The cycling craze in Taiwan has subsided, forcing many bicycle stores to close down; industry players believe that a solid domestic market for bicycles will continue to exist, however, because cycling has become an established form of exercise among the local populace.

Domestic bicycle sales began to plummet in the second half of last year, as many vendors accumulated large inventories of unsold bikes. Many of the vendors, who jumped into the market at the peak of the cycling craze two years ago, have been forced to fold.

Hardest hit are folding bikes, which were the darlings of the market during the peak sales period thanks to their advantage of easy transport. Market players estimate that sales of folding bikes plummeted 50% last year.

Jeffery Hseu, special assistant at Giant Manufacturing, Taiwan’s leading bicycle maker, estimates that overall domestic bicycle sales last year dropped 20% from their peak in 2008.

He remarks that the decline is nothing more than a return of the market to its normal state following the skyrocketing growth in 2008, when domestic bicycle sales more than doubled to 1.3 million. He is confident that domestic bicycle sales will be able to hold at 1 million units a year.

Hseu is confident that cycling is a recreation that will never fade, due to its health benefits and contribution to energy conservation and carbon abatement.

Huang Ming-sung, president of KHS, another bicycle manufacturer, agrees that cycling has become an established form of recreation in Taiwan for a variety of purposes—mountain biking, racing, and leisure. KHS believes that the shrinkage of the domestic bicycle market last year was a normal correction given the phenomenal expansion in 2008, and that the market will develop at normal and steady pace in the future. Huang predicts that the size of the domestic market will stabilize at 800,000-850,000 units a year.

Chan Fu-chi, sales manager at Merida, Taiwan’s No. 2 bicycle maker, says that the domestic bicycle market will develop in a polarized direction, with most buyers choosing models priced from a few thousand NT dollar to NT$10,000 while bike enthusiasts and wealthy customers opt for models priced over NT$20,000 or even top-notch ones priced at NT$50,000-NT$90,000.

Solid Population of Bikers
Market players are confident that the formation of a solid local cycling population, thanks to the popularity of the LOHAS (lifestyles of health and sustainability) movement as well as promotion by the government and the private sector, assures them a bright market outlook.

The Bureau of Health Promotion, a unit of the Cabinet-level Department of Health, reports that the local cycling population has topped 950,000, double the level of three years ago.

One main reason for the cycling craze is the spread of health concepts among the local people. As a result, on weekends and holidays growing numbers of people can be spotted riding mountain bikes on mountain roads.

The craze is also a result of the strenuous efforts that the government and bicycle makers have devoted to the promotion of recreational cycling over the past few years. The Taipei City Government, for example, has built six bikeways, totaling 108 kilometers in length, along the Xindian, Danshui, and Keelung rivers.

Other municipal governments have also built bikeways at scenic spots to meet the needs of cycling enthusiasts.

A total of 1,180 kilometers of bikeways have been built throughout Taiwan so far, allowing countless local residents to strengthen their bodies and relax their minds in natural surroundings.

Bicycling is not used for recreation alone; in response to soaring fuel prices, growing numbers of people have embraced the bicycle as a short-distance transportation tool. This practice is especially popular in Taipei and Kaohsiung cities, where many people use folding bikes to travel between MRT stations and their homes or other destinations.

Moreover, the Taipei City Government has started constructing a dedicated bicycle lane along Dunhua North and South Roads and plans to build a similar lane along Xinyi Road later on, forming a cross-shaped cycling network. The city government believes these new lanes will considerably boost the city’s ratio of bicycle commuters, which now stand at 4%.

Big bicycle manufacturers are also working hard to promote bicycling. Giant Manufacturing, for instance, has for years sponsored domestic cycling tournaments, including those for long-distance highway cycling and all-terrain mountain-bike cycling. Giant also funded the establishment of the Cycling Life-Style Foundation, which since 1995 has been sponsoring annual cycling tournaments, to help promote cycling.
(by Philip Liu)