BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
The Taipei Cycle d&i awards has announced 38 winning products for its 2021 edition, including six recipients of the Gold Award and one recipient of the Young Enterprise Award.
The ceremony was broadcast live from Taiwan as part of a press conference to share the latest news on the upcoming Taipei Cycle Online Show.
This year’s award-winning products were chosen by Georg Todtenbier (CRE8 Design, Taipei), Johann Geiger (Dayeh University, Changhua), Ken O’Rourke (Kor-Design, Taichung), Moses Hu (VanMoof, Taipei), Debbie Huang (PEGA D&E, Taipei), Edward Chiang (CYD Innovation Co., Taichung) and Francois Liang (Cycling & Health Tech Industry R&D Center, Taichung).
The six winners of the gold award were:
– Reacto Team-E Aero Bike – Merida Industry Co.
– Cadex Boost Saddle – Cadex and Giant Group
– Liv Tropic Collection Cycling Gear – Liv and Giant Group
– Votani H3 E-Bike – Darfon Innovation Corp
– Gmigo One Smart E-Bike – Tianjin Jidian Road Technology Co.
– TA: e-Bike Twilight – Litemove Technology Co and IDS Corporations (winner of the Gold Award Young Enterprise 2021)
“The impact of the pandemic has caused significant changes in the bicycle industry in 2020,” said the judging group. “It can be seen from the entries in this year that the effort and energy put into innovative research and new product development have no longer focused on sports, competition or leisure, but tapped into the needs of various groups, such as commuting, cargo, etc.
“In addition, the creative process in product development also begins to shift from discovering and solving problems to focusing more on lowering the threshold and offer better user experience and narrowing the distance between the product and the user, which should be very much encouraged.”
The press conference also brought together industry speakers to look forward to the first Taipei Cycle Online Show. Opening remarks were given by Leonor F. M. Lin, president and CEO, Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), Steve Chien, representative, Taiwan Bicycle Association and president of Fairly Bike Manufacturing Co, and Paul Yang, president of Taiwan Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association. A video was then played giving a preview of some of the booths on display at the event.
In her opening remarks, Lin discussed how Taiwan’s e-bike exports have been the biggest driving force for industry growth this past year, with a value almost as high as that of complete bikes. Exports grew by 18% in volumes and 14% in value from 2019 to 2020. This equates to 760,000 units of e-bikes exported in 2020 worth $987 million. Top export markets for e-bikes last year, in terms of units, sold were The Netherlands (41.08%), the US (22.08%), Germany (6.17%) and the UK (4.69%).
E-Bikes will feature prominently in the upcoming Taipei Cycle Online Show, scheduled to take place from 3rd-31st March. For more information and to register to attend Taipei Cycle Online, visit www.taipeicycle.com.tw.
Read the February issue of BikeBiz below:
