Bangkok--29 May--Taiwan Trade Center
Pacific Cycles, Taiwan’s third-largest bicycle maker, is winning increasing recognition at home and abroad for its innovative bicycle designs.
The company has won the 2009 Taiwan Excellence Silver Award and the iF Product Design 2009 Gold Award for its IF Mode bicycle. The iF awards, presented by iF Industrie Forum Design e.V. of Germany, are among the most coveted prizes in global design circles. The bicycle also won a Eurobike Award in 2008.
“This folding bike from Pacific Cycles also functions as a high-class city bike which can be brought into highly compact form in just a few easy steps,” the iF product design award jurors said. “This represents a variable functionality which is required of today’s city bike. It could become an ideal supplementary transport medium to help relieve congested downtown areas.”
The IF Mode is designed for commuters who may not have considered cycling or folding bikes as an option. The concept behind the IF Mode is simple: two wheels with a handle that can be rolled along after the bike is folded. The bicycle has no oily chains, complex tubes with hidden dirt traps or the clutter of traditional bikes.
The bicycle can be used by commuters who do not want to look like road warriors. The bicycle features Pacific Cycle’s IF (Integrated Folding) technology that folds the bike with a single-action that requires no tools or removal of parts. IF technology is based on a patented three-dimensional four-bar linkage that automatically guides the wheels together when folding.
The annual Taiwan Excellence awards are decided by a panel of international judges to honor Taiwan’s most innovative products. The judging criteria include R&D, design, quality and market and brand awareness. Pacific Cycles's IF Mode entered the 30 finalists to win a Silver Award in this first time for the company to enter the Taiwan Excellence Awards competition.
“We are very proud this is our third award IF Mode has received,” Pacific Chief Design Engineer Ryan Carroll said.
The following YouTube link shows how easily the IF Mode bike works: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BD2lFgMfh2k
Pacific considers itself not only a bicycle factory but as a workshop for international designers. With a staff of 100 people, 20 of whom are engineers, Pacific aims to foster long term relationships with its customers. Pacific welcomes its customers’ new ideas and hopes to bring their bicycle dreams and visions to life.
This is how Pacific has created a unique business strategy to provide a powerful R&D platform for over 40 famous brands worldwide and a factory that specializes in top-quality products for niche markets.
Pacific believes that one of the most effective solutions to today’s increasingly serious global problems — oil shortages, rising oil prices, economic weakness and declining human health — is simply to ride a bike whenever possible. Pacific urges that the use of multi-mode transportation is a realistic way to ensure a better future for our planet.
Taiwan counts some of the world’s largest bicycle manufacturers as part of an industry infrastructure on the island supplying a wide array of finished bikes, components and accessories. Giant Manufacturing Co. of Taiwan is the world’s largest bicycle maker and Merida Industry Co. is Taiwan’s second-largest bicycle maker.
Taiwan has many more companies in the bicycle industry making everything from helmets and gloves to lights and tires. Maxxis International is a global brand that provides high-quality tires for bikes, cars and nearly every other type of vehicle imaginable.
Taiwan’s bicycle industry leads the world with innovative designs for city bikes as well as folding and trekking bikes, meeting consumer needs to offset the higher cost of driving, become healthier and care for the environment.