Pimpin' Pigeon

I want to apologize for the look of the blog ahead of time. China now blocks all Typepad blogs, so while I can enter a post, I cannot see what it looks like. So I am typing blind.

With that out of the way, as regular readers know, one of my favorite pursuits is changing and accessorizing my Flying Pigeon. This weekend saw some major upgrading.

First off, I had the black sidewall tires, replaced with Cheng Shin gumwalls. Sure they say GIANT on the side, but of course both Cheng Shin and Giant are Chinese brands so it fits with the overall nature of keeping the bike Chinese. Plus the gumwall nicely compliments the yellow hand pinstriping on the fenders.

Next the pedals were replaced with a new set of  "Diamond Cut" pedals. These are actually about the cheapest pedals you can buy at a whopping 12 kuai. Despite being cheap, they do look great.

But in order to protect them, and to keep the diamond cut bars from rotating too much, I bought a set of pedal protectors at Panjiayuan. Many of the "old hands" use them.

At Panjiayuan, I also acquired the largest brass bell I have ever seen. Ring it and it will resonate for a full 12 seconds afterwards. It's the perfect combination with my exisiting Miller style brass bell like those used by Beijing cycle rickshaws. Two rich brass bells with two different tones.

Of course because brass looks so good with black paint, I installed brass washers and stainless acorn nuts all the way around the bike. This simultaneously takes off the the sharp edges and adds a bit of color.  I had to go all the way to the US to get these fasteners, and would have preferred that they be all brass. However, metric brass seems to be incredibly rare. If anyone knows of a source please contact me.

But I think one of the coolest scores of this week's haul was an authentic Beijing license from the early 2000's. Stainless steel with the number etched in, it attaches to the headstock. Beijing doesn't issue licenses for bicycles anymore, so these are increasingly rare.

Comments

[Larry Bone]

That's ACES! The pedal protectors are amazing!!!!! Metric brass, aye? Hmmm.... I'll hunt around for you for sure. What? No Home Depot or Lowes over there???? ;-)

Your machine is shaping up to be the quintessantial "Limousine" of roadsters... and that BELL!!!!!!!!!! WOW!!!!!!!!

Well DONE!!!!

Cheers!

Larry "Boneman" Bone
Dingmans Ferry, PA, USA

[JS]

Thanks for the kind comments Larry!

While there are Home Depot's here, they are entirely different from what you would find stateside.

I can tell you where to by a used tractor, jack hammer or an entire kitchen, but finding small things like wrenches, nuts and bolts is nigh on impossible! Really.