Who is merida bikes

Lots of it happens in Germany, and luckily we have some great riding on our doorstep. It always depends on the category. But of course, we also have our own expertise and interest in pushing things forward. From road racing, daily commute to downhill racing we have all kinds of cyclists here. On the technical side, we have the advantage of our own factories and engineers in Taiwan.

They always keep us informed about the latest material and production technologies. Because from the production side the methods are very similar. The differences are the loads involved and how the product is used.

So the challenge is to adapt the materials and processes for each category and achieve the perfect balance between weight, durability and appearance. We very much came from a mountain bike background and probably focused more on cross country due to the popularity of the sport in the markets where we operate.

However, things are changing globally, and we are discovering new sectors which, we have lots fun with, such as trail and e-bikes. We had successful attempts in those areas before but we are now more focused, and we have also invested heavily in finding the right people to support that direction. We have been in e-bikes for a while but more on the commuting and leisure side as they have been big for many years in certain markets.

Our concept is very much based on the perfect integration of the motor in an already successful bike concept - rather than just adding a motor - the system has to work as a whole. Even though it is hardly perceived as such by everyday cyclists, Taiwan is undoubtedly the unofficial centre of the worldwide bicycle industry.

Many of the largest manufacturers, who supply many of the bike and component brands we know, are based in Taiwan. We admit it — we used to associate working conditions in the Far East with long, drill-instructor style, exploitative shifts. Just-in-time production, in particular, requires a high level of flexibility from the employees as well as a sense of responsibility and the ability to quickly grasp and manage complex processes.

Under increasing competitive pressure, many Taiwanese manufacturers, including MERIDA, started moving their factories to the Chinese mainland years ago. Long-term cooperation with both its employees and business partners is very important to the Taiwanese manufacturer. William explained it to us during our third cup of Oolong. Empowerment, in this case the transfer of responsibility to the employees and the flat organisational structure is one important pillar.

It allows employees to engage and implement their own ideas, which works best without the strict measurement of one-dimensional performance metrics and by giving each individual room for creativity and action instead. However, it is expected that ideas and input are discussed openly with the staff concerned before making a decision in order to achieve the best possible result. If the managers have a positive attitude, then this has an effect on the entire company.

His statement stands in stark contrast to the hire-and-fire mentality of many American companies. The positive attitude is not only visible during work, but also in the strictly observed breaks, where employees joke around or, just like everyone else in the world, keep themselves busy on their smartphones. Opposite the company premises is a temple, dedicated to the patron god of the country.

We had a very good name in the mountain bike market; we just had to make it in the road market. They just want the bike to be strong, reliable, light, and to perform well and to be ok in the race. We had to get them to trust us; it was not about the money. BA; Your sponsorship of Lampre is still fairly fresh, what noticeable returns have you seen so far?

WJ; The immediate direct impact is that is has become a lot easier for us to push the high end bikes — not just road bikes, MTB too. For example our Italian distributor told us a year ago that before our Lampre sponsorship that they found it very hard to open the door to specialist dealers as they said that they had not seen the brand anywhere, and would not work with us.

Now many of them come and knocked our door asking to carry Merida bikes. In Asia our sales mix had also changed a lot due to this. But for the first year the dealers were not really ready with our high-end models, so it will be next year that we hopefully really see a major increase in sales. Although worldwide bike sales are down, we have increased our market share, and are doing ok. At the moment we have a 3-year commitment to Lampre with another 2-year option. I think that we will be here for the long term.

Is there a co-interest between you in developing Asian riders? WJ; One of our hopes is that it will be an open platform for Asian rider to step up.

The team sponsors are also very aware that Asia is a major emerging market and are targeting accordingly. You must be logged in to post a comment. To use social login you have to agree with the storage and handling of your data by this website.

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