Brian's Final Randoms - Taipei Cycle Show 2023

It's day 5 at the Taipei Cycle Show. There's been a ton of interesting stuff at the show this year, and I've saved some of the best for last. Also some of the strangest. The team is wrapping up some stories before we record a final podcast and then go find some go-karts (yes, again.). If anyone would like to sponsor a go kart Field Test, hit me up—ideally presented by Chia Te Taipei Pineapple Cakes.

---

Reso's Saddle Angle Adjuster

This saddle angle adjuster does what it says on the tin. You can easily tip your nose down while climbing, flatten it out over mixed terrain, and tilt it back for big descents. The semi-closed structure is said to keep it well lubricated and prevent debris ingress. No weight was available, but it's said to be fairly light and user serviceable with standard tools.


The product won an iF design and innovation award here at the show, but there's no escaping that it's very Aenomaly Switchgrade-esque. That said, there are definitely some differences between the two products, including a much more prominent lever on the Reso, and what appears to be a different mechanism.


The company behind the product is called Reso International, and they do work with several MTB brands, including Reverse Components. I wouldn't be surprised if this ended up being a Reverse product, I just hope the Aenomaly folks are getting a fair deal.

---

L-TWOO's Drivetrains

Why am I showing you curly bar stuff? Because Chinese drivetrain brand L-Twoo's new road group is said to have an MTB counterpart coming later this year. The brand was founded by some ex-SRAM folks in the Guangzhou area.

Their eRX Hydraulic Semi-Wireless Groupset has a lot of people talking on the road side. If I'm honest, the stuff felt pretty cheap in hand with some pretty serious lag. That said, I'd be very keen to try an MTB version on a bike.

---

Weiting's New SFE (Separate Floating Engagement) Ratchet System

Weiting Technology Co has a very cool new hub concept. The SFE ratchet system allows for the driveside bearings to sit further outboard, apparently allowing hubs to be lighter and stronger. The mechanic in me cringes at the thought of servicing 23098432082 little spring-driven floating ratchet elements, but it's an incredibly cool system. I put up a little video of how it works on Instagram.

If you watch closely you can see that each floating pawl pops out at a different time for a higher degree of engagement. I could imagine other ratchet options that would align more directly for less instant, but more positive/strong engagement.



There's no website or word on who will be using this technology, or whether Weiting will set up its own brand. You can read the patent here if you want to go deeper. We did hear through the grapevine about Alex Rims describing a similar product, so possibly they're in talks to use it. Pure speculation on my end though. Regardless, it's very cool and I hope we have the opportunity to learn more about this tech when it's ready.

---

Maxxis x Seawastex recycling program

Maxxis wasn't showing any flashy new models at the show (I'd guess Sea Otter), but they were very proud of getting their Seawastex program underway.



Basically they take some of the 640K tonnes of fishing nets that are discarded or lost at sea, which have huge impacts on wildlife, and turn it into tires. They depolymerize discarded fishing nets into nylon pellets, and use those pellets to produce high tensile recycled nylon yard, which Maxxis then uses to make tire casings.

It sounds like this program will be rolled out through the year on select models in their hybrid/commuter lineup. Maxxis says that as they're improving the processes they're confident we could see this process in higher end MTB tires someday as well.

---

DMR's New ODub Signature Bars

DMR had their recently released Olly Wilkins ODUB Signature bars on display.



DMR were also showing off a new gold colourway in their Rhythm alloy dirt jump frame. Is gold the colour of the year this year? Should we try to do a full Goldfinger bike custom build?

---

KMC's Linkglide-compatible eGlide chain

KMC has launched a Shimano Linkglide compatible chain option called eGlide. It's 9/10/11 speed compatible, with claimed high torsion resistence and tensile strength. It's got a ton of features like "Triple X Durability" and "Dynamic Chamfer Angles Design" and "Shield Tech Riveting," but KMC knows how to make a chain and it's good to see more options for Shimano's new system.

It's also nice to see Shimano having apparently opened up compatibility for Linkglide, and I imagine we'll see these both as mid-level OE spec and as a cheaper aftermarket option in shops that don't have the same access to Shimano stuff.

---

More Randoms



Have you ever struggled to decide between buying an aero road bike, a triathlon bike, an 180mm enduro bike, a cargo bike, and a high speed commuter? Well if you have $20K, the RYUGER EIDOLON BR-RTS means you don't have to.



The Japan-based brainchild of Australia's Brent Richards is a very unique take on the "superbike". He wouldn't tell me what this thing's top speed was, and despite it being pretty ridiculous all around, I'd be lying if I didn't want to take it for a spin.


Ryuger also make carbon wheels that apparently test very well, and use sacrificial foam filling in their layup process.

---

That's it from me in Taipei this year. I want to give a huge thanks to TAITRA for having us, and especially to Ting for her help throughout the show. We're going to record one more podcast and get a few final stories out before hitting the plane home. Thanks for following along, looking forward to coming back next year!

Posted In:
Reviews and Tech Randoms Drivetrain Handlebars Hubs Tires Dmr KMC Maxxis Reverse Components Taipei Cycle Show 2023