Should more of us travel by bike? Here’s Dave’s take! 🚴🌍

I recently travelled from Brisbane to Taipei and then on to Italy.

It was a family trip. A business trip. And, without really planning it that way, a cycling trip too.

For once, I left my own bike at home.

The journey was just too complicated. Too many flights. Too many moving parts.

But I still found a way to ride. And it reminded me that a bicycle does far more than get you from one place to another.

It changes the way you see a place.

 
Brisbane, From the Saddle

The first stop was Brisbane for my brother’s wedding.

I hadn’t seen my brothers together in a very long time, so the trip already carried more weight than an ordinary holiday.

Pinarello kindly arranged a gravel bike for me through the local distributor.

I rode along the river. Across bridges. Down towards Manly and the harbour. Through quiet suburbs and out beyond the edge of the city.

One morning, I headed towards Mount Glorious and finished with roughly 2,500 metres of climbing over 100 kilometres.

Until then, I had thought Brisbane was fairly flat.

Turns out I had only seen the parts a car had shown me.

Back on the Road Together

I rode almost every day in Brisbane.

Some of it was good training. But that wasn’t the part that stayed with me.

I rode with my brothers. My nephew. My new sister-in-law.

As you can imagine, cycling runs deeply through our family.

My brother and I grew up racing together. We rode the Cycle Tour. We built a shared history around bikes long before any of us thought of cycling as an industry.

Getting back onto the road together felt familiar.

There is something about riding alongside someone that makes conversation easier.

You ride. Talk. You fall quiet for a while. Then you talk again.

By the end, you have covered far more than the route.

Twelve Hours in Taipei

From Brisbane, I flew through Taipei on my way to Italy.

Taipei sits at the centre of the modern bicycle industry and I only had around twelve hours there.

Vanessa, one of our Gear Change team members, is currently based in the city and offered to show me around.

We found a couple of rental bikes.

Basic. A little heavy. Nothing remotely glamorous.

But they were perfect.

We rode a hurried lap of the city and saw more in a few hours than I would have seen from the back of a taxi.

A Return to Italy (and the World of Pinarello)

Italy felt less like arriving somewhere new and more like returning to a part of my life I know well.

You see, I spent a large part of my career there. I still speak Italian. I know the rhythm of the place.

I had a day or two in Milan before heading north.

I walked. People-watched. Visited museums. Saw The Last Supper. Ate pasta. Had gelato.

Then it was on to the annual Pinarello Experience.

 
Inside One of Cycling’s Most Iconic Brands

Each year, Pinarello brings together stores, distributors and partners from around the world.

It’s not a conventional sales conference.

You ride the roads. Meet the people behind the bikes. Spend time with others in the industry. And see how Pinarello’s history, design and Italian roots come together.

Working with bikes at Gear Change day in and out, you realise that most of the cycling industry is experienced at the retail end.

A bicycle arrives in a box. We build it. Fit it. Sell it. Service it.

But behind that bike sits an enormous history and network of people.

Designers. Engineers. Painters. Assemblers. Distributors. Dealers. Athletes. Product teams.

At an event like this, those separate parts suddenly become human.

You meet a dealer from another country and realise they approach the same problem completely differently.

You hear one small comment and it shifts the way you think about a product, a customer or even your own business.

Yes, the bicycle industry is built on technology. But it still moves forward through people.

Riding The  Dogma X

The main bike we rode in Treviso was the Pinarello Dogma X.

It delivers much of the performance riders associate with the Dogma F, but in a position that is easier to hold over longer distances.

The reach is slightly shorter. The front end is a little taller. The overall fit is more accommodating.

But it is still a serious performance bike.

The one I rode weighed around 7.3 kilograms and was equipped with SRAM Red, so there was certainly no shortage of performance.

What really stood out to me was how easy it was to settle into. That’s something that probably matters more than we admit.

Most riders aren’t racing every weekend. They’re riding before work. Spending a few hours out over a weekend, chasing friends up a climb.

A bike that lets you stay comfortable and hold your position for longer will often make you faster anyway.

A Little Perspective From Abroad

Italian cycling has a different character.

The roads carry history. The design is expressive. And performance and craftsmanship seem to sit naturally alongside one another.

Around Treviso and Monte Grappa, it becomes easier to understand where Pinarello’s personality comes from.

But travelling also reminds you what we have at home.

Cape Town remains one of the best places in the world to ride.

Chapman’s Peak before work. Suikerbossie. Table Mountain. Tokai. Road, gravel, trails and coastline, all within reach.

Sometimes you need to leave home to remember how good home really is.

 
So, Should You Travel Without Your Bike?

It depends. I would still take my own bike when it makes sense.

But on a trip with several flights and stops, renting or borrowing one can be far simpler and equally enjoyable.

Take the personal things like your helmet, shoes, pedals, kit. Then use Strava, speak to a local shop and find a route.

You do not need to plan an entire cycling holiday. You can simply make riding part of the trip.

Because a bicycle gives you access to more than roads.

It gives you a completely different way to see and experience a place.

Curious About Pinarello? Discover The Full Range.

We currently stock selected Pinarello Dogma F and Dogma X models, with a broader range of X-series bikes, sizes and colours expected over the coming months.

Pop into one of our branches or explore our Pinarello range here. We are always getting new stock, so feel free to enquire about any model!

See you out there,

Dave George

Founder, The Gear Change

Cape Town | Mowbray | Tokai