Utility Cycling - Flying Pigeon roadsters becoming better known outside China?

When I bought my Flying Pigeon roadster in september there was not much online about roadsters at all. Just two US places to buy them: guanxi trading online and flyingpigeonnyc. Since then I see flyingpigeonla flyingpigeonpdx and flyingpigeones (spain).

And google trends confirms it:

http://www.google.com/trends?q=%22flying+pigeon%22

What's your experience with them in terms of quality and all?

They're currently being sold on Ebay, and I think that seller is in the Los Angeles area.

I'd like to have one of the rod-brake Raleighs, but they go for about $350-$400 for a men's frame in good shape. The Flying Pigeons go for $199-$299 plus freight, so they're cheaper, but from what I hear, a good ways below the Raleigh in quality.

There are also some India-made Raleigh-copies available, too- through Yellow Jersey, for one- at similar pricing and similar quality.

On mine I was overall quite happy, though there were definitely some problems. The biggest problem was that the wheels started out well out of true. I don't know how well they would have turned out if I'd taken them to a shop to true. The right pedal was also poorly threaded so it wasn't actually rotating on it's axis. I put on a pair of MKS3000 pedals from Harris for the pedal reflectors, which eliminated this issue. And I replaced the wheels with Dutch Bicycle Company 622mm ones so I could run studded tires and get the benefits of a SA X-FDD front hub and an SRAM T3C rear one.

So two problems, neither of which was actually a problem for me. As for the rest of the build quality, it seems fine, but I've only had it three months or so.

Is that a rod-brake model? Are the new wheels compatible with rod brakes?

I don't know how the flying pigeons get shipped, but it seems a lot of the India-made bikes get shipped completely broken down. If the workers at the bike shop get paid just as much as workers at the factory, there isn't any motivation to assemble wheels, etc. at the factory. So I got to put my own wheels together when I got my Arpan low-gravity bike. While I was able to get them reasonably true, one thing I did notice is that the rim is not perfectly round to begin with- has slight out-of-roundness where it is welded together. In wheel-building, you're supposed to round up the wheel, but also supposed to have uniform tension when you're done. If the wheel is not perfectly round to begin with, you're not going to do both.

I believe all the traditional flying pigeons are rod brake models. They ship with 635mm westwood rims. I put on 622mm westrick (van schothorst / regida stainless) ones. A westrick rim is combination westwood / endrick. The rod brakes have more than enough adjustment room for the smaller wheels and the closer to the hub braking surface of the westrick pattern. I ended up removing the rear rod brake assembly and making the left brake lever control a front drum brake, but you wouldn't have to do that.

I suppose if you replace a third of the parts any bike becomes decent.

Heh. But bikes stock with the features I wanted (hub dynamo, hub internal gearing, hub internal brakes) were all close to three times the price *after* I replaced the wheelset. So I'm happy.

Ad far as I can see the only problem with a Flying Pigeon is that they do not seem to have a 24 inch frame available. You want your roadster to have a good two inch larger frame than you want you drop bar bike to have.

My LBS owner has a Dutch made rod brake 3 speed roadster in the basement. Very different rod arrangement as the rod assemblies operate drum brakes front and rear. I cannot remember the bike brand right now but it is not too old. It has a generator front wheel too. From what the LBS owner said it was pretty expensive for the original owner to obtain. He may have imported it direct from Holland.

They're currently being sold on Ebay, and I think that seller is in the Los Angeles area.

Yes they are.
I think around the Highland Park area, maybe Eagle Rock.

Very different rod arrangement as the rod assemblies operate drum brakes front and rear.

When I've seen these they've not been very different. You have the same rod routing and linkages, they just connect to levers instead of stirrups.

Sounds like a nice bike, though.

I stopped by the shop in Highland Park a few days ago, and took one for a quick test ride. Unfortunately, I only had a few minutes, and didn't have time to go very far. They're very pretty bikes, and I'm sure they would be fun to own, at least for the novelty value.

They have a geometry that's completely different than most of us are used to riding. One has to ride bolt upright, almost leaning back, to maintain stability. Also, I've read in several places that the quality is not up to par. It's not the kind of bike that you would want to take on a long, fast ride. They're definitely suited for slow cruises around the neighborhood though.

That said, I have to admit that they still pique my interest. I'm hoping to get back there when I have more time and take a little longer test ride. I also have to say that the folks working in the shop were extremely nice and very enthusiastic about their product.

I was looking on Ebay earlier. I notice they have a double-top-bar model listed there, but what I can't tell is if the frame size is the same as the single-bar-model.

I was looking on Ebay earlier. I notice they have a double-top-bar model listed there, but what I can't tell is if the frame size is the same as the single-bar-model.

Yep, with the FP one size fits all, AFAIK they all have a 22 inch frame. BTW, that middle tube turns the down tube into a truss, immensely strengthing the bicycle for use on rough roads with heavy loads. The top tube does not add much strangth to a bicycle it just braces the head tube so it does not wooble. In the old days you could consider the Phillips Roadster type (double top tube) a farm bicycle, the Raleigh Roadster type (single top tube) a country bicycle, and the light roadster type (Raleigh Sports) a city bicycle. The second tube on American bicycles was there to help hold the imitation gas tank that made the bicycle into a toy motorcycle for little boys (And we wonder why adults here in the states did not ride bicycles?). Another bicycle that I understand is fairly popular in Asia is the French Style (650B tire). Prior to 1970 90% of the bicycles in the world was one of those four types.