The Flying Pigeon Project

Beixinqiao Part 2

I have often referred to the antique bike swap meet that goes on on Sundays at Panjiayuan. You have also previously heard me talk about the bicycle shopping mecca that is  Beixinqiao.  Panjiayuan being a little remote, it should be no surprise that the old bike guys also get together at Beixinqiao in front of one of the pawnshops. Saturday afternoons prove to be quite a fruitful photographic opportunity.

Among the bikes in attendance were this Dutch Gazelle. Note the lugs. Sure they are not fancy and stylized like you might find on a French bike, but they are massive! You can also tell from the brake rod stirrup that it is equipped with drum brakes.

 

The real attraction of this bike was it's "chaincase". One single piece of chromed steel, it is heavily perforated and stylized with the Gazelle logo. How it survived so long in such good condition is probably a story in itself. It is able to be installed in one piece because the rear chainstays can be unbolted. Not an unusual feature 50 years ago. This bike also sports a Japanese Koba sidestand.

 

There was also an excellent Fuji example in attendance. The owner liked to put the bike on the rear stand and spin the wheel....it was a good 5 minutes before it would stop. It's still spinning in the photo!

 

Of course there were some Raleighs....

And anther excellent step through Raleigh, whose owner is more than pleased to be photographed with his fine machine.

Score: Mr. Jin's custom saddles

 
A few weeks back I gave a report on several neat and rare accessories that I had picked up. I said there was one "score" which out-did the rest. This post is about that item.

There is an older gentlemen at Panjiayuan. He refers to himself as "Old Man Jin", even although you would not think he was so old by looking at him. Age aside, he performs a great service to the bicycling community: He re-covers seats. In leather. Take your old tensioned leather Lepper, Brooks, or in my case a Chinese "OK" Brand seat to him and he will re-skin it with a genuine cowhide top.

Take for example, my seat. Originally, my seat looked something like this: The standard Chinese "red" leather seat. Leather being a somewhat nebulous category, I have since heard it called a "lacquered composite seat", and indeed it is covered in lacquer.

 

I happen to have a spare seatwhich I hand over to Mr. Jin. He spends about 30 minutes trying to discuss the fine points of seat making with me in my very bad Mandarin. Do I want aluminum rivets?..or brass?...or copper? What color leather? He shows me several seat stampings in different colors. Am I sure I want to use this as a base? ..because Chinese seats are lightly sprung as the average Chinese is a lot lighter than us Laowei. Well, who isn't these days? I say no, I want my bike to stay all Chinese, or at least all Asian.

In the end I decide on brown leather, brass rivets, and for the base...go with what I brung. Yeah. Brung.

Two weeks later, I have a marvel to behold. A "Old Man Jin" bespoke saddle.

You may say, "It is a nice seat, but it's no Brooks."

No. It isn't. That's the point.

Sure...I could have just dropped a lot of money on an expensive, mass-produced Brooks saddle. They are available in Beijing. But what would be the fun in that? I would never have met Mr. Jin, never would have learned about saddle making, never gotten to practice my Mandarin on a really weird topic, and never gotten a bespoke saddle. I also wouldn't have had an interesting story to tell. Besides, the end result is mighty fine, I must say....

In truth, I was so pleased with the results that I went back to Mr. Jin with ANOTHER saddle. This time I had him punch holes in the sides so I could cross tie them and prevent side flare. I also cut a badge from the back of my old Flying Pigeon mattress saddle and had him put it on the back. How did it turn out? We'll see in another post.

Score! Stainless Spokes.

That's right! 80 high polish, stainless spokes and nickel plated brass nipples. Plus a few spares, of course. All sized for 26" X 1 3/8 rims.  Score!

 

Mister Miyata

 

A while back on the Old Roads forum a person posted pictures of a bike he had never heard of the Brand was "Miyata", which is actually quite a well known Japanese brand. The bike was called "The Mister".

I had seen Miyatas before, but in a rare conjunction of time and space, the very next day I came across a "Mister" at Panjiayuan. The bike was not one of the regular attendees, indeed it belonged to a bird trainer who was there to meet his fellow fowl enthusiasts.

Later I was to see these bikes in greater numbers in Japan. For a brake rod roadster the quality of assembly was high as were the materials. Stainless rims and spokes, square tapered cotterless cranks and chrome handle bars from Nitto that had the brake lever mountings welded to the bar. About time someone did that. In other words, all common-sense updates long over dues from other manufacturers, which were executed with precision by Miyata.  In my mind, this makes "The Mister" one of the most usable and desirable brake rod bikes.

Of course, Miyata  is a going concern. You can find them and their excellent machines here. They are a member of the Morita group and seem to have tie -ins with Taiwanese maker Merida. The Dutch bike maker Koga-Miyata was a one time joint venter between Miyata and a dutch company. It now is a member of the Accell group and seems to retain ties to Miyata only in name.

Indian Custom- "The Bone Shaker"

As we've seen from past posts, for folks outside the developing world, Chinese roadsters can be a good basis for a custom. They are inexpensive, so if you have budget you can splurge on more expensive components and paint than you normally would.

Frequent Blog commenter, Larry Bone, took a different path with his Abley INDIAN roadster. It was purchased on e-bay for a mere $100, but when it came, with bent spokes, un-trued wheels, and other defects it was clear it had been manhandled at the factory, the port and the post office.  Which is to say , everywhere. It was...umm.. "utilitarian". Extremely so. A real lemon. And therefore a perfect candidate for turning into bicycle lemon-ade.

The inspiration in this case was the Pashley Guv'nor. A high end British "Path Racer" which is 1930's-speak for "Mountain Bike".

Larry started by stripping away everything that didn't look like a Guv'nor. First off, ALL the body work went. All of it. Meaning fenders, braces, industrial strength package rack and hockey stick chain guard. While your at it, ditch the brake rods and handle bars too. All gone.  

 

Now that the bike had lost about 30% of it's weight, he added back the things that DO make it look like a Guv'nor.  The bars, of course are upside down North Road bars. Caliper brakes from a 1970's stepthrough Raleigh "Colt", while not strictly Guv'nor-esque, certainly help stop the bike. They actually work with the Westwood rims after some bedding in. And why not dig into your parts stash and throw on a Raleigh chainwheel? It all works.

 
The ultra heavily sprung seat is an original Indian piece. If it's suited for the hills of the Punjab, it is probably good for a few Pennsylvania woodland paths.

 
And that is how "The Bone Shaker" was born! Good work Larry! Some tasty lemon-ade indeed.