Classic & Vintage - Chinese Folks Bike

See: http://www.momovelo.com/feige.html for the Chinese peoples bike. At two to three hundred dollars these might be a good collectors item or as a hack bike to do light local shopping.

Robert, you made my day. Reminds me of the bikes I grew up with in India.

That's a sweet looking bike.

Great pictures. It took me awhile to notice the sentence about the rear kickstand.

It's amazing what can be carried or towed by a bike. At Home Depot, I see people struggling to put lumber or sacks of concrete in their $50K SUV. In Shanghai, you'll be waiting to cross a street and see flatbed bikes carting all kinds of building materials.

The only downside is that these bikes are available in India for about $35 retail, so I'd choke on paying $300 no matter how high shipping charges can be these days.

The only downside is that these bikes are available in India for about $35 retail, so I'd choke on paying $300 no matter how high shipping charges can be these days.

true. if i could afford to buy the bike for $300, i could probably afford to fly to india and pick up 3 or 4. nice bikes, tho...

I contacted the person from that website momovelo.com about the Feige and the charge just for assembling the bike is $200.

The outrageous assembly charge presents us with a great opportunity to take over the Asian roadster market in North America. Check out the attached business plan. The only line item that mystifies me is the $125,000 for 75 mm Indian experts. Surely such diminutive workers would struggle to assemble these rather large bikes.

http://www.unido.org/userfiles/varghesa/BiProposal3.htm

does the suspension-looking device actually do anything?

See: http://www.momovelo.com/feige.html for the Chinese peoples bike. At two to three hundred dollars these might be a good collectors item or as a hack bike to do light local shopping.

Yeah, this bike would be nice for that use.

This also reminds me of the bikes a local Army Surplus dealer has. They are Swiss Army messenger bicycles, supposed to be from WWII. Dull khaki green, complete with in-frame canvas carrying bag with pump and such inside, front and rear generator driven lights. Pretty clean looking and look to be pretty much bomb-proof. They would be great as a casual cruiser for short-trip running around. Some what pricy at $499.99 though.

I own several of these which I keep at various cities in China. They only cost about $40.00 new in China.

Of course, on top of that, you have to add freight, tax, insurance, and other business expenses. Of course, it isn't unreasonable to expect the seller to make some profit as well.

$40 in China is a lot of money to the locals.

And from the webpage


What's a Fei Ge?

It means flying pigeon.

$40 in China is a lot of money to the locals.
And from the webpage
It means flying pigeon.

I heard it also means Flying Dove, but unfortunately the picked the pigeon when translating it to Engrish.
(by the way, don't get offended, I'm asian)

The way I pronounce it in cantonese, it literally means "flying chicken".

I heard it also means Flying Dove, but unfortunately the picked the pigeon when translating it to Engrish.
(by the way, don't get offended, I'm asian)

A pigeon is a domesticated dove so the name is correct.

The bigger company is "Pheonix" in Shanghai. They have really beautiful chainwheels with the company name cut into the spider pattern.

What is interesting about both of these brands is that they produce everything except the tires and possibly the saddle. The whole bike is made by the company. Not a lick of Shimano anywhere on these bikes.

I have heard that the Flying Pigeons are actually very old Raleighs! The story is that in the early 1930's Raleigh updated its factory and sold the old tooling to a company in Poland and that factory was then given to the Chinese by the Soviets in 1951. What is certain is that the threading and wheel size on many of these bikes. Especially the old ones are SAE not metric. They have true 28 inch tires and rims.

There's simlar Indian offerings from Yellowjersey.org:
http://www.yellowjersey.org/EASTMAN.HTML
As you can see, part of the high price may be due to the need for assembly. And I mean assembly (as can be seen in the picture).

One thing I can't understand is why they just don't make a coaster brake wheel. Especially considerign all the assembly that needs to be done anyway. I'd MUCH prefer a coaster brake to any rod brake-on-steel-rim out there. Especially in the rain.

It seems a similar model could be had from Benotto of Mexico (which I can't seem to bring up ath the moment). I've seen folks riding them all over Mexican cities, generally double-top-tube steel frames, single speed, rod brakes or occasionally coaster brakes, roadster geometry, etc. The price on the Benotto site is pretty cheap, however, I've no idea what it takes to get one delivered outside the borders.

does the suspension-looking device actually do anything?

I have no idea, but looking at that bike, it looks like that's a brake, not the suspension. I have the feeling that it is a fixed gear....

That looks like it would make a GREAT winter fixed gear :)

Yummm....

I have seen such cycles on the street in Montreal. We call them instead "defecating pigeons" as a joke on the name. They are poorly built, and weigh about 23kg.

The springs in front are for the brake mechanism. These springs rust very quickly and break easily.

If that is a "light roadster", you can only imagine what the "heavy roadster" model is like.

I love the head badge.

these might be a good collectors item

Probably not. There are probably 2.5 billion of them in existence (rough pop. of China and India)!

looks like my Schwinn speedster, just with rod brakes. Probably just as heavy too. Interesting, but kinda pointless for the north american market IMO.

Besides that, I've heard not so good things about momovelo...