Bikes & More 13th Intl Bicycle Design Competition

The Taipei Int’l Cycle Show is more than just another trade show. It’s a social movement and campaign which has the organizer staging multiple events, including the 13th Int’l Bicycle Design Competition (IBDC). The Cycling & Health Tech Industry R&D Center (CHC) in Taiwan is the long time organiser of the IBDC competition.

An international jury of nine design and bicycle experts evaluates the designs that qualified for the finals of the 13th International Bicycle Design Competition, the world famous IBDC. The top 3 prize winners are awarded at a special ceremony during Taipei Cycle. From the start in 1996 the IBDC has always been an international bicycle design contest.

Since 1996 there have been 9652 entries from 86 countries competing in IBDC, each of them have participated in inducing international bicycle trend and revitalizing the life of bicycle industry. The mission of IBDC is set to cultivate creative designers and encourage them to reach their full potential. Last year for the first time since its founding a Taiwanese entry was awarded with the Grand Prize. It was the Sunny Day electric folding bike from bike enthusiast and an aeronautical engineer, Larry Chen.

In the 13th IBDC, there were 938 entries registered from 55 countries, of which 21 finalists were selected in August 2008. The competition offers a prize of $500,000 NTD and rankings of the competition will be announced during award ceremony on 17th, March, 2009.

The excellent works that entered the final round are from all over the world including Romania, Columbia, India, Thailand, Slovakia, China, Germany and Taiwan. Looking on the designs of this year’s finalists’, most have answered to the needs of cutting carbon dioxide emission. Apart from public-scheme bicycles, or light folding bikes that can be used with public transports, there are also designs that has transformed a simple mobility tool into a new form of complex vehicle that focus on multiple functionalities. It is not difficult to see that bicycles are no longer just a mean of transportation; the extra practical and entertaining elements bring about many unexpected but pleasant surprises into our life through the ingenious and creative designs.

Working alongside with the 2009 Taipei International Cycle Show, the IBDC award ceremony will take place on the opening day of the exhibition on Tuesday, 17th March 2009. Bike-related professionals from governments, businesses, and institutes are invited to the event. Winners of the competition will be announced and prize will be awarded in the ceremony.

The organizer will also be holding a bicycle trend forum afterwards, allowing CEOs from world famous bicycle companies to have face-to-face dialogs with the attending guests. We will have Mr. Matthieu FIERLING, a project manager of Velib in Paris of France, to share his views and experiences on public bicycle scheme; Mr. Mark sanders, a famous bicycle designer to discuss the trend of bicycle designs. Please feel free to join the event; we sincerely welcome your participation.