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A common refrain about road and gravel bikes is that they’re all becoming the same, there are always ways to stand out of the crowd without the cost of a fully custom frame or paint job — or to complement those if you already have them!
The Taipei Cycle Show is teeming with cool bits of bike gear, much of which you won’t find at other leading cycling trade shows like Sea Otter or Eurobike.
Here’s some of the best bike bling we saw at the 2023 Taipei Cycle Show to take your ride to the next level.
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Kue-Q CNC Car Stems
For those less concerned with having the stiffest possible stem, or most aero one for that matter, and definitely want the most unique connection possible between handlebar and frame, Kue-Q (pronounced like the letter Q twice in a row) CNC vehicle stems will be right up your alley.
I’m not sure what the spirit of gravel is exactly, but a classic VW van for a stem has to be somewhere in that ballpark.
Recon one-piece cassettes
SRAM, Shimano, and Campagnolo will always tell you to buy their cassettes, (and every part of a groupset down to the disc rotors for that matter) for optimal shifting, but if you want to add some flair to your wheelset, Recon one- piece cassettes are tempting.
The brand machines its cassettes from a single piece of metal to save weight, and offers them in a variety of colors to add some pop to your bike. Gold is an obvious eye-catching option, but there are even colors like blue if you want to go a more non-traditional route.
Recon makes cassettes for the big three groupset brands in a variety of gear ranges, and even for older 11-speed groups.
windner carbon cranks
Windner had intriguing carbon cranks on display with hollow arms. The bonded pieces of carbon are reminiscent of Colnago’s C-series framesets that mold together carbon tubes and junctions.
The brand also brought along carbon shoehorns… why not?
Clarks brake rotors add a pop of color in an unexpected place
There were a few companies around the show displaying colorful disc brake rotors. This is a perfect place to add some color matching to a bike, and livens up a part that is otherwise utilitarian and forgettable.
Clarks had these different rotor options on display.
KMC X11 TT gold/dark blue anodized chain
The oil slick finish on chains and other parts is overdone to the point that you can actually assemble a bike only with oil-slick finish parts.
This KMC X11 TT gold and dark blue/purple anodized chain still provides an interesting visual upgrade over standard chains, but doesn’t scream for attention in the way a full oil-slick finish does.
Aerozine CNC alloy crank arms with titanium chainrings
Aftermarket cranks are often the coolest component upgrades available, and there are quite a few attention-grabbing options out there. For brands making those cranks, that can represent a challenge in trying to stand out from the bunch. Aerozine is well aware of this, and a representative at the show told CyclingTips that the brand’s approach is to “just try to make things different.”
The brand CNC machines alloy crank arms like this X18 model and pairs them with titanium chainrings.
