tour de taiwan giant

Giant Adventure

A cycling paradise in asia, taiwan.

Giant Adventure provides everything you need to discover Taiwan by bike, including accommodations, transportation and high-quality Giant bikes. Our experienced cycling guides and service staff understand your needs and we’re here to provide luggage transfers, technical assistance, and keep riders rolling with hydration and snacks.

Our integrated services provide everything from pre-tour training to clinics on riding techniques and photography during the tour so you can relax and enjoy the trip.

We have the experience and flexibility to lead groups of all sizes, and we can customize any tour to all skill levels. Since 2009, we have led more than 3,200 tours with over 110,000 customers. So, when you’re ready for the two-wheeled tour of a lifetime with friends and family, let Giant Adventure lead the way.

To learn more about our cycling tours in Taiwan, head to our Giant Adventure website.

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Tour de Taiwan 2024 review: Relive five epic and beautiful stages as Britain's Joseph Blackmore triumphs

Featuring 667km of racing across five stages, the Tour de Taiwan welcomed 24 teams comprising of 34 nationalities for an epic race in 2024. Here, we relive the epic racing as Britain's Joseph Blackmore grabbed top honours in the general classification.

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Tour de Taiwan

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Race information

• Date: 14 March 2024
• Start time: 10:00 (03:00 CET)
• Avg. speed winner: 47.813 km/h
• Classification: 2.1
• Race category: ME - Men Elite
• Distance: 146.4 km
• Points scale: 2.1.Stage
• UCI scale: UCI.WR.1.Stage
• Parcours type:
• ProfileScore: 27
• Vertical meters: 1294
• Departure: Kaohsiung City
• Arrival: Kaohsiung City
• Race ranking: 181
• Startlist quality score: 49
• Won how: Sprint of small group
• Avg. temperature:

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PEDAL TAIWAN

T h e t a i w a n c y c l i n g t o u r e x p e r t s, we believe that adventure is an art form, and that’s why we create bespoke cycling tours tailored perfectly for you. let our team of experts take you along the path less travelled and guide you to the undiscovered gems of the island known only to locals..

From showing you the secret restaurants only the locals know about, to fixing your bike in a sticky situation – we’ve got you covered.

Not only do we understand what you expect from a cycling tour abroad, but we also have an exclusive understanding of Taiwan cultivated from our many years of experience.

We know that every cyclist’s vision is different. That’s why we work closely with customers to design Taiwan cycling tours that are perfect for you, your group and your needs.

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At Pedal Taiwan, we offer you the chance to experience all the adventure, discovery, and challenge Taiwan has to offer. Moments of a lifetime that you can’t get anywhere else.

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Giant Tour de Taiwan group ride

I’m coming to Taiwan mid-July for 5 weeks (my wife is Taiwanese) and am thinking of doing the Giant Tour de Taiwan group ride. Has anyone here done it? What’s it like? If I do it, I’m slightly concerned about the weather - presumably they don’t cycle in the middle of the day? Thanks!

Download Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration’s app.

Don’t know about this particular group ride but lots of group riding around Taiwan including middle of day and lots and most of them wear clothing that covers their skin including long biking sleeves and pants. Also continue to ride in the rain and they have support vans if it gets to inclement.

They have a mini-van (or 2) following the group. You can stop anytime and get liquids, food, etc. For a completely relaxed, let others plan the round-Taiwan bike trip, Giant is probably the way to go. Some of the rides may go into middle of the day if you or others are slow, especially around southern tip of Taiwan. I wouldn’t worry about it. They got you covered up in all kinds of protective clothing.

A six year old child could do that ride.

6 yo cycling in 40*C “feels like” temperature? Prove it.

You can step off into a support vehicle at any time. Those rides are not challenging.

Why not? Plenty of people would find them challenging enough.

For those like me who were curious just what’s being discussed, below is a link for one of the tours on offer:

• 910km over 9 days, starting Saturday August 17.
• Days range from 80km to 122km; biggest day of elevation is 1600m.
• The itinerary doesn’t include times, but they talk about stopping for lunch and riding after that, so yeah, that looks like heat of the day. In general Taiwan culture is pretty big on lunch happening from 12 noon to 1pm, not before, not after.
• E-bikes available for a surcharge, which I like to think I wouldn’t use, but they’re certainly useful insurance for those who are unsure if they’d be able to complete the rides or not.

I dunno, I think I could do it, but I certainly wouldn’t call it easy. Most of those single days would count as a moderately long ride for me. I doubt I’ve ever ridden as much as 140km on two consecutive days before, so I’d certainly have to do some training just to get used to that many consecutive days of riding.

I’d have near-zero interest in doing this in summer heat. Spring or fall, hm, I didn’t know these existed and now I’m interested. A big reason I haven’t done longer rides like this is because I haven’t bothered to figure out transportation or a rack & luggage for my bike.

Multiple days of 80km+ cycling with elevation in mid summer…regardless thats hard cycling, especially given the heat and humidity. Spring/Fall/Winter are much better seasons to cycle these distances in Taiwan. Support van is nice, but isn’t the reason for the trip cycling vs. sitting in an air-conditioned van…

The reason for my cynicism is I’ve had a load of work mates sign up for these things and they aren’t cyclists and don’t really train for it. The option of taking a half hour rest in an air con van is a game changer.

I’ve done it, the organisation is excellent, would certainly do it again. I would never consider doing it in the summer. I did it at the end of Nov/start of Dec and once you get below HsinChu it was hot and sunny. I went through suncream so fast I ended up having to look to buy more on the trip. Giant personal were superb, 2 vans following at all times (unless one had to take someone off somewhere). There was another group around 30mins-1hr ahead of us with 3 vans and we often joined with them for lunch.

They pick roads with very little climbing on them, I think something like day 5 we had a 200m climb and the last day we ‘climbed’ back from ShiFen to Taipei but even then they took some back roads to keep the gradients down.

I had a fantastic time, if you do it then don’t wear road shoes as you do alot of standing around waiting for others. I wore mountain bike shoes and they were perfect, if I didn;t have them I would use flats instead.

Lunch was usually 1:30-2hrs, which given some of the out of the way places we ate seemed far too long but I guess it was also to try to keep out of the heat somewhat.

If this is your only chance then go for it, if then then wait until winter.

That’s weird, because back roads in Taiwan usually mean higher gradients.

Back a decade ago when I did two round-Taiwan rides, I bumped into Giant bikers going up and around the southern tip. Some of the countryside roads are steep and long.

I’ve done the east coast one in June I think. I think one day had like 500m of climbing with the rest relatively flat. They are well organized and generally my wife and I had a good time and didn’t need to think or plan. The riding was easy but hot… different routes are probably more challenging.

Some things that weren’t great…

Most of the people in the group had no idea how to ride in a group. They obviously don’t want you passing the group leader. We pushed him as much as we could to create some buffer, but it was slow going and sometimes a little dangerous because the group was so inexperienced.

The breaks can be annoying if you just want to get on with it. Lunches were fairly long in particular. For me, the starts where too late, around 9 am if memory serves.

The hotels and food weren’t the best each day. Some good, some marginal at best.

I never did it again because we grew our network of riding partners and planned private supported trips instead. Often with better food and hotels for the same price or cheaper.

For someone without that, I think they’re a fairly good option.

I’ve lived and cycled in Taiwan for decades. I have not done this or any group rides. Solo rides only. 1. 100km - 40*C heat is too hot for me. 2. Farm roads are best but steep and slick if there’s green moss on them. 3. Theoretically Any tourist visiting from a subtropical country “could”adjust to cycling in August Taiwan weather easier than someone from a more temperate country. But combining jet lag, August weather, and 100km / day = no thanks no matter how flat it is. Instead I’d rent a car, do day rental rides, and if desired mix with locals because Taiwanese are friendly. Flexibility is key. Taiwanese Group anything just isn’t my thing. Just my .02.

This is the other problem. The concept of drafting is foreign to new cyclists here, not surprisingly.

As someone who has never ridden in a group, yeah, this worries me because I too have no idea.

Also a concern for me. At this time of year I’d rather be on the road by 6am, and probably done for the day by 11am. Different outside summer months, of course.

Drafting? That’s quite an advanced concept for a group like this. Many don’t even understand simple principles of rider safety when riding near others or in traffic.

I don’t believe you. Are you sure you’re talking about Taiwan?

Cycling Foundation, Tours and Museums

​​we make your life better with our services and bicycles.

Giant Group has played an active role in popularizing cycling in Taiwan. Having established the Cycling Lifestyle Foundation, Giant Adventure, YouBike and the Cycling Culture Museum, Giant Group hopes to make everyone familiar with bicycles. By reaching out to one another, we can create a better tomorrow where cycling is enjoyed all over the globe.

Cycling Lifestyle Foundation

With their sights set on creating a healthier community by encouraging cycling in Taiwan, the Cycling Lifestyle Foundation hosts cycling events every year. It donates bicycles to Taipei City and New Taipei City which can be rented at riversides. The Foundation urges our government to ensure a safe and friendly cycling environment for all.

Giant Adventure

Giant Adventure is a provider of all-inclusive cycling tours around the world. With a commitment to helping our customers fulfill their dreams and explore the possibilities of life. Giant Adventure provides detailed domestic and overseas bicycle touring itineraries. All itineraries and services are adjusted according to an individual’s level of cycling experience. Join us to see how bicycle touring can spice up your life!

YouBike is a 24-hour automated public bicycle rental system. It provides a point to point bicycle rental service. By combining excellent service management with a pleasant cycling experience and a simple registration system, YouBike encourages us all to use bicycles for daily travel. In addition, YouBike has partnered with the public transportation system to ease congestion in urban areas, and make travel more energy-efficient.

Cycling Culture Museum

The Cycling Culture Museum is the first museum to explore the world of bicycles through interactive technology and the aesthetics of workmanship. The museum houses a collection of antique bicycles, installation art, movies and more. The various items show visitors the different kinds of bicycles and their history. We hope that this interaction with our collection will help people to see bicycles in a different light.

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Taiwan: The Cycling Island

The global manufacturing hub churns out a staggering amount of the frames and components we’re familiar with.

Made in Taiwan. These words have become ubiquitous in the bicycle industry. Taiwan, a small, island nation off the south eastern coast of China, where so many parts of bicycles North Americans ride are manufactured, has been known since the 1970s as “The Bicycle Kingdom.” Everything from frames, chains, and pedals to grips, lights, and cycle computers are made in factories mostly clustered in Taichung City on the western coast.

Workers at Kenda Tire test every tube by inflating and grouping, later returning to discard those with leaks. All photos by David Niddrie.

While China now produces an abundance of bikes and parts too, Taiwan has mostly left behind the low-end market to focus on mid-level and high-end cycling products. Homegrown brands are known for innovation and expertise in manufacturing. On a recent media tour of 10 production facilities and an introduction to a dozen more Taiwanese brands, it was clear that cycling is a major part of the economy and has been for some time.

Giant , the world’s largest bike company, was established in 1972 with the Giant brand unveiled in 1981. Since that time, Giant has become a global leader in bike production, both under their own brands – Giant, Liv, and Momentum – and for a growing number of high-end clients. They were the first company to mass-produce carbon fibre for bikes in 1985 and their Taichung factory is where some ‘competing’ brands’ carbon fibre products are made. It was very interesting to see the mix of brands all being built under one huge roof, often side by side on the assembly line. Above you, bike frames move around in a maze of conveyor tracks, heading from one department to the next. Employees work quickly as the bikes roll by in a seemingly endless fashion, with hoses, ducts and cables visible in every direction. In 2014, Giant reported $2-billion USD in corporate revenue, with 6.6-million bicycles sold (compare that to 3,800 in 1972). The company now has nine factories, including six in China and one in Japan, with products available in 80 countries at 10,000 retailers. Giant was the first stop on our tour; it set the scale dramatically.

The Kenda Tire headquarters, just south of Taichung, looked old school from the outside and inside was no different. Founded in 1962, Kenda began as a bike tires and tubes factory, eventually expanding to produce all kinds of tires, except for aircraft. This factory is all industrial clang and the smell of rubber was pervasive. They make tires for Giant, Specialized, SCOTT, Merida, Trek … Like many of the factories we visited, companies are in close contact with their competitors in production. Now with six factories in the region (including China and Vietnam), Kenda produces hundreds of thousands of tires a day. They employ more than 10,000 people and plan to open three more factories in 2017. Again, the scale is mind-boggling when you realize how much North American bike stuff comes from this part of the world.

Later that week, we visited King Roof (vehicle racks), Marwi (a huge producer of bike parts, including a good chunk of the world’s pedals), and KMC Chain (a chain company claiming a 78 percent global market share). According to KMC, if you measure all the chain made since their founding in 1977 it would stretch more than 2.5 million miles (four million kilometers)! We also visited the factories of Taya Chain, Kind Shock Hi-Tech (KS of hydraulic drop-post fame), and Hubsmith to further illuminate the Taiwan bike connection.

One of the highlights was Velo Enterprise , makers of Velo saddles, grips, and tapes founded in 1979 by Stella Yu. This company produces 15 million saddles and 20 million grips annually with four factories in Taiwan and China. Yu still heads up the company and her fiery, passionate presentation revealed how she was able to make it in this male-dominated industry. She told us how she got tough quickly in the traditional business setting while keeping her vision intact along the way. She explained the inspiration for color and design comes from feng shui and that Velo makes saddles for each year in Chinese astrology. Yu shared her spiritual side by taking our entire group out to her favorite Buddhist temple that evening while playing the part of tour guide (naturally, to the Dajia Zhen Lan Temple which is dedicated to the female goddess, Mazu). Her latest focus is on e-bike saddles (with a built-in handle for lifting the bike) and her passion projects – saddles for push bikes and children. Acknowledging most of their product is made from chemicals, Velo claims strict compliance with international standards and Yu specifically works toward minimizing exposure to toxins in their children’s line.

Our last visit was to Lezyne , an American company now in their ninth year making products at their own facility, surrounded by rice fields and farms on the outskirts of Taichung. This was the most modern and worker-friendly location on the tour. Instead of being hot and humid, Lezyne’s facility was cooled by air-conditioning units imported to maintain comfort in production. It was significantly quieter, too, as a full-time machine shop this is not. Lezyne sources most of their parts from vetted suppliers, then tests the raw parts piece by piece before assembly. Once functioning, parts and products are tested and, after packaging, randomly tested again. The level of quality control was beyond anything else on the tour. Every aspect of their new GPS line – coding, electrical, design, marketing, and more – is done in house. It’s clear Lezyne owns its brand and image in all departments. For deeper consistency, and perhaps a quirky indulgence, the Taiwan office is a replica of their San Luis Obispo, CA headquarters, seemingly down to the bowl of Smarties in the kitchen.

YouBike, Taiwan’s public bike share system, had 30 million trips in 2014. Photo by David Niddrie.

Cycling in Taiwan

Apart from the vast, industrial network for bike production in Taiwan, what’s it actually like to ride there?

The influence of bicycle manufacturing on the country is becoming clearer at the street level. Giant helped launch the YouBike bike share program that began in Taipei and now includes 10 other cities like Taichung farther down the coast. YouBike more than doubled its national, annual ridership from the previous year to 30 million trips in 2014. Infrastructure is being built, too. Now it’s possible to ride around much of the country on connected bike paths and right of ways. A ride around Sun Moon Lake, Taiwan’s largest inland lake, features long stretches of separated pathways.

On the streets of Taichung, the motorized scooter still rules the road; transit and private automobiles fill in the rest. The bike share was being used regularly on the Sunday of the popular Taichung Jazz Festival while I was there. Other than that, it wasn’t very common to see groups of riders, just the odd folding-style bike (20-inch wheels are popular) mixed in with all the scooters.

The Tour de Taiwan, Giant’s Ride Like King event, and the Taiwan Cycling Festival in the autumn bring interest to the sport side of cycling. Velo-city Global Conference 2016 kicked off an intense two weeks of cycling events in Taipei. The five-day program focusing on city cycling was followed immediately by the Taipei International Cycling Show (the largest in Asia) and the 2016 Tour de Taiwan, part of the Union Cycliste Internationale Asia Tour.

Whether or not the people of Taiwan embrace transportation cycling as enthusiastically as sport cycling remains to be seen. The factories are there, the brands are maturing, and it appears the political will to increase ridership is following. With Velo-city injecting fresh ideas and energy into the realm of city bicycling, the growth of bike share, and an expanding network of cycling paths in Taipei and elsewhere, this small island has a lot to build upon.

As Anthony Lo, Chairman of the Taiwan Bicycle Association and Giant Global Group CEO, said at our press conference, “Taiwan has become not only the centre of manufacturing and R&D, it has become a cycling island.” A strong commitment to create city-cycling friendly cities will help Taiwan ensure this new nickname sticks and accurately describes their place in the global bicycling scene.

David Niddrie spent a week in Taiwan visiting factories, eating veggie hot pot and gaining further insight into the bicycle industry. You can read his trip report and slideshow on riding around Sun Moon Lake here . All of the above photos were taken by David.  davidniddrie.com

Momentum Mag gratefully acknowledges the support of Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) for this trip.

More from Momentum Mag

how many manufacturers are there in Taiwan???

Excellent article, and glad to see Momentum singing the cycling praises of my adopted homeland. I still need to get off my keister and do a Taiwan cycling story for you. When are you heading back? We can circle the island together.

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Home > Taiwan

Bike taiwan.

8 Days | 7 Nights

Average Ride

55km | 34mi

57 People are considering this Tour

The Quintessential Taiwan Bike Tour

On this classic bike tour of Taiwan you'll pedal along the coastline, descend into the breathtaking Taroko Gorge, and cruise through lush valleys and tea plantations. But that's not all—hike in stunning national parks, try stand-up paddleboarding in Donghe River Gorge, relax in hot springs, all while savoring mouthwatering Taiwanese eats along the way! 

EARLY RIDER PRIZE :  Be in the first 4 to book a departure and get  5% OFF  the tour price* *Not applicable with private, self-guided tours, other discounts, trip credits, or special offers.

Special Announcement: Taroko National Park is currently closed until further notice due to earthquake damage and the subsequent repair work to make it safe for visitors again. We have adjusted our programs to offer alternative experiences and eagerly await the park's reopening to resume our regular operations.

Quality Bikes Cannondale Quick Disc 4 or Rikalau E-bike

Your Guide Friendly Taiwan Team

Group Size 4 to 14

Accommodation Boutique B&B, comfortable resorts

Activities Cycle/SUP/Hike

Minimum Age 18+

This classic route takes you from Taipei in the north of the island, all the way to the very southern tip of Kenting. The first day’s ride out through Taroko Gorge down to the Pacific Coast and into the majestic East Rift Valley is hard to beat, but it is just the beginning!  

Riding quiet but amazingly well-maintained roads through the idyllic tropical countryside you’ll pass through sleepy indigenous villages, pomelo orchards, and endless rice paddies. 

At day's end, the island offers yet more surprises: whether marveling at the sheer power of the Pacific, soaking away the stresses of life in one of the island’s numerous hot springs or just slurping down a hearty bowl of delicious noodles, Taiwan assaults your senses and leaves you hungry for more!     Craving more?  

Extend your adventure with our Taipei explorer for a well-rounded Japanese experience.      What's the riding like?   

You'll cover 327 km (203 mi) of Taiwan's diverse landscapes, with medium-length rides of 50-80 km each day. 

The terrain varies from gentle undulations along the East Coast and over the Coastal Mountain Range. On days 5 and 7, you’ll face some hill climbs with up to 900 meters of elevation gain, but what goes up must come down, so you'll enjoy some fantastic descents as well. 

Traffic is generally light, though you’ll encounter some busier roads along the way. 

If you're riding between June and September, be prepared for higher temperatures and humidity, which will add to the challenge—but there's nothing a Taiwanese tea can't fix.      Unsure about the challenge? Our support vehicles are on standby for those moments when you need a little breather.    For an extra boost , upgrade to our pedal-assist E-bikes for $375 or a Rikalau Audaz 325 Titanium Road bike for $240. 

• Cycle through the dramatic Taroko Gorge  
• Hike into the Central Mountain Range on the Walami Trail  
• Discover a world of rice paddies, fruit farms, and tribal villages  
• Stand-up-paddleboard the Donghe River Gorge  
• Soak in soothing hot springs 
• 7 nights in comfortable hotels and resorts 
• All breakfasts, 6 lunches and 6 dinners 
• Quality bike, a helmet, and support vehicle 
• Passionate guides and support team 
• Healthy snacks and water during cycling 
• All activities, train tickets and site entry fees 
• Memento cycling jersey and water bottle 

TAIPEI ACTIVE EXPLORER TOUR EXTENSION

Optional 3-day/2-night bike & hike tour extension of taipei's highlights, what our guests say.

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Trip Extensions

Day 1: taipei - train journey & warm up ride.

We’ll meet up early in Taipei for introductions before a beautiful train ride along the dramatic east coast to breathtaking Taroko Gorge which forges its way through the Central Mountain Range. Whether shrouded in mist or glowing in sunlight, this sheer marble gorge is a captivating sight. From the station, it’s a short but beautiful drive to our luxurious overnight lodgings, situated deep into the heart of the gorge. On arrival, we’ll check in and then have a bike fitting and take a short warm-up ride deeper into the gorge (part of the famous King of the Mountain route!)

Day 2: Cycle to Shoufeng

We have an early start to make the exhilarating ride down through Taroko Gorge, stopping for a short but stunning hike along the aquamarine waters of Shakadang stream, a tributary of the main Liwu River. On pedaling out of the gorge, we’ll emerge onto the Pacific Coast, and avoiding the main highway we ride narrow lanes lined with banana palms and temples, taking beachside rest stops on our way south. After lunch in Hualien we’ll move away from the city and into the picturesque but little visited East Rift Valley, a land of lush green rice paddies and small indigenous communities. We’ll spend the night in cabins magically set over the water set on the edge of the Rift Valley. In the evening we can enjoy a hearty BBQ dinner and campfire.

Special Information:   Today's ride from Taroko to Shoufeng covers 56.9 km (35.4 mi) with an elevation gain of 493m throughout the day. You'll mostly be on paved roads, with some unpaved and off-road trails. With our support vehicle close by and plenty of stops along the way, the journey is both manageable and enjoyable. 

Day 3: Cycle to Fuyuan & Butterfly Valley Hike

Today it’s a shorter ride as we continue our journey down through the Rift Valley, with towering mountains on either side. We’ll stop for lunch at a community-run organic farm restaurant in an Amis village and have the chance to meet some of the friendly locals. In the afternoon we’ll move on south through prime tropical fruit growing country to our lovely resort set in the beautiful Fuyuan Forest Reserve. The reserve has numerous hiking trails through lush jungle to waterfalls and suspension bridges. Monkeys, deer, eagles and huge butterflies are commonplace, and Swinhoe’s Pheasant are occasionally spotted! When you get back from your hike soothing hot springs await! Dinner tonight is at the resort.

Special Information:   The trail today is a bit more challenging, with a 43.7km (27.2mi) ride and an elevation gain of 701m throughout the day. You'll have two riding segments: the first takes you from the hotel to the Rift Valley, followed by lunch at a community-run organic farm restaurant. 

Afterward, you’ll hop back on your bike for the second stretch, leading to a light hike through the Fuyuan Forest Reserve. 

The trail today is fully paved, with the support van always at hand should you wish to sit back and enjoy the view instead. 

Day 4: Cycle to Fuli, Saoba Monoliths, Tropic of Cancer & Tea Tasting

This morning’s ride is interjected with a trio of interesting stops, first the Saoba Monoliths (Taiwan’s mini version of Stone Henge), then on to the Tropic of Cancer Monument, and finally for a well-earned cuppa’ amidst the tea farms of Wuhe. We then take a lovely little cut through road back to highway 193, and now officially in the tropics, bear south through the ever-widening Rift Valley, stopping for a delicious dumpling lunch. After lunch we continue on to our overnight stop perched atop a hill on the edge of the Rift Valley. It’s a great spot to sit back, relax and enjoy the views and in the evening our host will put on a gourmet feast for dinner.

Special Information:   Today's adventure includes two rides totaling 66 km (41 mi) with 597m of elevation gain throughout the day. You'll cycle mostly on paved roads, with a few unpaved trails mixed in. Along the way, you'll enjoy plenty of stops for coffee, tea, local fruit, and lunch. 

Day 5: Cycle to Dulan

As well as being a mecca for surfers, Dulan is also famous for a recent indigenous arts revival that encompasses music, painting, and sculpture which can be seen in the warehouse galleries around the focal point of the village, the old Sugar Factory.

Special Information:  Today features two rides, starting with a scenic route to a charming lunch spot, then riding to your hotel. You'll cover 68.8 km (42.8 mi) with 882m of elevation gain throughout the day, the biggest climb of the tour. Expect plenty of snack stops along the way, and our support vehicle will be right there if you need a little extra help. 

Day 6: Paddleboarding & Free Afternoon in Dulan

This morning we’ll rise early to enjoy a sunrise SUP ride in Donghe River Gorge. Paddling the emerald green waters to a backdrop of giant white boulders and lush tropical forest makes for a magical start to the day. The rest of the day is free to relax on the beach, hike, surf, visit some of the local sights or just read a book and rest!

As well as Taiwanese and indigenous cuisine, Dulan has a host of Western-oriented cafés and restaurants serving food from around the globe, including authentic French, Indian and Vietnamese cuisine. There is also sometimes live music at the Sugar Factory on Saturday nights. Soak up Taiwanese life as you rest your legs!

Day 7: Cycle to Kenting

Today we’ll transfer by vehicle along the beautiful but busy coastal highway to Shouka where we’ll begin our epic final day’s ride through the hills of the Hengchun Peninsula. We bear off the main east-west route and cycle a lovely little road through remote jungle dotted with the odd indigenous village before bringing us back down to the coast where we’ll take lunch at a simple seafood restaurant. The coastal stretch here is one of Taiwan’s finest, with the road running right alongside the ocean, passing windswept beaches and abandoned military bases before once again ascending into the jungle in a double hill climb before another lovely descent. The last leg of the ride takes us all the way to the island’s southernmost point, from where it’s just a short ride to Kenting, Taiwan's tropical playground. In the evening we’ll explore Kenting night market and head out for a final dinner to celebrate our incredible Taiwan ride.

Special Information:  Today's adventure kicks off with a 2-hour transfer to Shouka, where your cycling journey begins. You'll be riding from Shouka to Kenting, covering 80.8 km (50.2 mi) with 690m of elevation gain throughout the day, on paved trails. 

This is the longest ride of the tour and our last one together. The scenery is out of this world beautiful as your ride past indigenous villages. 

Expect plenty of breaks along the way to enjoy the views, sip coffee, taste fresh fruit, and savor a lovely lunch. 

Day 8: Transfer to Kaohsiung, Tour Concludes

This morning is free for you to further explore Kenting’s bounty of activities. A group transfer is available at noon back to Kaohsiung International Airport or the High-Speed-Rail Station. The tour ends on arrival in Kaohsiung.

WHAT’S INCLUDED

Top Leaders

Support Van

Snacks & Water

Bike Upgrade

Quality, well-maintained Giant Fastroads SLR 2 bikes in a full range of sizes are included in the price of your tour. These bikes are fitted-out to suit any conditions. Built on a lightweight aluminum frameset, this flat-bar road bike puts the rider in a comfortable position that’s smooth and efficient for touring performance. The fast-rolling 700c wheels and innovative D-Fuse seatpost help smooth out rough roads.

We use a range of properties from comfortable, modern resorts to family run guesthouses and boutique B&Bs. While some of the national park accommodation is on the simple and functional side, the locations can't be beaten. Find out more about the hotels we use on tour in Taiwan.

Experienced English / Mandarin speaking leaders will host you on this trip - they are well spoken, very knowledgeable, and always charming. Our leaders are often cited as being the main highlight of the tour. We use a mix of local & foreign guides all who have a passion for the country and are always well informed on topics ranging from history, politics, cuisine and importantly local customs and cultures. Our leaders will take pride in introducing you to every aspect of Taiwan and will help you to connect with the people you meet along the way. They will also keep your safety and comfort top priorities at all times. *Groups of 5 or more riders will also be accompanied by a special cycle leader.

An air-conditioned backup support vehicle is always available in case you want a break from riding, and to carry your luggage.

E-bikes are available as an optional extra on this tour for a surcharge. You can choose between a regular or step-through frame depending on availability.

In Taiwan we offer the Rikulau E-ILI ILI Gravel Bike, a superior example of Rikulau's commitment to quality and enhanced power. Crafted from premium grade chromoly, the Hercules frame is purposefully designed for touring, offering unparalleled comfort and durability. Its exceptional design ensures enjoyable, controlled rides on diverse terrains, including unpaved trails and pothole-filled city streets. Tailored for riders ranging from 150 cm to 190 cm (size XXS to XL), the bike also incorporates a handy pannier rack. Ideal for island exploration, multi-day journeys, or city touring and is a fine choice as your companion on the road in Taiwan. Find out more about our E-Bikes here .

The island’s unique cultural and geographic diversity means that mealtimes are always a culinary adventure in Taiwan. The Pacific's rich bounty gives ample opportunity to sample super-fresh seafood, which the Japanese influence has nurtured into a love for sushi. While on terra firma, the East Rift Valley is home to some of the island’s finest tropical fruit orchards producing dragonfruit, grapefruit, mangoes, oranges, papaya, pomelos and pineapples to name but a few.

In the cities, everything is available around the clock, but in remote areas meals typically consist of two or three meat and fish dishes, two or three vegetable dishes, plus staples of rice or noodles, with fruit to finish.

Beer is available almost everywhere, but good wine is more difficult to find. Most of your meals are included as listed in the day-by-day itinerary, and drinking water is always included with meals. Any soft or alcoholic drinks are not included and will be at your own expense.

Energy bars and local snacks are provided to keep your energy levels up for the riding, and clean water and electrolyte drinks are always available to keep you well hydrated.

A beautiful souvenir Grasshopper cycling jersey is yours to wear and take home, along with your complimentary reusable water bottle.

This tour is guaranteed for a minimum of 4 travelers. And we limit the group size to 14 travelers so that you get all the attention you want in an intimate group.

There is no surcharge for single travelers - we will match you with another same-sex single traveler. If you want a single room there is an optional upgrade that you can book.

For those who want a little more zip in their ride the Rikalau Audaz 325 Titanium road bike is available as an upgrade option on all tours in Taiwan. The titanium frame offers a sublime blend of comfort, responsiveness, and lightweight agility, that will have you cruising along the coast and through the valleys of Taiwan with a grin from ear to ear. It's very likely you'll wish to purchase a titanium bike yourself by the end of the tour. The Ti frame is complemented by Shimano gearing, DT swiss wheels, and all the hardware to boost your riding experience to the next level - it's the true road warrior to best explore Taiwan by bike. Now all that's needed is you!

This bike is available as an upgrade option on this tour for $ 320 pp.

ACCOMMODATIONS

Mijhan resort.

This accommodation welcomes you to enter the Shangri-La-like secret of Shoufeng 193 Mountain Trail, sitting on the skyline of the central mountain range, interpreting the instantaneously changing mountain clouds and light and shadow, listening to the natural melody of wind and insects, and carefully Tasting an unforgettable feast for the senses in the estate!

Butterfly Valley Resort

Butterfly Valley Resort is nestled at the base of verdant mountains, offering private hot springs, and a stunning outdoor refreshing swimming pool with gorgeous garden views. From the garden, you can breathe fresh mountain air as you admire the picturesque and peaceful surroundings.

Caesar Park

This 5-star hotel on the beach of Kenting has spacious, elegant guest rooms and incredibly idyllic surroundings. You can enjoy a dip in the pool or reach the waterfront with just a few steps.

Taroko Village Hotel

Taroko Village Hotel is a hotel located near the Taroko National Park in Taiwan. The hotel is known for its beautiful location, nestled amidst the mountains and surrounded by natural scenery, including the nearby Liwu River and the Taroko Gorge.

Stone Party

Sitting in the foothills of the Coastal Mountain Range behind laid-back Dulan village, Stone Party is the perfect place to rest up for a couple of nights. Rooms are bright, modern and airy and accented with driftwood furniture, whilst outside the balconies have sea views. It’s just a short walk into Dulan where there are cafés, shops and of course, a beach.

Sayan Season Hotel

Sayan season hotel offers an amazing view of the ever-widening Rift Valley. Simple yet secluded, this hotel is definitely quiet and rejuvenating

Taipei Active Explorer

A 3 Day / 2 Night guided tour extension, biking and hiking the highlights of Taipei and its surrounding areas.

Kenting Multi-Active Explorer

Bike, Hike, Kayak and Snorkel the best of Southern Taiwan on this 3 Day / 2 Night guided tour extension of Kenting and its beautiful surroundings.

PRIVACY POLICY

Guest reviews, frequently asked questions, 1. what is travel in taiwan like.

Click here to see our Taiwan Travel Guide .

Here is some general travel information for Taiwan.

2. What is the cycling in Taiwan like?

Take a moment to discover why We Love Cycling in Taiwan.

Dates & Price

EARLY RIDER PRIZE: Be in the first 4 to book a departure and get 5% OFF the tour price

Payment Plans Available ⓘ * Deposit payment: $500 USD * Single room option: $950 USD

Adult 3650USD

WHAT MAKES US STAND OUT

Grasshopper style.

With our experience in providing bike tours through Asia, we are able to craft an unforgettable cycling route with cultural immersion, delicious meals, comfortable hotels, and some incredibly photogenic views. This iconic bike tour of Taiwan takes you along the spectacular east coast of what is probably the most cycle-friendly country in Asia. Ride down the epic Taroko marble gorge, along rugged coastline and through the beautiful east rift valley, all the way to the southern coast for a comprehensive look at this beautiful island nation.

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East taiwan self-guided cycle tour, japan bike, walk & onsen, stunning shikoku bike tour of japan, taiwan bike, walk & dumplings.

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Taiwan Bike Tour: Giant Bicycles’ Taichung Factory Visit

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We were invited to visit Taiwan by the island’s trade organization’s  for their first ever “Bike Bloggers Tour”, an outreach program to share both their passion for cycling and their capabilities for world class design, manufacturing and assembly.

The largest company we visited was Giant. Their world headquarters is in Taichung, arguably the bicycle manufacturing capital of the world. Chances are pretty good one or more of the bikes you own is designed, made and/or assembled here.

Our time was a bit limited, which precluded me from seeing very much of the actual manufacturing. I did see some of the alloy bikes being made, along with racks upon racks of frames fresh off the line from major brands other than Giant. As in, some of the top three or four global brands other than Specialized. Much of our tour at the  assembly line, where finished frames become complete bikes, along with a healthy overview of Giant’s history and their growing influence in Taiwan’s overall cycling culture…

COMPANY HISTORY & CULTURE

A quick history: Founded in 1972, the Giant brand wasn’t established until 10 years later. They started researching carbon fiber in 1985 and were the first company to mass produce carbon bikes. In 1986, they started setting up subsidiary companies in Europe to expand globally.

In 1992, they established their first Chinese factory, and now produce frames in both Taiwan and mainland China. The gear and components are outsourced. They only make frames, forks and rims, but they design the components and gear in house before being sent out for production.

In 2011, they produced 5.7 million bikes total, including Giant and other brands. They started as an OE-only manufacturer, but as the Giant brand grows, the percentage of OE business versus their own products has shifted dramatically. As of 2011, OE manufacturing contributes 30% of their business, but the rest Giant. Their three biggest markets are China and Europe with 30% each and the US with 20%. They have 11,275 dealers worldwide.

They’re already the world’s largest bicycle manufacturer. The vision now is to expand the cycling culture. They do that through three markets dubbed PSI – Performance, Sport and “Innovative Lifestyle”. That last one is actually exclusive of the growing commuter segment, and they say that’s because they’re not cost competitive in that market. That said, they have a wide range of urban, cruiser and e-bikes that certainly cross over into commuter capabilities…they just look more like “lifestyle” products, and Europe sees a bigger collection of the line than the US. Hopefully it’ll soon include the awesome Anyroad gravel bike !

They also offer the Giant Cycling Tour Service in Taiwan, China and Japan. It’s a fully supported touring set up that they’ll likely expand to Europe and the US in the future.

One thing we don’t see much of yet is the Right Ride fit system. It’s not quite as technical of a system as Retül, Serrota and others aimed at performance riding and custom bike builds. Rather, it’s more about just getting the average cyclist to be comfortable on their bike so they’ll enjoy the sport more and stick with it.

The LIV line is a newer women’s specific grouping, and that’ll likely continue to expand, too.

In Asian markets, they have Giant Stores, which are 100% Giant. At present, there aren’t a whole lot of these in North America or Europe. You’ll have to head to Denver, Montreal or Amsterdam to see one of their concept stores. If we had to guess, you’ll start seeing more of these as they start pushing for a bigger brand presence to compete with Specialized and Trek. Beware the sleeping dragon, me thinks.

So, why and how are they going to create and grow the culture?

Not too long ago, King Liu, Giant’s president, decided to start riding. Yes, it seems obvious that the top brass in any cycling company should be an avid cyclist. But many of the largest companies are simply run as businesses, where the widgets could be interchangeable with any other widget as far as many executives are concerned. That was then. The “now” is that King Liu has made it his mission to change the culture of cycling in Taiwan and China from one of just commuting to one that shows how fun cycling is and how happy and healthy it can make you feel.

To do this, he instituted several major rides, and the company continues to develop rides and events to bring more people into the fold. The largest is the Formosa 900, a 900-mile ride around Taiwan. They brought along most of the executive team and managers from around the globe.

They’re also adding bike rental stations throughout Taiwan and making them free for the first 30 minutes. They’re hoping this encourages more people to get off their scooters and onto bikes. Add to that youth programs, a cycling tour around Taipei, a bike oriented hotel and increased event support and creation targeting different demographic and user (or potential user) groups. Obviously, more people riding more types of bikes is good for business, too.

One of the biggest initiatives is the One Bike One. 72,919 riders were verified to participate in a relay ride around Taiwan, which set a Guiness World Record.

THE FACTORY

Giant’s Taichung factory produces the high end frames. They segment into frame manufacturing, painting and assembly. Sadly, no photography was allowed in the manufacturing section, so I’ll try to paint pictures with words.

It’s something else to walk past rows of hundreds if not thousands of raw alloy frames for three or four of the world’s largest brands all stacked up side by side. It’s even more astounding when you see that every frame is hand made. All of the small builders we’ve visited and covered? Imagine that times a billion. There are no robotic welders here. Rows of work stations have bins full of hydroformed tubes all being hand finished, drilled, stamped with serial numbers, etc. Watching the cable stops get blasted with fire while a worker hand solders them in place is cool. Seeing an entire row of people doing it in unison is even more cool.

Manufacturing stations are mostly set up in a tri-position format where three people can work from the same parts bins performing the same activity – say, welding headtubes to downtubes. If that station is caught up, they can move to where they’re needed, varying the workday a bit and keeping production running smoothly and evenly.

I was hoping to see the carbon bikes being laid up, but our schedule was a bit too tight.

THE ASSEMBLY LINE

Bikes are assembled on a massive conveyer belt running along the edge of huge room set up just to funnel the right parts into the right place at the right time. A row of about 30 people transform it into a complete bike ready to be boxed in an average of one complete bike every 31.5 seconds. That includes a basic derailleur tune so it’s shifting reasonably well in the stand. The logistics give me nightmares, but it’s fantastic to watch.

Above is the primary assembly line. Here’s how things get to that point:

Ceiling mounted hook conveyers bring painted frames in at one end of the room.

They drop down in one corner where forks and headsets are installed.

This video shows the wheels being tensioned, followed by the fastest handlebar taping I’ve seen. Under two minutes per side…could you do that?

Behind, there’s a whole bank of people and machines that are building wheels in sync with what bike’s being built on the assembly line. Meanwhile, a bank of people are assembling and wrapping handlebars.

Wheels are placed on their own hook conveyer belt (left) and carried overhead to the assembly line. Workers grab them and drop them into the frames. The appropriate wheels are built, trued and wrapped with tires and tubes to coincide with the type of bike that’s being built, reaching the assembly line at just the right time. Same with the handlebars, and component and parts packaged are placed on the carts and trays in the proper order. Imagine scheduling all that!

Each worker only does one or two small steps in the assembly process. Here, the front derailleur is mounted. Another worker ran cable housing for the brakes and slipped the cable through…which means someone was cutting and capping the pieces of cables in predetermined sizes. Sooooo many baby steps.

These fellas were fine tuning the shifting, running up and down the gears and tweaking as necessary. Any good shop is going to give it a once over, but when they pull it out of the box, this gives the shop a good first impression of the brand.

A sign at the end of the line keeps workers apprised of their progress. On the left is the amount of time that line has been stopped during the day (4:03). On the right is the target number of frames for that line that day (620), their estimated actual output (593) based on build times and the percentage of target output. The signs on the bottom show the goals – less than 20 minutes of downtime on the line per day and at least 96% of the desired output.

At the end of the line, bikes are put into boxes, then boxes are loaded into containers. Lots and lots of containers.

TOUR OVERVIEW

Part of TAITRA’s goal with the Bike Bloggers Tour was to showcase the island’s industry and lifestyle in a positive light, perhaps separating them from the “cheap Chinese carbon” and “evil child labor” thoughts that so many people (or at least the most vocal) love to spout anytime an Asian-made product is highlighted. First off, about half of Taiwan’s population is pretty content to call themselves an independent country, only minimally associating themselves with the PRC. So there’s that. There’s also what I saw, which I’ll be sharing in a variety of posts covering small brands and large, from unique components and gear to another of the largest manufacturers in the world.

As for Giant, there’s only one shift, 8:00am to 5:30pm, that can make up to 5,000 bikes per day. There were no child laborers and no insane ’round the clock slave shifts. Oh, and no suicide nets on the windows. Workers can move between stations as needed to alleviate bottlenecks or avoid wasting time if a particular station is slow, so there’s opportunity to move out of a completely monotonous repetition on occasion.

Basically, Giant’s factory looked like any US factory I’ve been to. Lots of people doing rote procedures. Did they look excited to be there? Not particularly, but neither do the sock sewers at DeFeet or tube benders at Thule. It’s a job, and working conditions were clean and orderly and, other than the dudes welding the cable stops on the top tubes, reasonably safe looking. And I suspect the cable stop welders were doing it right, it’s just a process that looked quite foreign to me.

Tyler Benedict is the Founder of Bikerumor.com , where he’s been writing about the latest bikes, components, and cycling technology for almost two decades. Prior to that, Tyler launched and built multiple sports nutrition brands and consumer goods companies, mostly as an excuse to travel and ride in new places.

Based in North Carolina, Tyler also loves the Vanlife & family adventure travel and is always on the lookout for the next shiny new part and off-grid adventure.

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Aha. So that’s why you always have to re-wrap the bars on low end Treks after the customer has ridden them for a few months.

The guys at Canyon in Germany do it much faster.

Nifty. It definitely is a tape job just to protect the bars in transit. Not a “wrap” job. Anywhoo, I wonder if I can get a job there. I’m sure they have a welfare system with free medical for immigrants, right? I’m packing my bag.

@rustydogg It’s a communist country so no one has to pay for that stuff. duh

But yeah, you should leave.

Oh wait, Taichung, not the mainland factory. Duh on me. Medical is still covered and they have a lovely intake for immigrants. Welfare I’m not sure about. Their unemployment rate is half what ours is though so you shouldn’t have to worry about welfare.

Scott – FYI, Taiwan is a democratic country……you’re thinking of China, which is a communist country.

When did Taiwan become a communist country?

LOL, we’re doomed.

Giant, Trek, Cannondale….Rocky Mountain?

Wow… there’s a lot of soul in those bikes…. that’s depressing

@jack @topmounter Please read my second comment.

Giant, Trek, not Cannondale, Scott, and someone elses bikes…..

Who the f*ck cares who makes who’s bikes and who is riding what. The people who move the bicycle industry and keep it afloat are not reading this blog. Might as well make a dollar where you can. Very depressing video though if taken on its own terms.

Didn’t get to see any fancy high end hydroforming or seeing Yeti frames being made 🙁

Nice article. I’m glad to see Giant open their doors and let everyone see how the operate.

If it comes to “soul” – I cannot see a huge difference on how any other consumer product is made (expect that it is a bike of course). In the end it is the feeling you have when riding one of these bike. If you want it different then pay more and have a bike mechanic build things from scratch….on another note: Taiwan is a high developed country as well, even too expensive for Apple making there high priced products there….

I would be interested to know what sort of wages these workers get and whether they are considered fair trade factories

@Justin and Rasek

The factory in TW produces Giant, Trek, Canyon, Scott, Colnago, Yeti and a few other smaller brands.

Excellent story!

I spent many months in Tachia (not Taichung) at the Giant factory as a design engineer and customer (BikeE) and it is an impressive operation. I never had any concern about working conditions or wages.

I did get a tour of the carbon factory and it is pretty darn amazing.

You might have included a little more detail about the early days (as Schwinn’s sole supplier), King Liu and Tony Lo literally bootstrapped the business.

Thanks for a good read.

…Literally bootstrapped the business? That’s some McGuyver bike construction!

@RUSTY – Actually, that is very much the wrap job that comes on finished bikes. You don’t think that shops do that in-house, do you? Not since Cannondale moved to Asia has a production bike come with unwrapped handlebars.

BMC’s come unwrapped. . .

What a bunch of racists.

S-works bikes come unwrapped. But yes most lower end bikes come pre-wrapped.

+ 1 for a Giant concept store we have here in Bristol, UK

@Scott – 10/18/12 – 4:21pm

If you review your basic grade 9 world geography, you can avoid sounding as ‘knowledgeable’ as Palin on world geography.

Explains the poorly trued rims…

Great stuff though. Impressive facility. Too bad we have so many people in the US on welfare… Might be able to make stuff like that here as well if we could get people to work. I guess going to school and getting a degree in the US means you no longer have to work unless it pays you what you think you deserve.

Please could someone tell which brands of bikes that Giant produce???

Giant makes : scott,trek ,yeti ,merida makes :merida,specialized cannondale is made by the same guys of xfusion forks i think ,what a shame … few days ago i saw a video of scott carbon experts ,oops those workers had the logo scott but the same colors of giant workers ,lollllllllllll

How to I get to visit the Giant factory in Taichung? can anyone help me out here?

I’m planning to visit Taichung by December of this year. Can I purchase a personal bike directly in the factory?

No, you can’t make a personal visit to Giant factory unless you are with some type of organization. You can’t purchase a bike from their factory. They will tell you to buy one from one of many Giant bikes shops in Taichung. There are a lot of them. Why would you want to buy one from the factory? They won’t give you a special price and there aren’t any benefits from going there to get one. Also, if you want to bring it back overseas, it’s going to cost you more than if you bought one from your home country.

Giant and Merida make bikes for other brands. Besides Giant and Merida, there are only a handful of factories in Taichung that make bikes for other high end bike manufacturers such as BMC. Everyone in the bike industry knows what the other one is doing because most of the bikes come out from the same factories that their bikes are made from. When bike companies sell their bikes as one of a kind, exotic, and original, you would be surprised. They’re all made by the same factory guy working on other bike brands under the same roof.

Factory workers in bicycle factories in Taiwan don’t earn a lot of income, but most of them have college degrees. Most people in Taiwan have college degrees. However, in Taiwan, factory workers get a bonus for Chinese New Year and other such holidays, which can add up to a substantial amount. Also, factory workers know that their working conditions may not be the best, but the don’t complain out loud like westerners would and there are not many unions here. Some factory workers work much more than 8 hours a day; sometimes 10-12 hours a day, and that’s without over time. All you can do is appreciate where your bike came from.

This message is for Paul who worked for Giant. I’m glad you had a great experience working for Giant in Taichung as a design engineer, but you most understand that YOUR working conditions were fine because Westerners get treated differently than local workers do. If you didn’t know that, you were quite blind. Try being a factory worker and you would know that your job as an “engineer” being a foreigner is quite different from a local worker working under harsher conditions on the factory floor under Taiwanese management. This might sound racist, but Taiwanese workers do not treat their workers better than Westerners. I have experience and I still work here. Don’t ask me what I do, but I’m not blowing smoke up your butt.

There is no such thing as fair trade practices in the bike industry in Taiwan. Don’t say that to people here. They will laugh at you or not know what you are talking about. Working in bicycle factories is certainly not a sweat shop, but it can be tough if you were to compare it to Western standards. You can’t compare Western standards and expect people here to work like you where you live. It’s a different place with different culture and thinking. It’s like comparing apples and oranges. You wouldn’t try to ask an apple tree to grow oranges, would you?

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A tour of Giant’s Taichung factory

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When it comes to big bike brands, they don’t come much bigger than Giant. For more than 40 years the Taiwanese-based company has been making bikes of all varieties for cyclists around the world including, for the past 27 years, high-end carbon fibre road bikes. CyclingTips’ roving reporter Dave Everett visited the Giant factory in Taichung, Taiwan to find out what goes into the company’s carbon frames and to learn a bit more about the Giant story.

I’m pretty sure I know where the name “Giant” came from. This is the first thought that pops into my head as I drive up to the gates of Giant’s factory in Taichung. The complex is immense — it’s that big that it has its own water tower , which has been freshly painted with bright blue racing strips and the Giant logo.

Giant is one of the main players when it comes to producing bikes, not just under its own brand name but for many of the other major bike brands as well. Giant can currently call itself the number-one producer in the bike assembly world and standing outside the gates of their Taichung factory it’s hard to see how any other manufacture could compete against this. The factory is the size of a village.

The visionary behind the brand is Mr King Liu who, back in 1972, started producing steel frames for the Taiwanese market. Unfortunately King Liu wasn’t in on the day I visited — he’d just finished a 12-day cycling tour of Taiwan despite being over 80 years old. His face was still one of the first things I spotted as I walked into Giant’s head office though, situated in a seven-story building on site.

A brief history

Giant is one of the major players in carbon production today and the company’s plant in Taichung, known as the C-Tech factory, is state of the art. History shows that Giant was beaten to the market by American firm Kestrel when it came to the first fully carbon frame , but in 1987 Giant were the first company to market with a mass production carbon frameset: the Cadex 980 C .

Come the following year and Giant spread its wings. The first order of frames for Europe came from the Netherlands. With a rapid expansion new facilities were soon needed and in 1992 Giant opened up its first Chinese base. Today Giant owns and operates a total of six factories in China and nine worldwide.

It wasn’t until 1997 that Giant eventually moved into sponsoring a big-name cycling team in the form of Manolo Saiz’s Spanish super-squad ONCE. The sight of the team’s bright yellow (or pink when competing in the Tour de France) kit is a sight from the late ’90s that many cycling fans will remember.

The team rode a controversial (if you worked at the UCI at least) and ground-breaking bike: the TCR . At that stage the pro-issue bikes were still made of alloy and it wouldn’t be until 2003 that the TCR was produced in carbon. Later incarnations of the frame, the TCR Advanced, would carry T-Mobile riders to victory after Giant managed to lure Walter Godefroot’s German team away from Pinarello.

Since then Giant has sponsored several major teams including HTC-Highroad, Rabobank through to Blanco and now the Giant-Alpecin squad.

Brandon Chou, my guide for the afternoon, told me that the compact road design was developed by Mike Burrows , the designer behind the bike ridden by Chris Boardman on his way to winning the 4000m pursuit at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Giant then employed Burrows to develop an all-new road bike design, influenced by MTB frame design.

“We were surprised to find out that a compact road design provided several advantages,” Brandon told me. “It was lighter, stiffer and even faster [when compared with] traditional frames.”

Further expansions

In 2008 Giant created its women’s-only brand Liv and the company also has its Momentum line , a separate brand catering to the town bike market which, I’ve been told, is a hit in China.

A sub-division of the Momentum line is YouBike . These bikes are for the bike share schemes in Taipei, Taichung and Changhua. Giant designed and built 10,000 of these bright orange bikes which are easy to spot in a city filled with scooters that the locals dash about on. I’m told Giant were also consulting partners with London’s “Boris Bikes” bike share scheme.

Giant’s design and marketing is taken care of out of an office in California which makes sense when you realise 25% of Giant’s market is in the US. Unsurprisingly China is the company’s largest market with 28% of its products sold there, while Australia accounts for 7%. The remaining 40% is spread throughout Europe and the rest of the world. Worldwide, Giant has no fewer than 11,125 dealers and the company’s annual turnover for 2013 was a staggering US$1.8 billion .

Into the factory

I’m guided out of the office and across the parking lot where Brandon waves to two security guards. They let us pass into the entrance and the factory’s main loading area. While walking past racks upon racks of carbon and alloy frames Brandon points out that he’ll let me know where I can take pictures. A lot of the areas here are off-limits — the processes they have in place are to be kept confidential.

The sheer scale of the place is something that, even wandering around, you can’t quite grasp. The whole plant covers 67,000 square meters — about the same amount of space as nine football pitches. Obviously one of my first questions is: how many bikes are produced here in a year? So far I’ve passed more racks of bikes than I’ll likely see in the rest of my lifetime.

The answer is a staggering one million a year, or 6.3 million across all of Giant’s nine factories worldwide. It makes me think that the popular Katie Melua song with the line “There are 9 million bicycles in Beijing” mightn’t be too far off the mark. Apparently one million Giant ATX bikes were sold last year alone.

Here in the Taiwan factory they produce frames not just under the Giant name but under many other brand names as well. While wandering around I eagerly spot several top-tier brands — brands from Italy, America and Switzerland are sat alongside Giant Propels and TCR framesets, all having rolled off the same production line.

The factory in Taichung is where Giant produces its high-end carbon frames. In China they have a second factory that makes the more affordable frames. With the number of Propels lined up on the steel racks here it slightly blunts the feeling of exclusivity you get when looking at one solitary Propel in your local bike shop.

Giant is able to churn out 500 carbon bikes a day, 70% of which are Giant’s own designs: Propels, TCRs and the company’s top-end mountain bike, the Anthem Advanced. The remaining 30% of frames they make are for their customers; the international players. This is only 10% of the whole factory’s output — a total of 3,500 bikes are made here daily.

Carbon sheeting

Like with my SRAM factory visit there are areas of the Giant factory that are off-limits to the visiting press. The main area is where they produce the rolls of carbon sheeting. Behind closed doors threads that are not produced by Giant are weaved together (see image below). These are then pre-impregnated with Giant’s own resin formula.

Giant wouldn’t reveal whether the company’s procedure for making carbon sheeting is any different from any other brand, but the fact that so many large and prestigious brands choose to go with Giant as their production partner must mean they are doing something right.

The only secret Brandon let me in on is the fact it’s not the carbon sheeting they like to keep quiet but rather it’s the make-up of their resin. Giant developed the resin with a chemicals partner that they have to keep secret for fear of other brands partnering with said company. It’s all very hush hush.

I’m told that each roll of carbon that Giant produces has a shelf-life of one month. If it isn’t used in this time it’s scrapped. Like any carbon it needs to be kept cold for best performance and the freezer here chills the carbon to -20 degrees Celsius. Before production the carbon needs eight hours to thaw before being sent for hand cutting.

My tour of the carbon facility is pretty limited; instead I’m shown how they turn this carbon sheeting into the frames and components we all recognise.

Building a frame

Through a large window I peer at multiple rows of women all decked out in clothing more suited to an operating theatre than a bike factory. They each sit concentrating on small sections of what will eventually turn out to be a frameset. It’s pointed out to me that this work is intricate and that they find women best suited to this work.

I’m told that they’ve found that women tend to be more patient and can focus on a singular job better than the guys. It’s a recurring theme that I’ve seen at many factories. Blokes apparently aren’t patient enough — we let our brains wander and our big, cumbersome hands tend to fumble. (The paint shop is another domain where you’ll only see women.)

In front of each of the workers sits a tray with small sheets of carbon cut out into different shapes. Each of these shapes must be placed in a correct order and in the exact spot they are needed. It’s a process that takes the staff up to three months to learn. Lay a sheet a few millimetres in the wrong direction or in the incorrect order and the characteristics and integrity of the frame may be compromised.

Each tray holds numerous pieces of carbon. Once these pieces have been placed and smoothed out with the aid of a hot air gun, they are racked up for the next person to apply their eight sheets of carbon. Between six and eight trays are needed for each frame.

Industrial sized hair dryers are used to soften up the carbon layers to lay them smoothly on to the previous layer and to allow the resin to become tacky enough to attach the next piece. The shaping of the tubes is formed over plastic rods with a plastic bag between the tube and the first carbon layer. This bag is left in place for the next step in the moulding process.

As many as 300,000 pieces of carbon can be used in any one day with each frame taking anywhere between 300 and 400 individual pieces. One frame takes a total of 18 hours to produce and goes through 32 different pairs of hands before it’s ready to leave for painting. In this time it’ll undergo 14 quality checks.

One item that is checked particularly rigorously is forks. I’m told that every fork must be made to 100% perfection. On a frame small wrinkles in carbon layup can be doctored but with a fork every piece must reach an extremely high standard. If even the slightest defect is observed in an X-ray machine then the fork is discarded.

Of the 2,000 staff here it’s the old pros of the factory that get to make the real cool stuff. Only the staff who have been at Giant long enough to acquire the skills are allowed to build the top-end Propels.

The climate-controlled room where the lay-up process happens is situated within one of the main factory units, yet it’s like its own self-contained environment. Everything is monitored: humidity, air pressure, temperature, air flow and the particles floating in the air. A computer monitors all of this 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Alarms sound if problems arise.

All around the oasis that is the calm carbon lay-up rooms people are busying themselves on machines that have clearly been churning out bike parts in staggering numbers for years and years. The paint on the machines has been worn away and replaced with a layer of factory dust.

It’s here that the moulding takes place. The carbon pieces are precisely placed into steel moulds and then clamped with the secondary top mould . Each mould is a CNC-machined steel plate for a different piece of the bike, from the seatstays through to the bottom bracket. Each of these moulds is for a single size of bike. These are then placed into an oven where they are baked while 16kg per square cm of pressure is forced into the plastic bags to inflate the carbon and force it in to the mould’s shape.

Piecing it all together

The assembly line for Giant’s alloy frames looks just like a car production plant but on a smaller scale. A long conveyor belt slowly slides the frames along to different members of staff who mount a single part, be it a rear mech hanger or a stem. This is all timed to perfection — a calculated 37 seconds is allowed for each job.

At one section of the main assembly conveyor belt wheels slowly descend from above off yet another conveyor belt that looks like it runs from a separate part of the factory. It strikes me that there are whole areas of the factory I’ve not seen yet, where people are rapidly putting tyres and tubes on to these wheels, probably within 37 seconds as well.

The whole unit I’m in has bikes hanging in the air in various states of completion, all of them swinging this way and that. At the end of the conveyor belt a bike is placed in a cardboard box, again in 37 seconds, and sent off up a steep ramp to a warehouse.

The warehousing is monstrous but it too is off limits with the camera. I stand there trying to count the pallets of bikes. I work out that each pallet holds six bikes and that the single section I manage to take in before I’m whisked away is 15 pallets long by 10 pallets high. How deep it goes I’ll never find out.

Trucks wait with their containers slowly being crammed full of new bikes.

I drove away from Giant’s Taichung factory with many thoughts about my visit, not least just how impressive and streamlined frame production can be. Giant has more than 42 years of experience and history behind it, and the company is a market leader at least in part because of the efficiency it has in place here and at its other facilities.

Sure, it might not be driven by the same sort of passion you’d find from a small bespoke brand but the passion is definitely present. It’s just hidden away behind the sound of heavy machinery and multiple lorries taking shiny new bikes to millions of happy new owners.

CyclingTips would like to say thanks to Giant Australia for helping to organise the factory tour. An early version of this article suggested that Mike Burrows still works at Giant and that the Taichung factory’s daily output is 5,000 bikes, not 3,500.

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