What is the best bike ?

There was a question on Linked in: What is the best bike ? Well to me, those which you can get spare parts for. For example my 10 yo thousands of US$ bike need a 10 cents plastic parts which wan't available. without I coould not use the gear shifter anymore. Luckily someone in China had some left.

Dutch workshop at Taiwan Cycle 2026 - Beyond Route No. 1

Yesterday I went to Taipei Cycle. Why ? Not because I need a new bike but just to know more about new bike technology. In the past 10 years I had no chance to visit due to work and obligations. Things now have so much changed. Everything is about electrical bikes, road bikes with electrical shifters and breaking rings instead of the old rubber pads. Legacy bikes are an exception. I remember in the past Dutch booths with old fashioned "locomotief" kind of bikes that are now so popular in the Netherlands. That is gone.

Just almost stepping out of the hall 2, near the exit if Hall 2 I saw the Neherlands Ofice in Taipei stand hosting an event by Viola and Eric's book about cycling in Taiwan. They now live in Ireland but were here for a visit.

Initially I just wanted to go home, Tired of 8 hours of walking and discussing with suppliers and also because well I for once, I had biked so much in Taiwan already. Two, that Taiwan people are very open and friendly (often a contrast with Westerners, which often blocks me to make friends with people who are not sincere or lack openess). Three, all the frustrating experiences on the bike. It all gave me a strong objection to join. But then I thought, well why not sit down, have a break and just listen, who knows, I could still learn something before jumping into the MRT.

The workshop was attended by a bunch of Dutch folks who seems to have been living for quite a while in Taiwan, even some longer than myself. The topic was about their cycling experiences in Taiwan but changed into a group discussion about how to improve Taiwan cycling. People were asked for their suggestions and their opinions. Many topics and suggestions were raised and some were unfortunately considered not possible due to politics or just well, this is Taiwan....

I felt the frustrations in my stomach. Old news, like a pie chewed on for a hundered times. I hardly had any motivation to provide suggestions seen all the overload of fustrations documented in this blog of 17 years, cycling in Taiwan for 20 years, teaching Indoor Spinning classes to some people over 4 years, sometimes resulting in them to start riding a bike.

But well, gained a bit of courage to open my old and short mouth to say at least something by highlighting one of the problems with the legacy infrastructure that never seemed to change which is COMMUTING. The interconnection between Taipei and outside areas, such as like tunnels , bridges and that never got modernized for bicycles or pedestrians that makes the only alternative to use, the king of the road in Taiwan, a scooter. And if you want to get a good chunk of exhaust smoke in your lungs, biking in the city on the big roads is the way to go.

By surprise I got a copy of their book which you can buy in a Taiwan bookstore. THANKS ! Luckily I got to grab them for a second to let them know about this extremely popular blog with 11 subscribers, just having the chance to relay my passion about biking in Taiwan, having a little bit of hope that there could be a tiny bit of valuable information in it for the next Taiwan gnerations not to make the same mistakes as many country and city governments had done before. (Like the seperate lanes on Tun Hua which were a good idea but abused by Taxi drivers to nap and eat lunch on, the complaints and lobby of car drivers to the city government to remove the lanes.

Yes, I may have not been correct in some posts, but I just did the best I could to voice the experiences about thinking outside the box and how things are done in other countries. Just a bike lane beside a zebra crossing and U-bikes are nice but are not final solution for make the countru more sustainable and environmental friendly. An electrical car and bike still get their power from coal and imported gas and oil.

The only reason the Netherlands converted into a bike country in the 70's was because the large spike of deaths of bikers in traffic. Perhaps the fustrations of cycling u-bikes on the sidewalk, scooter parked everywhere on side walks, not or very slow building infrastructure for Bring Your Own Bike (BYOB) parking areas may ultimately result in better solutions. It was not long ago that Taiwan was blasted for their poor infrastructure by the EU (See this blog). Indeed recreational biking is improved, roads are better, there are painted walking lanes in small alleys and there are some bike lanes, most hard to identify as they are just a paint and so small you can't ride it with a 3-wheeler, let not think about when its only on one side of the road and used 2 ways. Actually, and off topic, have you have tried to use a wheelchair to move from A to B on the sidewalks ? good luck !

But, bike commuting has made hardly any gains in 30 years. The Netherlands still makes changes to bike laws, For example, the elemination of fat bikes interfering with pedestrians, laws on electrical bikes, all which some agree and with and others not. In Taiwan legislation and action seems to have been stalled. last week, in front of my eyes, I saw a lady on shopping bike being crashed under a delivery truck, both came out of a small alley, the truck made a turn without watching, How awful things can turn into.

Unfortunately I noticed that many links in this blogs don't function anymore and jump to 404's. For example, the English China post website was eliminated, likely for political reasons by governemtns that did not like an opposite point of view. Many linked website have disappeared as well. That this one still is there is a miracle.

It was a long day, skipped the offer for a Heiniken and other stuff because I am gluten sensitive. Jumped into the MRT and thought about writing this.

Taiwan book about cycling in Europe

And here is a book written by a Taiwanese bike friend of mine about his cycling holidays in Europe.

Podcast about cycling in Taiwan book

Very little has happend or changed IN Taipei to make commuting or biking easier, but a highlight is a new book to cycle AROUND Taiwan. English with Chinese subs and verbal translation Link

Why so few bike parkings but motor cycle parkings are ubiquitous ?

Not everyone rides a U-Bike. Why can't the city make it mandatory that every few hundered meters there are a few parkings, specially in the city center ? One way could be that larger companies and public offices such as banks, post offices to place some racks. To be consistent, city should definea consistent parking design and make then easily identifiable from a distance. One idea is like this:

Bikes, Tunnels and Bridges

Now that there are are lots of bike lanes around the rivers and more people hop on a bike. Have there been any improvements for bike lanes in tunnel and bridges in and around Taipei. Is it just me or there has not been any changes in Taipei for over 25 years ? They are non existing, have bad lighting or just plain dnagerous for recreation and commuting. Send me email to taipeibiking@gmail.com about your ideas on this ?

It can be hard to remember now that until a decade ago almost nobody in Taiwan cycled

A new section of Taipei City bike path will open soon along the southern bank of Jingmei River (景美溪) CHECK THIS OUT. HERE

Safe accessible- roads are the biggest gift we can give our children

EURONEWS ARTICLE HERE

Ministers pledge increase in children's cycle training

ARTICLE form the UK HERE and HERE

Cycling Shorts: Up, around and away! (Country roads are easy, how about the cities?)

Wherever there was a section of the route that was not on a dedicated bicycle path, he felt intimidated by the cars and trucks. Article in Taipei times HERE And take a look at the commentsin the bottom as well. Is this not a kind of diverting the attention and money to try to improve the dangerous commuting that seems to be insovable by many generations of mayors in big cities to tourism ?

Taipei traffic light change duration too short ?

Always had a feeling that trffice light change too fast. Recently driving the car I felt it is getting even shorter. There is an article here HERE with some information. Even there is no rule, some say that it should be 1 second per 10 mile/hours for yellow to red. That would mean about 3 seconds. but in Taipei the time is often about 2.5 seconds from green to red ! It almost gives drivers no choice between stopping or keep driving because often the distance is not enough to safely break. Then not even talk about the time for bikers. So when you bike, follow the pedestrian traffic lights and not the ones for cars.

More bike paths (but not for commuting)

Took more than two years and cost NT$55 million (US$1.9 million) CLICK THIS FOR THE ARTICLE

What (Taiwanese) women want (from cycling)

Read the whole story about the girls and women on the bikes in Taiwan HERE

Get on your bike with Bike Repair vouchers

Cyclists to be handed £50 bike repair vouchers under government fitness drive. Check it HERE

Coronavirus in Amsterdam and the Taiwan Response

Check out the excellent video from NOT JUST BIKES in Taiwan and the Netherlands that explains clearly the difference in the use of masks here

Just a note on this special date of Feb 20, 2020 (2020/02/20). Not much changed or new for biking in 2019. Still dangerous on the street in Taipei and bike lanes quality lack to bike at commuter speeds Many blocked, halfway discontinued lanes. Many big city road you simply cannot bike safely. No parking spaces for bike owners etc.. etc.. In past 4 year of mayor Ko, bike process has become a standstill and unlikely to have progress another 4 years. Too bad for Taipei. Motorcycle speed and count increases a lot and behavior on politeness on the roads is decreasing rapidly even often there is now shameless behavior. Not getting any better, even backwards. There was one biggie, unfortunately also not very positive: New YouBike rental policy blasted for discriminating against expats in Taiwan LINK us HERE

Cycling around Taipei

Interesting movie. Common Taipei life things to notice 1. Bike lanes are very small and surface causes a bumpy ride and often are two way. 2. Taxis not giving much yield to those crossing the zebra 3. Biking on a motor/bike lanes is scary 4. Bikers ignoring red lights 5. Bikers not yielding much to pedestrians 6. Illegally parked cars 7. Inconsistency, suddenly disappearing bike lanes 8. People walking on the bike lanes (you needs that bell) 9. Bikers using the pedestrian zebra area. 10. Too small spaces nearby MRT entries/exists (The Taipei government totally ignored this during design/construction) 11. Very wide roads (Xin-Yi 101/Ren-Ai) without a bike lane 12. Construction occupies the whole sidewalk with no safe space to walk/bike.

Taipei bike laws

Recommendations, but biking on the sidewalk is permitted (well.. that is if you can find the sign if it is.. or not...) Article HERE

Taipei bike Toilet

An article in the guardian from 2016 Return of the Bicycle Kingdom? How pavement cycling is transforming Taipei

BYOB, U-bike or O-bike

O-bike tried any space parking and it is failing. It's management in Taiwan resigned. it caused chaos at NTU, but do you really see lot of O-bikes in the wild ? Is it really a problem ? U-bike are designated parking. Sometimes this is inconvenient unless you need point to point transport to a fixed destination with a U-bike parking nearly Both O and U-bike need central management and service. Why does the Taipei city government not promote bike ownership ? (Bring Your Own Bike) The O-bike may have failed just because Taipei does not offer much bike parking areas. Why are there so many designated spots for motor cycles and almost none for bikes ? It this on purpose to promote the U-bike and dis-encourage own-bike use ? The Taipei City government should set rules that every bank, large retailer, convenience store installs as many bike slots as possible. In the Nederlands new construction are already required to provide a minimum number of bike slots.

Still Taipei city has a lot of work to do to connect the suburbs with Taipei central city. The interconnects and infrastructure to be able to bike from the inner city to the outskirts is still difficult and cumbersome. Bridges for example who only provide space for cars and motorcycles. This is what we need much more of: