Since vintage bikes have completely taken over my heart, I have met a few collectors with impressive collections near Lyon, Marseille, and Singapore.
Do you know what the common points of all these collections are?
None.
Except for the passion for bikes, all these collections are unique because every collector is unique. Through meeting and speaking with these people, I have realized that a collection is not any particular number of bikes, nor a materialistic pursuit. No, it is something deeper and stronger.
This is the mirror of their souls.
From Lino's collection in Cavaillon, with more than 60 years of bikes and outfits kept since his 13th birthday, to the Velo Container collection in Lyon, which represents a very original selection of European bikes done in more than 10 years of travel in Europe and around the globe. Bike collections are all motivated by different reasons and are truly the mirror of a single person's life: the collector.
In Singapore in 2019, I was talking with some of Singapore's most passionate vintage bike collectors, including CK, Brian Chan, and Vincent Lee, when I heard about a passionate guy who had a collection of hundreds of bikes located in Taiwan.
After a few rounds of research, I came into contact with Asahi Chang, and despite the linguistic differences (Chinese/French), we set up a meeting in 2020. It almost failed due to the COVID-19 crisis.
On 10 March, I took a train from Taipei's main station to a meeting point at the Beitou station, just north of Taipei proper. Chang was waiting. I jumped in the car, and this short but amazing afternoon began.
The origins of an astounding collection
A bit of history first.
Asahi Chang began collecting bikes in 1976. His first bike was a KHS Professional, acquired in his first year of high school. During this period of his life, Chang practiced Keirin alongside baseball as a high school sport. The Keirin practice took place at the Hsinchu Velodrome near Taipei in Taiwan. Chang had the opportunity to ride track bikes from several prestigious brands, including Katakura, Gios, KHS, Colnago & Nagasawa. Then Chang moved from Taiwan to Japan, entered the university, and returned to Taiwan, where he is living and working. He currently lives in Taipei; his collection is split between his own house and a basement storage facility that he calls B1.
Throughout his life, Chang has built relationships with people who share the same passion in Taiwan, Japan, and Europe, especially Italy. This network – for example, an aunt in Italy – allows him to buy and collect the rarest bicycles all over the world. Chang currently has 737 bicycles or frames between 205 different brands: enough to ride one different bike every day for two years! This is a lifetime collection, spanning the 20th and 21st centuries, with the oldest bike being an A. Bates from 1937.
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