Hey all…
I’m going on a trip to China and Taiwan for the next few weeks.
My question is whether or not anyone can recommend any bike shops to rent a decent road bike from.
Additionally, if anyone has any routes or areas they have done some good riding, 50+ mile routes with lots of climbing, that would be awesome to share!!
Thanks…
I went to Taiwan in March 2011 for a 3-week business trip. I was 2 months out from an IM at the time, so I opted to travel with my bike…especially because I had a difficult time getting any rental information during my research. What area of Taiwan will you be traveling to? If Taipei, I’d recommend you go to the NRG2Perform website and contact Craig Johns. I joined up with him and the Columbia Cycling group there on the North side of Taipei for a great 140km group ride during my trip. I had an amazing time. Here was the route we took:
http://www.runningahead.com/logs/f8dd0bd2a1d9496a8c1ae834ba8e73f0/workouts/0d91eb3fda03426082b35b316182eafd/map
As for rentals, like I said, didn’t have much luck in my research. Having been in person, I can say it’s going to be difficult to setup a rental in advance. However, maybe you’ll get lucky with location. Here’s the Giant bike shop contact info that I met the group at for our ride (located at start/finish of above route):
Giant Cycle Store. #21 Zhong Cheng Road, Section 1, Tienmu (Sean Huang 0939-321-589)
Also, I found this site to be a good resource in planning my trip.
www.forumosa.com
Sounds exactly like my schedule. I’m just under 2 months our from IM Louisville and want to try and maintain course. The terrain in Taiwan looks amazing, so hopefully I can hook up with Craig and the other crew for a ride.
I haven’t had much luck in terms of research either, hence this thread.
That giant store could be perfect. I assume I can get a decent ride there.
Do you have the .tcx or .gpx file for that ride?
Sure. I’ll PM you my email and we can take it off the forum.
i went into the Park 7 store in Taipei, walking distance from the 101 building. Good english spoken. Awesome shop jersey - i bought 1 for me and 1 for my ride leader
Got an offer to ride with them but never came back. Safe travels.
You can also shoot Super Dave a PM. He has rdden a lot in taiwan and may be able to suggest some good routes.
Side note - on my last trip to Taipei, SD was standing right next to me at the Taipei airport as we waited for our respective rides. I was with a co-worker who wouldn’t have understood the whole ST thing, so didn’t ask if it was him, but confirmed it through a PM that night.
So you’ll never know who you’ll bump into over there!! Small freakin’ world!
Good group, I swam & ran with them before.
Theres also a bike shop at the base of 陽明山, coming from 大自 tunnel which seems to be a really popular climb around the taipei area. I met a lot of people on bikes while running it in the morning.
On a side note, pools in Taipei are a bit ridiculous when it comes to requiring caps and the no gear rule 
You can also shoot Super Dave a PM. He has rdden a lot in taiwan and may be able to suggest some good routes.
Side note - on my last trip to Taipei, SD was standing right next to me at the Taipei airport as we waited for our respective rides. I was with a co-worker who wouldn’t have understood the whole ST thing, so didn’t ask if it was him, but confirmed it through a PM that night.
So you’ll never know who you’ll bump into over there!! Small freakin’ world!
Indeed, next time don’t be so shy.
ZW, I’ll send you some ride ideas or feel free to look up the routes on my Strava account. Many of my rides are posted there. I could send you the GPS file if you use a 705 or 800 to navigate.
Riding in Taiwan has been an incredible way to see the island. Other than Italy, it is probably the most scenic place I’ve ridden. Truly a hidden gem. I’d send athletes to train there if I was a coach or director.
-SD
Awesome. Thanks SD!
I’ll pm you my email. Any and all rides you can send would be GREATLY appreciated!