Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Bike-related things to do in Beijing

I'm going out into the Gobi desert in Mongolia this summer for research. On my way back in late August I'll have a couple of days to kill in Beijing. Anybody have any good ideas for bike related stuff to do in Beijing? Are there any particullary interesting places to ride, or quick tours that can be done by bike. I won't have my bike with me, so I'll have to rent something..probably a run down utility bike of some sort. Anybody have experiance biking in Beijing?

Yo, did you end up finding anything in Beijing?

I'm going there in a couple of weeks for 6 days.

Did you see many shops or bike stores with good frames?
I was hoping to pick up a cheap road frame to build a singlespeed back home.

Any info would be good.

bike to beijing from NY

Ride from Hong Kong to Beijing? Maybe

I'm stopping by Hong Kong first.
Anyone on the forum from/been there recently?

In Hong Kong you could visit this shop:
http://hkfixed.blogspot.com/
http://web.mac.com/bkopi/Site/Rodafixa.html

I was in Beijing for a week over the Easter holidays. I guess the best idea would be to rent a bike and ride around, just like the locals. There were lots of bike rental shops. I also saw some bike shops but always from the window of a taxi cab and couldn't visit any of them.

There's also the brand new Laoshan Velodrome built for the Olympic games but I didn't go there because it's not exactly in a central location and the city is HUGE.

Great thanks for the info.

I think I will rent a bike in Beijing and try to survive the traffic.

Could you put me on your will?

Could you put me on your will?

The traffic is really not that bad if you stick to the lanes where the Chinese ride their bikes, and unless you get lost and end up the big ring roads...

The traffic is really not that bad if you stick to the lanes where the Chinese ride their bikes, and unless you get lost and end up the big ring roads...

And stick to the city. In the burbs foreigners are run over with impunity because they don't exist

A friend of mine--who takes his bike everywhere--road the insane highway from the airport into Beijing. There was barely a shoulder lane.

I wish I could find the photo he took of his bike leaning against the side with a bajillion lanes of traffic screaming by. He said every single car honked at him. Hah.

A friend of mine--who takes his bike everywhere--road the insane highway from the airport into Beijing. There was barely a shoulder lane.

I wish I could bring my bike, but with a 20kg limit on the plane and a 8.5kg bike I don't think I can spare the weight. Especially if I buy a frame whilst I'm there.

Sorry Jimmy, I can't see your name in my will.

With every airline I've flown, you pay a fixed price to bring a bike (packaged in a bike box/bag, of course). It doesn't eat into the weight limit for your checked luggage.

The same goes for most "oversized baggage" (read: sporting goods), so you'd likely be forced to check it that way by the airline (ie. pay a fee), unless it's in a suitcase.

With every airline I've flown, you pay a fixed price to bring a bike (packaged in a bike box/bag, of course). It doesn't eat into the weight limit for your checked luggage.

The same goes for most "oversized baggage" (read: sporting goods), so you'd likely be forced to check it that way by the airline (ie. pay a fee), unless it's in a suitcase.

Thats good to know.

Cheers

I found this image pool on flickr (http://www.flickr.com/groups/331019@N24/pool/)

Beijing is pretty cool If you've never been.

edit:

China is awesome. Solid choice to go right now. For me, it really associated the "Made In China" label with faces, conditions, and experiences I had. I was in a manufacturing center in the Henan province - where not many tourists venture. Amazing people - lot of interesting dynamics in play.

Find the factory where wal-mart roadmasters are made.




And destroy it.

There's also the brand new Laoshan Velodrome built for the Olympic games but I didn't go there because it's not exactly in a central location and the city is HUGE.

How far is Laoshan out? 30 mins? 1 hour?

Can't wait to see the Olympic buildings and the biggest airport in the world.

Free tibet!

Cycling, not politics

I'm working at the olympics as a US Athlete liason for the track (running) team and will be there for 7 weeks starting in July. I'm thinking about bringing my beater. I think it'd be fun BUT I will do more research.

End of my story.

Free China!

it would cheaper to buy a bike once you get there.

How far is Laoshan out? 30 mins? 1 hour?

Can't wait to see the Olympic buildings and the biggest airport in the world.

First of all FREE TIBET!

Then here's the Laoshan velodrome, it's not that far, really. It looks cool.

http://images.beijing2008.cn/20071206/Img214210796.jpg

It's in somewhere here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shijingshan_District

I was traveling with my girlfriend and our 1.5 year old daughter and we choose to go to the Beijing Zoo to see the Panda bears, instead of the Velodrome, you'll understand the reason.

But Pandas ruled and my baby girl was really digging them.

Yo, did you end up finding anything in Beijing?

I'm going there in a couple of weeks for 6 days.

Did you see many shops or bike stores with good frames?
I was hoping to pick up a cheap road frame to build a singlespeed back home.

Any info would be good.

Holy ****! Never thought I'd hear from this thread. Turned out I was way to preoccupied to get any riding in anyway. I've been to Beijing 3 times since, and am basically sick of the place, but never rode there.

I was traveling with my girlfriend and our 1.5 year old daughter and we choose to go to the Beijing Zoo to see the Panda bears, instead of the Velodrome, you'll understand the reason.

But Pandas ruled and my baby girl was really digging them.

I thought little kids enjoyed everything, even ****ting their pants?

You could have taken the little tyke to the track and she would have been none the wiser ;)

Holy ****! Never thought I'd hear from this thread.

The search function works well.

Where you working in China? What the hell is new yorker doing there?