We've been scouring the halls of Taipei Cycle for unusual bikes and here are four that are well outside the mainstream...
Yes Bike
What do you first notice about the Yes Bike? No chain, right? So it's a shaft drive? Well sort of, It’s actually an electric bike featuring Protanium’s shaft motor – the driveside chainstay (if you can call it a chainstay when there’s no chain). The motor housing is made of carbon, the batteries are hidden in the saddle, and hardly any cables are visible.
The frame is carbon-fibre with a layer of Kevlar to add extra strength.
Illume
This bike is called the Illume and it’s a design from India. It uses a lithium-ion battery and an actuator that transforms kinetic energy into electrical energy. You get a front light (with full beam and dip) and a brake light...
...and those lights on the chainstays and the ends of the handlebar are indicators.
The strange metal parts on the grips take an ECG reading that can be displayed on a computer.
Ameco SPF 1500 single pivot folding bike
The SPF1500 is a single-pivot folding bike with a one-touch operation.
A locking device and declined hinge are integrated into the frame.
As you can see, it comes with a monoblade fork and an enclosed drivetrain.
ORi Surpaz CR1.1
The Surpaz CR 1.1 is another folding bike, this time from ORi and designed by Jon Whyte (the designer behind Whyte Bikes, not surprisingly).
It’s built around a carbon frame and fork and is built up with a Shimano Ultegra Di2 electronic groupset. Those are 20in wheels on there.
Mat has worked for loads of bike magazines over 20+ years, and been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. He's been road.cc technical editor for eight years, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. We send him off around the world to get all the news from launches and shows too. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a past winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer.