The Flying Pigeon Project

New Bike Shop in Town: NYC Flying Pigeon

Vendors that carry the Flying Pigeon are a rarity, so when an IMPORTER opens up in my own back yard I have to make note of it.

Nathan Einschlag of NYC Flying Pigeon has a bike he wants to sell you! Nathan lived in China for 2 years so he KNOWS Flying Pigeon. He's also a dyed in the wool New Yorker, so he KNOWs what the market wants and it's not what you might expect.

Sure, there he offers the "Dutch" type roadster so popular right now in New York, but gone are the brake rods and cotters. The gear is much more modern and reliable. Calipers will provice the stopping power in the wet NYC weather.

And if I do say so, the step through version is particularly attractive.

He's also offering an FP track bike, inspired no doubt by the ongoing Fixie craze. And as we know from previous posts, the Flying Pigeon makes an excellent basis for customization. These fixie bikes should be doubly so. Looks tasty.

Best of luck to Nathan in his new endeavor. May the Pigeon Fly High!

You can also find NYC Flying Pigeon on Facebook and on Twitter.

Chung Kuo Cina by Michelangelo Antonioni, 1972-Again

 

This is actually part 1...or so Youtube says. Early in the video you can see some traffic in the Hutongs in Beijing....bikes and trikes and a single fast back car of unknown origin. At 1:49 a postal worker doles out mail from his bike.

Then more traffic. Trucks and Beijing 20/20 jeeps filled with soldiers vie with 28" roadster bikes for the roadways. At around 3:20 that fast back coupe appears again.  Hmmm...

People eat ice cream...and then mysteriously at 4:50, several women in Indian dress appear. Odd. Well, Beijing is the capital. Perhaps they were embassy staff?? 

The film moves on to The Temple of Heaven, swarming with people and blaring patriotic music. At 7:30 the camera shifts to the bike park out side. It is endless.They continue to film the bike lot for over a minute until 8:40. How many black 28" roadsters are there? Who can count? Maybe ask the soldier who appears at 8:10!! 

Whatever the numerical total, it's quite clear that this Italian film crew is obsessed with the bicycles!

Chung Kuo Cina by Michelangelo Antonioni, 1972-Pt. 1

 

The attached documentary was shot around Tianamen square in 1972 by an Italian camera crew. This is just after the CulturalRevolution. It's a very interesting look. And "look" adequately describes it as the narration is very sparce and in Italian. Instead the film focuses on the people and what they are doing.It also is a great look at how things have changed...and at bicycles of course.

Perhaps the skyline is the first thing I notice. None of the towering buildings that are currently around Beijing are there. Of course in 1972, Chaoyang and the Central Business District were farm fields. In regards to construction, Mao's Mausoleum is not present...because, of course, he wasn't even dead yet.

Next you notice all the uniforms....many, many uniforms.  Communism was in full swing after all.

At about 3:22, the camera turns to the traffic on Chang An Jie. With the exception of a few Liberator trucks and Shanghai cars, the trafffic is mostly bikes and trikes. The traffic may seem pretty dense in terms of bikes, but I suspect it is only slightly more than now. The reason? Several. Bike production didn't hit it's peak until the 1980s and in 1972 you had to be fairly rich to own one. Also the population of the city was much less back then because urbanization had not even begun to be felt.

At 5:37 there is a rather unique clip of a man doing Tai Chi while pedaling his 28" Flying Pigeon Roadster. Quite a stunt!

At 6:40 you get a look at a small convoy of trikes carrying (presumably empty) fuel drums.

At 7:01 a "bus" appears. It is a Liberator truck...standing room only. You can see why bicycles were so prized!

Very fascinating stuff indeed.

 

 

Mystery Part

So I just recieved this part from Tony in Dalian. Care to guess what it might be???

1. Yes it is black.

2. Yes it is metal

Give up?

3. Yes it will transform your roadster into a Motorcycle.

What's that you say? How is that possible?...

History of the Brands: Wu Yang, Hong Mian and Kapok

After a bit of a vacation, I am starting a new series on the history of the brands of China. Starting with one of the largest, but also the youngest. Wu Yang of Guangzhou. Wu Yang, of crouse means "Five Rams in English and it is named after the famed Five Rams statue in downtown Guangzhou.   Recently I was written by Andy, a Guangzhou bike enthusiast, who wanted to know more about his favorite brand, Kapok, a brand I had only known in passing. Seldom seen in the north of China, these bikes are a staple of the south and still in heavy use as cargo bikes.

Looking at the Wu Yang Website, you might be forgiven for thinking that the factory only started in 1970. In truth the name Wu Yang was applied to the factory a full 10 years earlier. Only the bicycles weren't called Wu Yang...they were called Hong Mian or "Red Cotton Tree". This solves something of a mystery as to where the "Zhongguo" badged bikes have come from.

Now, take a look at the two attached images. One is from an old "Red Cotton Tree" bike....