Made to measure
Taiwan's bike makers began as contract suppliers, mainly building low-priced, high-volume models. Chang Sheng-kai took another route, aiming for the global market for high-end racing bikes.
Within the fine division of labor in bike manufacturing, Chang Sheng-kai designs and makes the bicycle frame, adding wheels, pedals, and other parts according to customers' needs. Many of the raw materials and parts for CSK bikes are imported from Europe. As the cutting, aligning, spray painting, and detail painting are all done by hand, and Chang himself supervises production, he can do his best to ensure high quality in every bicycle.
As a former competitive cyclist, Chang is very knowledgeable about the many special needs of professionals and enthusiasts. He says, "CSK can tailor a bike to their individual situation and produce a hand-made, limited-quantity, high-quality bike for them. That is what sets us apart from companies that mass-produce bikes."
Due to their particular nature, bikes used in competition will have a variety of demands in terms of parts and materials. For example, because the terrain and the road surface often vary greatly in long-distance road racing, bike makers use shock-absorbing carbon fiber for the frame. On the other hand, for speed competition on even track surfaces, manufacturers are concerned mostly with the frame's aerodynamics. In this situation, the smoother and more streamlined the surface of the bike frame, the less it will be affected by wind resistance. In designing a mountain bike, aside from light weight, one must also consider the relative pliability and resilience of the frame to make a bike that is suitable for offroad climbing.
Even more unusual is that CSK provides custom painting services. One company manager, for example, ordered a bike with his wife's name on it as a wedding present. Others include a "strawberry bike" for the Strawberry Festival in Tahsi, and a bike featuring the lead character in the Swordsman movies. Some people may see these bikes as rather cheesy, but they are in fact the result of Chang's imaginative thinking.
Even the White House has taken notice of CSK's professional quality and custom art service. The head of White House security made a special order from CSK for four mountain bikes painted with the stars and stripes, and they are now used by members of George W. Bush's security detail on the president's exercise outings.
Since its detailed craftsmanship cannot be adapted to an assembly line, CSK's strategy is to produce small numbers of top-quality products, demanding the highest quality in every process, including welding, aligning, painting, and firing the frames. Because of this, the company's annual production is less than 1,000 bikes per year, and with prices ranging from NT$30,000 to NT$400,000, it is at the very top of the market for high-end bikes. Currently 95% of orders are from abroad, and CSK has sold to customers in 15 countries, with more than 50 retail sales outlets in the US alone. Currently the company's annual sales revenue is about NT$20 million.
Currently most of CSK's customers are professional cyclists and company bosses. Chang freely admits that not everyone can pay hundreds of thousands of NT dollars for a high-end bike, but for well-off cycling enthusiasts, this kind of tailor-made, high-quality, personalized bike holds a unique attraction in an era of mass production.
Taiwan cyclist Lin Chih-hsun rode a CSK bike to first place at the Asian Games in Busan, Korea in 2002.