“Did you see that? The Giant tower is the same shape as Taiwan.” At the foot of the headquarters of the world’s bicycle manufacturer in Taichung, Sherry Tsou, who works for the Museum of Cycling Culture, pointed to the top of the building. She praised the work of star architect Joshua Jih Pan and the symbolism of its form. The island is not only home to TSMC, the global giant of the semiconductor industry, which creates those chips that are crucial for our mobile phones, computers and cars, but it is also home to the number one and two bicycle manufacturers in the world, Giant and Merida (known in the world). Europe under the Centurion brand). In addition, behind them there are a myriad of suppliers, even leaders in their specialties, producing chains, saddles, lighting, brakes, derailleurs and batteries.
Over the past half century, Taiwan has quietly established itself as the bicycle island, adapting to overcome competition from countries with lower costs over the years – unlike Europe or of the United States, which have let their cyclical industries run away. In all, 900 companies, many of them family SMEs, share the sector’s value chain, employing more than 32,000 people and exporting parts around the world. They are clustered around Taichung, the country’s second largest city with more than 2.8 million inhabitants, in the central-western part of the island.
Half of the suppliers are concentrated in the south of the metropolis, in Changhua, around Merida. The other half is to the north, near the historic Giant factory. In 1992, the French sports company Decathlon established itself equidistant between these two hubs, at the heart of the ecosystem, to become a heavyweight and a center of excellence in cycling in its own right. Decathlon is now one of the biggest customers of Taiwanese manufacturers, but not only: Jean-François Guislain, who runs Decathlon in Taichung, oversees 19 stores, in addition to the production office.
Yet the bicycle is not a Taiwanese invention, nor even a tradition. The Cycling Culture Museum created by Yang Liu – also known as King Liu, the founder of Giant – gives credit where credit is due: the oldest two-wheelers on display are European. For example, the “draisienne” – a bicycle without pedals – was designed in 1817 by the German baron Karl Drais von Sauerbronn. The tour continued with a postal bike from Japan. “In the 1960s, bicycles were still imported from Japan,” explained Tsou.
After the 1973 oil crisis
The industry developed over the next decade and soon turned its attention to exports. In 1972, Liu founded the Giant group, and his rival Ike Tseng created Merida. His timing was perfect. After the oil crisis of 1973, the market took off. “It peaked in 1986-1987, with more than 10 million bicycles produced annually in Taiwan,” said Yucheng Cheng, director of production at Decathlon. It was also in this period that the retailer from the North of France designed its first model and entered the market.
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