The beginning
It all started back in 1980, when George Lin, a Taiwanese entrepreneur, established Pacific Cycles as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) with an investment of $200,000. Now, Pacific Cycles is more than just another bicycle design and manufacturing company, but a leader in an industry that’s rapidly growing.
After working as only an OEM for quite some time, Pacific Cycles started using AutoCad as part of their design process, seamlessly evolving into ODM (Original Design Manufacturer) phase. With the accumulating experience Pacific Cycles worked with Riese und Müller to design their first folding bike, the BIRDY. It was this bike that kicked things off for the company, and without it, Pacific Cycles wouldn’t be where they are today. The BIRDY bike was the first 18”, fully suspended folding bike manufactured by Pacific Cycles, and it is still one of their best selling models.
A few years later, in 1998, the first CNC – automated machining tool – was set up, which allowed prototyping to be done faster, and the entire process started moving along a lot more quickly. The next release wasthe CARRYME, a micro-folding bicycle that was designed by George Lin himself.
The Pacific Cycles mission
With today’s technological advancements, it’s not difficult to assume that just about anyone can make a bicycle. But Pacific Cycles are about a lot more than just making bicycles. It’s about designing bikes that are for everyone, which is why you have models like the HANDY Foldable, a folding tricycle, and the MICAH, designed for cerebral palsy patients. It’s about enjoying while you’re riding those bikes, and having fun while you go out on your daily commute.
It takes a lot of forward thinking, patience, and testing to be able to do what Pacific Cycles does. This means that to create products like they have, you need to have not only a love for bikes, but a love for solving problems.
The Section Zero division
Initially begun as a research and development center, the Section Zero division is the in-house creative design and studio. As a brand that has been recognized as a leader in the foldable bikes industry, Pacific Cycles develops incredible designs, both under the Pacific Cycles name, and as an original design manufacturer (ODM). And along the way, the company maintained direction of producing creative designs that solve problems, rather than following trends.
These designs come from the Section Zero design studio, comprised of designers and engineers with unique skills to bring to the table. These are cycling enthusiasts who have experience with every aspect of cycling, from designing and manufacturing, to buying the bikes and representing the market itself. All the designs they make are the product of the selfless love for cycling, and their wish to make cycling efficient and practical for everyone.
Innovation is key
With the focus on connecting people between their home, office, and mass transit, Pacific Cycles strives to make folding bikes easier to buy, use, and transport. This is why the IF MODE, a 2007 design that folds very quickly, won the Industrie Forum Award Gold two years later, for Product Design. In 2008, it also won a Eurobike Award, as well as several other prestigious design awards. It’s a bike that’s innovative in every way possible, from the folding mechanism, to the components used and how they’re set up.
The Pacific Cycles Museum
Certified as a Tourism Factory by Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs, Pacific Cycles’s old office building was turned into the Pacific Cycles Museum in 2010. Now, it is located in the new manufacturing facility, and is a museum dedicated to the entire history of the brand, spanning its impressive 40 years.
The museum is home to over 8,000 visitors from around the world each year, and inside you will find a collection of vintage bikes, such as classic European bicycles that are manufactured pre- WWI, as well as old Taiwanese mail bikes, and America cruiser bikes. You can also see over 150 different bike designs Pacific Cycles has developed over the past 40 years.
The new BIRDY P40
As a celebration of the 40th anniversary of Pacific Cycles, a new BIRDY folding bike will be released soon. The BIRDY P40 is an evolution of design, bringing customized changes to the bike everyone knows and loves, and is a direct link to the beginning of Pacific Cycles’s journey.