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But there was no B.A. Baracus, Hannibal Smith or Face in sight. Taiwan's A-Team isn't a bad 1980s TV series, it's a collection of bike companies which collaborate on R&D and 'just in time' production issues. The 5.9 quake which hit the island at the weekend didn't stop A-Team members from expounding on the future of the industry. But perhaps the biggest seismic shift was the one revealed by an Italian bike maker. As exclusively revealed by Bikebiz.com on March 1st the newest member of the A-Team is Colnago...

Linda Perham, Labour MP for Ilford North, has tabled an Early Day Motion against the use of pedicabs and rickshaws in London, calling them "dangerous...deathtraps" that are "expensive" and a "third world transport mode." Watch out for any MPs signing the motion, and try to get them to support a wonderfully funny amendment instead...

Media storm averted? On 14th February, the Belgium-based European Twowheel Retailers' Association issued a press release which claimed "motorised road users will be automatically liable in the event of an accident with a cyclist." This was in reference to an EU position on the famous 5th Motor Insurance Directive. It's famous because the British mass media went wild in 2002 when it was thought motorist's insurance premiums would be hiked to "protect" cyclists. ETRA has now withdrawn the press release following lobbying from BikeBiz.com which did not run the press release. Other cycle news sites around the world did.

The British-based internet-delivered TV station had 33 000+ viewers over the weekend of February 26th and 27th as the European road race season got under way with the opening of the Belgian classics season. There were three times more Americans watching than Brits and they saw US rider George Hincapie of Lance Armstrong's Discovery Channel team win the Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne one day semi-classic.

He heaped praise on cycling but his mind will soon be on other things as just over the waters in China, the Chinese president said China "will never allow the Taiwan independence secessionist forces to make Taiwan secede from the motherland under any name or by any means." Pro cyclists will tomorrow race around the streets surrounding the expo halls while over on the mainland Chinese legislators are voting through a measure that will formalise the ways China could attack Taiwan to stop moves towards official independence.