

After a day at the show we were off to dinner. Each night we had a very different meal. Tomo and Cola took my request to heart, they showed me the food of Taiwan. For my birthday we were joined by Teressa, Tomo’s oldest (longest) friend in Taiwan. Teressa worked for a grip manufacturer where Tomo created one of his first products, Chocogrip. It is a scented grip that could have come from Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. There was a time when they were on all my bikes. Teressa and I are twins, as Tomo’s oldest friends! Then we had dinner with Tyler and Kristi Benedict, of BikeRumor! Tomo has made a career out of building strong friendships.

One night we had dinner at a Taiwanese Izakaya-style restaurant with Tomo’s Taiwanese business mentors. It was a delicious meal of meat (and vegetables) on a stick. And Taiwanese beer! It was a celebration of hard work, business, friendship, and food and drink. There was the suggestion of taking the train to Taichung for some serious all-night whiskey drinking, but that didn’t go far. But we did make it to the crane-game arcade to really relax.

A little about the crane-game, claw-game, crane machine, or claw machine arcades. In Taiwan, they are everywhere! Across the street from our hotel in Taipei was Catchme, a larger arcade but not the largest we went into. The games are loaded with a wide variety of toys, snacks, drinks, and household products. With a little strategy you could fill a grocery cart with road trip snacks, toys, and essentials on the cheap and have fun doing it. It was quite the education for me.

A list of links: CycleDesign, Aeroe Spider Rack, Woho, SKS, Vincita, and Zefal.

A goal of mine was to see how bikepacking was being represented at the show. As with everything bicycle related fads come and go from mainstream cycling. Even when they are gone after the peaks and valleys of mass consumerism they will stick around for the niche market. There are so many examples, think fixies, fat bikes, plus size tires, and quality kid bikes. So where are we, bikepacking, in that continuum? One media reporter expressed that bikepacking had its peak 5 years ago. One of the founders of Aeroe Spider Bike Racks says their company has seen a lot of growth over the last few years especially in the US. Both are valid perspectives. I was happy to see bags on bikes in booths. In comparison to the last Interbike Tradeshows in Las Vegas and Reno, there were more touring rigs in booths in the past. I understand bikepacking is a subset of bicycle touring which is a small subset of the bicycle industry. If we were to imagine the Great Bicycle Venn Diagram (which I cannot) the bicycle touring subset includes some overlap with bicycle commuting and the bikepacking/adventure touring overlaps with the gravel (Godzilla) cycling and mountain biking so there is plenty of momentum to keep us industry relevant.

While I don’t have an answer to where bikepacking lies on the the fad continuum my feeling is it has matured past its peak. There are some big companies throwing their hats in the ring to make bags (Camelbak MULE and Osprey Escapist) but otherwise the options and interests seem to be shrinking. Following the trend of fat biking, the shrinking market means better success for the smaller niche companies which can produce better products/experiences for the die-hards. I have heard it expressed that bikepacking is an activity built for social media. The commensalism is good for both.

Overall, the show left a lackluster impression on most who were asked. There are still the impacts of COVID on the industry. Most thought there was still a year to sort things out. Bike companies have been making huge cuts in staff, SKU’s and marketing/sponsorship which was only highlighted by the leaked memo from Jonh Burke at TREK USA during the show. Drama! But I really enjoyed the show and Clever Standard got plenty of press. Check out this review from Pink Bike! If you are interested in any of Tomo’s tools you can bug your local shop or go to his e-commerce site.

I am planning on returning to the Taipei Cycle Show next year. I will travel with my Manzanita gravel bike and a light touring set-up. I will plan an all-roads tour. I would like to incorporate some train travel as well. Stay tunned for Made In Taiwan Part 2 where I will share the adventures that Tomo and Cola took me on during my visit after the tradeshow.

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