2012 Super 8 Enduro Race in Taiwan

Taiwan is known as the production base of hi-end bikes, and historically has not much to do with the sport itself.

Now the situation has changed all because of Super 8 Enduro Race. The first race in 2010 was not a scheduled one; it was only a topic among some riders on the Internet. Later, it was decided to go on before they understood if it could even happen or not.

The rules are simple. Within the given 8 hours, the one who rides the most laps wins the first place and so forth. When tied on the same laps, the one who arrives at the finish line first wins.


It was to everyone’s surprise, over 300 hundred people were there for the first race. Free beer, BBQ and buffet lunch made everyone feel at home. The prizes from sponsors kept the participants around until the lottery at the end. For best costume, you received a Scott Scale frame (riders voted on each contestant), and it attracted many riders who liked to “dress up” while riding.


This year, riders from a local club, Bike Forest, formed a traffic police team of three riders. One was disguised as a police car, the other two as speed cameras. They walked up the race trail and had fun with the racers. They did this to mock on those semi-professional riders who started participating in the Super 8 last year. Bike Forest guys thought that these riders were over devoted to the racing and were missing all the fun and food. It’s all against the spirit of this event! Somebody had to tell them to slow down. It seems like Taiwan is growing MTB culture of its own kind and may even produce some serious racers in the future.


Since Taichung Bike week shifted their dates earlier this year, many bike industry people were in Taiwan when the Super 8 took place. People from Bionicon, QBP, X-Fusion Europe, Spank and Commencal were there having fun too. Even Mr. Max Commencal was hanging around enjoying the fun all day. They all agreed the draft beer was totally irresistible!


The Super 8 Enduro Race has been scheduled to take place on the second Sunday of November every year. So mark your calendars and don’t miss it when you are visiting Taiwan at that time next year.