The Flying Pigeon Project

Flying Pigeon at Forbidden City

Some pics of my bike from around town. First, the gratuitous shot of the front of Forbidden City taken from the bike lane on the Tiananmen side of Chang An Jie. The secret here is to take the pic when the traffic light is red so no cars appear in the photo. At first, the police tried to move me along, but it was pretty obvious what I was doing, so I just waved my camera at them, and they waved back.

Next a shot from near the southwest guard tower.

From here you ride to the western gate of Forbidden City and pause for a minute of reflection.

But why stop there? Just keep going! Yes you can take a bike into Forbidden City...at least part of the way. This next is taken in the south forecourt BEFORE the ticket station.

Yep, Beijing has plenty of photo opportunities and is extremely bike friendly by western standards.

Beijing Bicycle Car

Often times, if the weather is nice in Beijing, I'll take a little stroll to a nearby restaurant for lunch. So it was when I found this bike In an apartment compound near my office.

From the first pic we can see a few things.

1. It is a side-by-side with two driven wheels,so the passenger also pedals.

2. It has two child seats. This is odd as of course, there must be special circumstances for you to have two children in China: Twins, Ethnic minority, etc. 

3. It's completely home fabricated, but the base bike seems to be a good old brake rod roadster, possible a FlyingPigeon. I make this assessment based on the black "FP" style seat.

Note the fork trusses and interesting reflector (Not a light). You can also see on the rear wheel that this bike sports a gearhub!

Child seat #1 has a second set of non-operable handlebars.

Child seat #2 has a steering wheel to help keep everyone entertained. Nice touch.

A couple of welded on baskets makes for a convenient "Trunk". This shot also allows you to see the wheel size of the right side "Bike". Looks like it was based off a folding bike.

Ingenuity knows no bounds. I'd love to see this bike in motion.

Butcher Bikes of Hong Kong

Hong kong is one of the great cities of the world...maybe the greatest. It seems to have everything: Art, culture and commerce,   skyline that would make Manhattan jealous, not to mention forest, mountains, world class beaches and Jackie Chan!!

But as I discovered on a recent trip, it has another reason for being great that undoubtedly slips under most people's radar. It has Butcher bikes, which is to say utility bikes.

In truth, Hong Kong is not the ideal bike environment. It's quite hilly and it rains a lot, yet some how the butcher bike has survived here. The bikes fall into two categories.

First there is the 28" Double-bar with a massive utility rack attached to both top tubes. Without exception, these were all Phoenixes, like this one photographed INSIDE A BUTCHER SHOP. The opposite wall was filled with hanging legs of Prosciutto! (or the Chinese equivalent.)

The 2nd type, was this low-center of gravity type bike. These were being used by a gas company near our hotel to very canisters of CNG to restaurants, etc. I had never seen a bike like this in China. Quite honestly using a bicycle in this role seemed a bit of a strange choice. On the mainland, a pedal tricycle would fill this roll and probably perform the task much better. So I was pretty sure this bike was NOT from China.

So who made these? I knew some Indian and Dutch manufacturers produce this kinda bike, but those connections seemed unlikely. The frame was no give away, as the bikes were so old they had lost all badging. One had a chainring that said Phoenix, but other's did not. 

 

So who made these bikes?

Well, just before departing Hong Kong I found one with the head badge intact.

 

Pashley! The high end British make! It's good to know that somewhere in the world these bikes are still hard at work and not relegate to the role of "rich boy toys". Awesome!

Koba Package Rack

As previously discussed, Koba is a desirable, but highly enigmatic Japanese brand that makes (made?) bicycle accessories such as sidestands. In fact, until recently, sidestands appear to have been their only known product.

This changed last Sunday, when I had the chance to come across another Koba accessory: A Koba package rack. A Google search reveals that Koba, if they still exist, is pretty well known for this design, with at least one Indian bike parts maker producing "Koba-Style" package racks.

 

Construction of this rack seemed particularly solid, although the rat-trap was gone. You can still see the wear marks in the flat chrome, where the trap arm use to contact the rest of the rack. 

If any readers know more about the Koba company, please let me know.

Introducing "Revolutionary Saddlebags"

Having removed the ultra-utilitarian front basket from my bike to make room for a light, I was in a bit of a bind. I mean, my bike IS my car, so I have to at least be able to haul some goods too and from the store. Sure I can use the rat-trap package rack on the back of the bike, and often do, but what I really needed was saddle bags.

The postmen and the other delivery agencies often use saddlebags, but these are of colossal proportions. I was looking for something of a more modest dimension.

Then I recalled spying these hand bags at a tourist area shopping center. They are modeled after People's Liberation Army courier bags. They were about the right size, so maybe I could put two of them together and make a pannier set?

Yes, indeed! After discussing with a local seamstress and having her measure the package rack, it was determined that there was enough nylon in the shoulder straps to join them together. There was also enough to form a velcro strap which can bind the bags to the package rack post to keep them from swinging into the spokes.

Originally, being hand bags means that there are lots of neat little compartments, and the top zip shut. There is a front compartment just under the large Red Star flap which looks good for storing papers. There are side pockets on either side and a little zip pouch in the main compartment which will become my tool pouch.

Additionally there is another "secret" zip envelope on the back of the bag. In this one I have put some cardboard to give the bags a little more rigidity.

But how do they look? Mighty fine, I think. Here they are on my Pigeon, parked in front of my favorite "La Mien in a Plastic Bag Noodle Joint". Basically, there are three straps which run under the rat trap on the package rack. The back of the bags are tied to the package rack down posts by velcro strips. My bike is a 26", but I have thrown them over a 28" bike and they fit just as well if not better.

If anyone is interested in having a set of "Revolutionary Saddlebags" made, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Guest Roadster

Recently at the Panjiayuan old bike meeting, there have been several older, unusual roadsters showing up. While they are brake rod roadsters of the Philips variety, they are not Chinese or Indian and not British or German. Not even French. Certainly not Dutch.

The construction tends toward the heavy side. Yes, heavy even compared to Chinese bikes. And the fenders have a strange pyramidal profile. That's strange enough, but perhaps the most intriguing feature is the rocket shaped chainguard. Certainly a bit of 1950's styling can be seen there, but it's no give away as to where the bikes are from.

So who makes these bikes and from which country do they hail? Generally, they are all decades old and very used, but apparently well loved, and have all the original parts except for the paint, which has mostly been rubbed off.

Don't know?

How about some hints? 

1. The brand is still in business and makes some of the finest bicycles on earth. 

2. They been doing so for 110 years.

3. Look at the chainwheel. The company logo is repeated 3 times. It's not the current logo, of course.

4. The logo is also on the rear fender.

Still can't make it out? How about a close up:

Fuji!  Indeed, when most people think of the Japanese make, I doubt they consider that they once made humble, practical, and extremely durable brake-rod roadsters.

Flying Pigeons: Singapore Customs

As an inexpensive bike by western standards the Flying Pigeon and other Asian roadsters make an excellent base for customization. Thomas Yang of Singapore demonstrates what can be done with a little imagination, a selection of choice parts and a healthy dose of good taste.

I'll let Thomas describe the customization process:

Firstly, we are a bunch of designers who love customizing bikes. How did we start the modification?
1. We bought them in bulk.
2. Then the bikes were sent for re-spraying in the colors we liked.
3. We ordered many parts online but some were also bought locally.
4. The crank, for example is a Sugino Crank. Freewheel hub. Not fixed gear.
5. The whole process took about 1 month.

Additionally, the cream colored bike pictured has Velocity White rims, Dimension Grips and a "Charge" saddle. 

Thomas makes it sound easy, right? So get cracking on your own custom! Fantastic job, Thomas!

You can see more of Thomas's two-wheeled creations, as well as his excellent photography, at his blog, Blinkbikes.

Upgrades

I thought' I'd share some pics of recent upgrades with you. First, My bike as it was purchased: Black, with black wire basket, which is pretty much a standard China issue bike. At this point I had already added two bells and some "Luxury" pedals.

And as it is now:

So what is different about it? First off, there is the seat. I swapped the original black mattress seat with a red "OK" brand tensioned leather seat. 

Then there is the lock. Heavy duty Chinese circle lock. Very convenient. 

The wire basket had to go. This was replaced with fork truss braces that I had to go all the way to Tianjin to get. While 28" truss braces are common as water in Beijing, for some reason 26" truss braces cannot be found. I also added a headlight. The keen observer will notice that at the time of the picture I had not yet mounted the dynamo for said head light. You'll also notice that one of the cap nuts for the truss braces is not yet installed.

One of the bells from the top picture was damaged in in tip over, so I replaced it with a nice brass number.

 

Finally, at a nearby dealer I found this nice NOS part. A chrome chaincase trim. I love the way it compliments the black paint.

Letter From Spain

I have been sitting on this post for a while. Several months back I received a letter from Spain. It was sent by Antonio Rocamora, the European Flying Pigeon Importer and general all around nice guy. The contents of the letter were all the alcohol transfer stickers necessary for a Flying Pigeon export model.

Now, there are lot's of Flying Pigeons in China and many of them, while quite desirable, are in an awful state of repair having been used as workhorses for decades upon decades. Well, what if you wanted to restore one? All major parts are available, and of course chrome and paint can be had. But, as I was to find out, the decals are the one thing that CANNOT be had.

-Dealers in town want nothing to do with these type of things.

-E-mails to the factory go unanswered.

-But....Antonio comes through.

Even though my project pigeon has yet to leave the egg, I thought you'd be interested in what the stickers look like. There is only one that even Antonio was not able to lay his hands on: the "Tianjin, China" sticker on the chaincase.

The stickers are, clockwise from the upper left:

1. 1 Flying Pigeon chaincase sticker.

2. 2 Flying Pigeon labels for the front down tube.

3. 1 Flying Pigeon sticker for the seat post.

2. 1"Shield" sticker for the seat post.

3. 1 Small Flying Pigeon sticker for the seat post

4. 1 Enamel head badge

5. 1 Flying Pigeon  sticker for the rear mud guard

6. (Center) Made in China sticker for the top cross bar

Hat's off and thanks to Antonio! Be sure to check out his website!

The Flying Pigeon as Art

Sure you may think the Flying Pigeon is a very handsome bicycle, but is it art? Whether it is art in an of itself is debatable, but it certainly seems to find it's way into art.  For example, take this print block picture featuring the postman delivering news to local farmers. I found this in a folk art shop in the old quarter of Xi'an. While the farmers represent the honest, hard-work ethos of China, the bicycle is clearly the hero,rendered simultaneously a symbol of modernity, communication and convenience.  Same as it ever was.