The Flying Pigeon Project

A Tale from The Pigeon's Nest

 

Frequent readers may remember me referring to a local Beijing bike shop I call the Pigeon's Nest. This is where I bought my Flying Pigeon. I also occasionally raid it for NOS parts.

The shop is kind of unique for a few reasons. It is government owned, which while not unusual in China is unusual elsewhere. It's actually a good thing, because the staff is a bunch of old timers and are generally quite knowledgeable. They also aren't out to rip you off, because they'll get paid the same regardless of what they charge. So prices are comparatively cheap.

Score! All-Gum Tires

A couple of weeks back, I had a very pleasant package arrive from Japan. Thanks to the helpful guys at Kon's in Kyoto, and especially to Richard at Vintage Japanese Bicycles, I now have a beautiful set of IRC 26" X 1"3/8 all GUM tires.

I think these are going to look great on a certain black roadster. What do you think?

Domo arigoto indeed!!

 

This Week's Score: Cheap Thrills

Going through the parts bins at an old state run bicycle shop that I like to call "The Pigeon's Nest", I occasionally come across some NOS parts. Such was the case last week when I found this chrome chainwheel guard from the 1980's or 1990s. Hard to believe, but the 1980's is already twenty years gone! And 20 years is like 100 years in China.

Japanese Bike Shops: The Strange One

This shop was located down the street from Silbest.

Besides being located in Kyoto, it seemed that this shop had exactly NO Japanese characteristics. And no name.  At least not one I could discover. Instead of being neat it was a mess, instead of being organized, stuff was just heaped up. From the sign out front it appears to have once been a BMW motorcycle dealer, but according to the BMW company calendar inside, the last time a motorcycle rolled out the door was 1985!!

Japanese Bike Shops: Grand Bois/I's Bicycle

Back in October I had the good experience to travel to Kyoto in Japan. First thing on arriving in Japan, you realize that Japan is even more obsessed with bicycles than China. Moreover the obsession is with extremely high quality bikes.  And if you look at the past fifty years there probably were no higher quality bikes than those of the famous French Randonneur (touring bike) builders Alex Singer and Huret. Of course, there is a segment of the Japanese market which is also into bike touring, so you can see where this discussion is leading...