The particles are there. People get cancer.

I guess. Kinda becomes a question of choosing between cancer and a dorky face mask.

…for some reason I feel more comfortable taking my chances with cancer lol.

I wouldn’t call it luck. If a girl wouldn’t like riding, she wouldn’t be with me, hehe.

I kinda look at it from a compromise perspective. I’m never going to enjoy taking 50,000 photos everytime we go out somewhere so I don’t mind too much if the girl I’m with doesn’t enjoy all my interests .

Also, I like not having black yuck all over my face when I get to a restaurant (unfortunately also an argument for MRT over bike).

I’ve only been riding a scooter for about a month but I’ve yet to experience this. Maybe my tan hides it but I’ve yet to feel yuck after a scooter ride in Taipei.

As for the cost, seriously, how much money are we talking here? 1000 NT per month instead of 700 or something? And you don’t even include the price of a scooter and insurance in your calculation.

I travel a fair bit for the blog and to sightsee so MRT rides all add up. Meanwhile I can get 150-180kms off a single scooter tank which is about 120-150NT to fill up.

Insurance is a couple of grand a year and yeah the scooter price initially trumps the MRT price wise but if you look after it you should get years out of it. Also I don’t put a price on convenience. Being able to whizz around any time of the day is a huge part of my functional lifestyle equation.

I wouldn’t call it luck. If a girl wouldn’t like riding, she wouldn’t be with me, hehe.

I ride a bike because I care for the environment and my fellow human beings. Thus, a scooter is not an option. Also, I like not having black yuck all over my face when I get to a restaurant (unfortunately also an argument for MRT over bike). As for the cost, seriously, how much money are we talking here? 1000 NT per month instead of 700 or something? And you don’t even include the price of a scooter and insurance in your calculation.

Does the low top bar have much affect on the handling? I’m assuming you need to be a little more cautious in riding a folder vs. a full sized bike, ie. no leaning turns or anything.

I agree on all points. The one thing you missed though is that the air quality ruins it all in the cities. You just inhale so much bad stuff it’s incredible

I actually haven’t found Taiwan’s air quality ot be that much of a problem. It can get a bit bad if you’re near an MRT and wedged between a ton of buses at the lights but in general it’s pretty decent. I haven’t felt the need to don a mask yet whilst getting around.

The girl argument isn’t a problem for me though. My wife likes to ride her bike

Lucky you! Every girl I’ve told I ride a bicycle has either shown complete disinterest in anything excercise related or treated it as something you do once a month as a cute hobby or something.

If you live in Taipei a scooter is redundant. Just ride the MRT or the bus.

I’ve found both of these to be more expensive then petrol for a scooter and nowhere near as much fun . I know most people think it’s mayhem but I love mixing it up with Taipei’s traffic.

If you have a shower at work there’s no problem on that part. Parking is no problem if you ride a folder to work. I don’t see why being 6’1″ is a problem, I’m 6″ and I ride a folder.

For me the big problem is the leisure rides. They don’t have a shower at restaurants And I think bringing a folder inside isn’t that welcome. The girl argument isn’t a problem for me though. My wife likes to ride her bike

If you live in Taipei a scooter is redundant. Just ride the MRT or the bus.

For an MRT you have two options, you can buy a shitty bike and leave it at the required station

For me this kinda sucks the fun out of cycling though. Part of the reason I cycle is because I love riding my Long Haul Trucker. I’m one of those people who’s hugely picky about what bike I ride. I can never enjoy riding a hire bike because in the back of my my mind I’m always comparing it to riding the Trucker .

or you can buy a top quality folder

I’ve been quite surprised with the popularity of folder bikes here, particularly those willing to tour with them! They’re not much more then a novelty back in Australia but people seem to have made them functional here.

Anyway, coming in at 6ft 1″ I don’t think a folding bike is for me!

As for the lock. It doesn’t matter what you use. Some of these guys use liquid nitrogen to crack locks (if the bike is worth it.)

Yeah true, if they want it they’ll take it. Still, in most cases the fahghettaboutit means it’s often easier for them to cut whatever it’s locked to rather then go after the lock itself (or keep looking for another less secured bike, which is the idea).

As for the lock. It doesn’t matter what you use. Some of these guys use liquid nitrogen to crack locks (if the bike is worth it.)

Best to ask the boss for somewhere safe inside to store it.

I see no need for bicycle lanes when I can use (and am accepted in) motorbike lanes and boxes. All these motorbikes make the road safer for me: they train cars to look for little things on the right.

Heat is the killer. Chronic heat exhaustion is absolutely no fun (and bad for my marriage). So, I built an e-bike. This ensures that I can get to class on time and not too sweaty. It ensures I can get home. It also helps keep me from getting too sweaty inside my rain gear.

On the HSR or train, I will wipe off (aka teacup bath) in the bathroom before changing my shirt. At schools, I can wipe the grit off my face, arms, & legs at the sink near the gate or near parking. Schools usually have a place nearby willing to refill my water bottle with cold passion fruit green tea.

As for carrying things (like a friend, raingear, extra water, potted plants), get a long bike or add a tail (xtracycle.com). This, by the way, is likely to make your bike less interesting to thieves (and other bikers), who seem to prefer the latest in carbon fiber.

I do admit to parking inside compounds, to keeping an eye on my bike when parking it on the street, and to avoiding supermarkets like Costco (precisely because of parking). Often, I will use two locks: cable for bike to post and motorbike lock for bike to bike’s rear wheel (this last is ‘hidden’ from view).

Parking is the biggest problem because in the city, if you leave a half-decent bike outside on a regular basis(even if it is chained to a post) it will get stolen.

Yeah this is my biggest concern, more then the heat and what not. My Long Haul Trucker isn’t bling by any means but it does stand out a bit (mostly because it’s not a Giant racer). Lockwise I’ve got a Kryptonite NY Fahghettabout it (virtually bomb proof) but nowhere to lock it to!

That and the lock is designed on the smaller side to go around bike parking structures specifically. In the event I do find a pole to lock it too, for some reason in Taiwan the poles are mostly larger and don’t fit inside the lock .

The first one involved a mountain road, the second an MRT ride before switching to the riverside park path and now it’s just a straight ride down the river.

The trick is to find a quiet route, but it may not necessarily be the quickest. But I suppose I was lucky as all the places I’ve worked at have had a shower.

Parking is the biggest problem because in the city, if you leave a half-decent bike outside on a regular basis(even if it is chained to a post) it will get stolen. As my old roomie found out to his horror (on several occasions.)

that is the wierdest way of counting to six i have ever seen!

Ah crap. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why you don’t proofread at stupid hours of the morning . Thanks for catching it Susie. I just got back from a weekend trip, kinda embarassed it was like that all weekend!

@Steven Crook

I agree with most of your points, but not all. Down here in Tainan there are more and more bike parking places (where you lock your back wheel to a something solid set in the sidewalk) and the city’s newish cycle lane goes most of the way around the city – it could be good for commuters.

I’m not too familiar with Tainan but it sounds a bit like Taipei. In some areas you’ve got fixed anchors popping up but by and large the unsecured painted parking spots are still dominant.

How big is Tainan? Awesome that you guys have a new cycle lane but you make it sound like there’s just one … if it’s big enough a to encompass the city I’m thinking Tainans not too big. On the flipside I guess it’s even more impressive that it’s seems to be leaps and bounds over the rest of Taiwan cycle wise.

The rest of us have to put up with sharing scooter lanes!

As for shower facilities, it seems the larger companies in Tainan Science Park have them

That sounds alright, at least somewhere has them. Is Tainan’s science park completely out of the way like the rest of Taiwan’s science parks seem to be?

I’ve often thought if I ended up working in one that their isolation would eventually get to me. No different to other industrial areas I guess but they completely lack the atmosphere of the rest of Taiwan. Stale is an understatement.

Also, down south the weather is more reliably dry – in other words, it hardly rains between October and April.

Lucky Tainan! Out of curiosity what’s the humidity like? For me it’s not just the heat alone but the combination of sticky air and the heat. If it was the heat alone I’d probably just harden up and deal with it.

That said, I’ve only managed to replace one scooter round-trip a week with a bike ride. Total 16km.

Any particular reason you only make the one trip? Or has laziness got the better of you too?

As for shower facilities, it seems the larger companies in Tainan Science Park have them, so some people do cycle to work, shower and then get down to the day’s business. Also, down south the weather is more reliably dry – in other words, it hardly rains between October and April.

That said, I’ve only managed to replace one scooter round-trip a week with a bike ride. Total 16km.