Aaaaand we're "back"!

Author

Francoin Visser
June 12, 2025

Inside info for MTB enthusiasts.

Welcome to the Trail Insider Newsletter! My name is Francoin (yes, with an N at the end), I’m an Industrial Designer in the cycling industry. My work is mostly the design of bicycles, tools and accessories.

TI is a newsletter for Mountain bike/Trail bike enthusiast who want to improve their riding, share ideas/tips about bike setup, maintenance and inside news in a global community of fellow riders.

What’s inside this week:
1. Just a quick recap.

Hey readers, sorry for the gap in your MTB insider news. I was on a sabbatical traveling through Europe with my family for 2 months and also went to China for the Shanghai Cycle show and to see our factories and suppliers.

I plan to show and tell a bit about the Shanghai Cycle show and to give you some idea of what goes into visiting China for my work.

Did I get to ride in Europe or China?

This is one of the first questions I get asked by fellow riders. My wife went to school in Switzerland, and so she knows plenty of people there still, and that meant that I was invited for a ride by Peter - a Santa Cruz rider from Liestal. He had his wife’s older medium Trek 26” hardtail XC race bike with 2” tyres for me to ride. Plastic platforms and tekkies, 3×9 setup. This is quite a departure from my normal rides, but was still a very enjoyable outing. Peter showed me around the mountains with views to Germany and France.

Germany…if you know where to look.

Yes, that’s a 26 × 2”

The pedals that you don’t want to ride.

France…Also viewed from Switzerland.

Peter luckily had to take a call, this gave me time to catch my breath.

This is how blurry everything looked. Not a camera trick.

Then in Denmark Stiaan, one of my friends that moved there 3 years ago was a super host and put me on an Orbea Occam and took me on a guided tour of their trail network. A catch-up and a ride, what a treat!
In China sadly I only play around on prototype bikes in the parking lot outside factories and the cycle show.

Stiaan telling me about the history of the islands from the only vantage point in Denmark.

This is a terrible photo, you should have been there. But seriously, Spring in Denmark was next level beautiful.

China…

For this mailer I’ll just do a bit of a photobomb of the China trip and over the next few mailers I’ll go into a bit more bike details that I saw at the show.

This sums up a China trip.

The Shanghai cycle show is a massive exhibition spanning eight halls, where brands and suppliers showcase their products and abilities to engage distributors and consumers. 

We attend this show yearly to strengthen relationships with our suppliers and to build new relationships.

I do love Shanghai.

Supplier dinners are a joyous affair.

Crispy duck’s face.

Jelly Fish… never again. Thank you.

A two story tall dog statue looking at a painted cat.

Tsingtao - yes please!

Breakfast for a 16000 step day.

Familiar looking products all around. Same same, but different.

Profound. Motivational. I feel inspired.

How’s this for a kid’s bike!?! I was riding an Avalanche till my first year studying.

Pretty cool to see one of my frame designs on the show floor.

Go ahead and jump.

Titanium. Take my money.

When Flan A fails…

Wild. But check the creation in the back. Someone was very drunk when that idea came about.

I’ve never needed a Titanium axle so bad.

It’s not just me right - that logo looks familiar.

The carbon factory we use does not allow photos in the manufacturing areas, so this is all I could take.
Where the magic happens. Some of the best frames in the world - name your brands, are hanging here in this room.

Nicest wall of the trip.

This was literally just a photo dump of the Shanghai trip. Still have to find my writing legs again. Hopefully by the next mailer I’ll be up to speed again with quality writing.

If you have any questions about China, please let me know and I’ll gladly give a bit more insight.

Are you enjoying the newsletters and have you learnt anything from them? If so, please let me know - it’s a bit like being a radio DJ. I send them off and get very little in terms of feedback.

About the author:
Hello, I’m Francoin, an Industrial Designer in the cycling industry based in Somerset West, South Africa.

Tools, lights, accessories and bicycle design is my daily graft.

This newsletter is to share some of the experience & industry insight that I pick up along the way, with fellow cyclists. If you are new to the sport, or been riding for many years, I plan to give you something of interest in every edition.

Thanks for subscribing and Happy trails!

FV

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