… oh well, these guys would(Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
Expedo's long vaunted power-pedal, which they assure us will be ready to ship this spring. With ANT+ and Bluetooth connectivity, left/right data, cadence, a simple set-up process and claimed +/- 2% accuracy, running off rechargeable or AA batteries, and 385g a pair - these could be a decent rival to PowerTap, Look and Garmin in the power pedal game(Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
The long standing Jones fork still looks just as iconic when adapted for plus-sized tyres(Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
The Jones Plus has more braze-ons than gears (Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
Jones is one of those brands that's quite happy to forge its own path, making bikes they want to make. This 3.25" wide tyre-equipped 29'er looks like a bike packer's dream machine (Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
We kinda like Figo's e-fatty with its retro roadster look, ride this and pretend you're Steve McQueen in the Great Escape(Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
Branding again, and this is a weird one: full size low-to-mid range road bike, Sora drivetrain, deep section wheels, Hello Kitty-branded everything(Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
Pink tyres are bad enough, but somehow it multiplies exponentially when applied to bigger rubber(Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
Licensed brand name bikes are pretty big throughout Asia (Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
The same goes for the new flat mount cable-operated hydraulic HY-Rd brake (the older standard mount unit is in the background)(Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
Which looks much more minimal than the standard model (Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
TRP's highly regarded Spyre now gets a flat mount version(Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
The reworked proprtions of the 850-series brakes they claim solve compatiblity issues on some chainstay brake mount framesets (Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
TRP's latest 860 series aero brakes are somewhat reminiscent of the Bontrager units found on the new Madone (Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
Six-inch wheels mean only being barely above the ground, so Pacific has a trike version of its Carryall micro-folder that's just what you're looking for(Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
Coast Cycles Ruckus, Gates belt driven, disc brakes, all wrapped up on a bike that looks like a high school metalwork project. Bizarrely we kinda like it(Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
Wheels that combine a pretty distressing pallete with the promise of legendary tri-spoke flexibilty, makes you wonder who'd choose to fit those(Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
Remember monkey bikes from the seventies? Relive that 'fun' with a modern e-bike version(Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
It's not gonna be cheap to replace that rear tyre(Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
Electric-driven lowrider with a twist throttle and pegs instead of pedals(Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
This Arcadia street-fighter fattie features the latest trend for leaving welds unpainted and simply clearcoating the frame for that chop-shop look(Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
Even the stem matched to the Achilles frame is beautifully finished(Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
…and this wonderful bit of design for design's sake (Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
Quite often in Taipei you'll find little gems hidden away in the more manufacturing and supply biased stands. Like this frameset from Hertzen called the Bernard Achilles, beautiful chromework, great paint finish, immpecable lugs (Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
And if you really must have more bling than a footballers wife at a hip hop party then Lowrider can sort you out there too (Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
Lowrider offer a massive range of impractical bikes for every age(Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
Taiwan's Southern Cross is relatively unknown outside of its home nation, though if they keep making bikes as good looking as this that may well change(Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
Of which this Sky Bluebeach cruiser number is our pick of the pack(Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
Another name from the past back from oblivion, the long forgotten US marque Columbia has a decent selection of retro inspired roadsters (Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
… making the 700c XCX a much more mud-friendly offering (Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
The XCX offers wider-spaced but much taller knobbles(Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
VEE's Rail gravel tyres have a bit of the old school mountain bike tread about them, only much shallower (Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
Eventually we found our way out into sunlight(Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
The bike celebrates Taiwan's brutal KOM challenge event (Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
One of 30 refers to the number of bikes that will be available(Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
The Axman KOM One of 30 is a lightweight special edition (Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
Axman's 650b gravel bike follows in the footsteps of Cannondale's Slate and Open's UP (Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
Even the bottom bracket shell gets plenty of classic finishing touches(Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
The highly ornate yet elegant lug work really sets the Cameo apart from the crowd(Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
The attention to detail throughout the Cameo is truly stunning(Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
The Yasujiro Cameo Professional from Tange was easily our favourite steel bike of the show, perhaps even our favourite bike overall (Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
We're big fans of Giant's new TCR, so couldn't resist getting a snap of this great looking acid-yellow finished model(Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
Crazy looks are matched by crazy low weight (258g complete) (Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
The saddle section is held in place by three titanium bolts(Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
Praxis has a new lower-priced road chainset called the Alba, featuring 2D forged arms(Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
The Alba comes in wider-than-normal chainring sizes. They've been able to go smaller by machining into the step between the chainrings so the chain won't foul, even on rings sizes down to 32t (Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
The T-shaped handle makes the MFD XL halfway between a track pump and a pocket pump(Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
The diameter of the barrel is huge for a portable pump(Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
Like Lezyne's other micro floor drives, the XL has a foldout foot for stabilty (Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
Lezyne's MFD XL is the carryable pump that plus-size tyre users have been waiting for(Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
The massive diameter second chamber holds enough pressure to inflate and seat a tubeless tyre instantly (Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
A simple Wire lever handles switching between pumping, charging, and filling a tubeless tyre (Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
… as is the wide footprint cast base (Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
The analogue gauge on the charger is the same unit as found on the standard Floor Drive range(Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
Lezyne's new Floor Drive charger will be welcome news for tubeless tyre users(Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
It features a 3 bolt splined direct mount system so it can be easily switched between single ring and double duties(Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
The first carbon crank from Praxis is the new Lyft (Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
The new Praxis rings can be switched between 4 and 5 arm cranksets(Image credit: Warren Rossiter/Immediate Media)
Our time at Asia's biggest bike show is over for another year, so to wrap up our coverage we give you a gallery of the good, the bad and the ugly from the 2016 Taipei International Cycle Show.
The good…
Yasujiro
Yasujiro is named after Yasujiro Tange, who started the famed steel tubing manufacturer Tange company back in 1920. The firm went on to make some of the most iconic steel road, mountain bikes and BMXs of the 70's, 80's and 90's.
The new Yasujiro line mixes everything from lightweight brazed race machines, classic lugged road bikes, tourers, city bikes, fixies and even a disc-equipped gravel machine.
The bike that really stood out for us though was the stunning Cameo Pro. It's constructed with Tange's Ultimate ultralight steel tubeset and features some of the most highly-worked, ornate lugs and details we've seen in a long time. Available as either a frameset or in this incredible Campagnolo Super Record and Bora Ultra complete bike. Easily our favourite steel bike of the whole show.
Lezyne
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Two of the accessories we liked most in Taipei were new pumps from Lezyne, the Floor Drive Charger and the MFD XL. The FD Charger is Lezyne's answer to Bontrager's charge pump and similar offerings from the likes of Topeak.
It takes the standard floor drive as its basis, adds a huge chamber underneath the standard pressure gauge, and uses a wire handle flip lever to switch between standard floor pump and store for that all-important pressurised air for seating tubeless tyres.
The construction is typically Lezyne robust, and simple too. With a projected price of $125 (UK TBC) it also looks like it'll be one of the most competitively priced charger pumps available too.
The MFD XL (that's Micro Floor Drive XL) is Lezyne's answer to plus-size tyre repairs on the go. Your standard packable pump just can't give enough to cope with the extra volume. The huge-barreled XL can however, and at $59 it could become a firm favourite with fat bike fans everywhere.
Praxis
For this year, Praxis has expanded its road line to include a new lower-priced crankset to sit alongside the highly respected (and Cycling Plus grouptest-winning) Zayante M30. The new Alba M30 is 2D-forged rather than hollow-forged like the Zayante, but it does retain the light-yet-super-stiff M30 axle.
Pricing is as yet unconfirmed but Praxis may have a serious rival to 105 and Ultegra with the Alba crankset. The cranks will be available in 165, 170, 172.5 and 175mm lengths and a big range of chain ring sizes: a choice of 52/36, 50/34, 46/36t for CX, single ring options in 40 and 42t, and a rather interesting 48/32t option aimed at the latest generation of gravel bikes.
Also on the road side are updated chainrings that are now cross-compatible between both 4- and 5-arm spiders. They've worked on the shift ramp positioning and also made the chain pin removable, and offer two positions depending on the type of crankset you're fitting them too.
On the off-road side, they have a very neat, very minimal and highly adjustable ISG05 compatible chain keeper, and the promise of a range of fittings to come.
The bigger news off-road however is Praxis' first ever carbon fibre crank. The understated and classy looking Lyft uses the 3-bolt spline direct mount fitting so it can be easily switched between single and double ring setups and there are offset chainring options to make the Lyft Boost 148mm compatible too. For the Lyft, they've stayed with their M30 thru axle system, and instead of a traditional wavy washer have introduced a highly adjustable preload threaded ring.
… the bad and the ugly
So what did we spot that's bad or ugly? Take a look at our gallery above and decide for yourself, then let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
