folder fanatic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=og6_ba000mI&feature=player_embedded

I've always wondered what the high tech, high speed bike professionals would thing of the heavy, steel frame tanks that are in the form of the traditional city bike. These bikes make probably the best candidates for most people's real bicycle needs, not a sales pitch from most bike shops would push on the unsuspected or imitating the television sports shows of bicycling (mostly endurance or speed orientated in nature). I think this video illustrates this not only for the Flying Pigeon, but for the European made ones too.

gitarzan

Fun video. A lot of folks do over buy.

When I began to ride again a couple years ago, I bought a Globe Vienna 1 Deluxe. It's a city bike, with 38cm wide tires, fenders, dyno, lights and even a bell. It seemed perfect. Shortly after buying I was embarrassed by it since it was not some zippy road bike. I had fallen to the desire to have a "cool" bike.

The next year I got a road bike and paid triple than I did for the Globe.

Guess what? After riding a few months on both, I realized the city bike was really after all a great bike, most suited for almost all my needs. The road bike hangs on a hook while the city bike gets the commuting jobs, transports me to events, does the job much more comfortably on the MUPs. I may even sell the road bike this year.

bragi

I think you may be preaching to the choir. I ride to get to work, to get to social events, and for shopping. On my steel touring bike, I average 17-18 mph on flat ground, but, including all the stops and hills, it's more like 10. Even if I had a carbon bike, my average speed would be the same, so why not go with steel? Steel bikes look nicer, they're more durable, cheaper, and they're a comfy ride. What's not to like?

Nightshade

On city streets the steel cruiser is the best for comfort and durability.

poormanbiking

I've had a 80's steel frame Fuji for years and then got a Jamis Ventura road bike(alloy frame). That was 6 years ago and I only ride the Jamis a few times a year, not suited for the city streets around here always having wheel and tire issues. The Jamis frame rides rough but won't admit that to wife who complains about me not riding the expensive bike. I should of got a 29 incher instead and upgraded some of the parts on the Fuji.

sauerwald

The best bicycle is a super lightweight carbon fiber bike. These have a shorter lifetime and higher price than virtually any other bike, and as a result are the best possible option to support the bicycling industry. A steel bike that is reasonably priced and lasts forever would be disaster for the cycling industry.

wahoonc

Must be why I am so popular at my LBS

Most of my bikes are steel and some of them are quite heavy...like 45# heavy Funny thing is the heaviest one is my Redline R530 which has an aluminum frame, but it is and XL and ready to hit the road with panniers it punishes the scales at 55#

IMHO heavy bikes work great for shorter distances in the city.

Aaron

Robert Foster

The best bike for any one person is the one they will ride. If you live where there are hills and you ride often enough that you have to climb those hills then a CF bike just may be the best possible bike for you. If I had a 45 or 55 pound steel bike, I believe my Trek is about 30 pounds, unless that bike was a trike it would sit at home 75 or 80 percent of the time. Anywhere running east of me is slightly up hill. Anything ten to 15 miles in any of the other directions would involve a hill with a grade between 5 percent and 13 percent for at least a mile. Yes I live in a valley. Around town my MTB works pretty well but while I can ride it every day it also has the fewest total miles on it by the end of the year compared to the road bike.


I don’t care if it is a BMX, Cruiser, Touring, Flat bar Hybrid, MTB or Road bike the material is the least important part of the equation. Wanting to ride the thing and feeling good about it is far more important. Yes city bikes are good but rather than be good enough for most people they are simply good enough for some people.
Today I pulled up next to a Steel Chopper cruiser bike. It looked very comfortable and I noticed it had a back tire that looked like a 24X4, about the size of a small motorcycle tire. I turned around to talk to him and he loved the bike said it was comfortable and rides it all over town. We rode together for about two blocks, I would pedal once and cost half way down the block and stay right next to him as he pedaled every stroke for the whole two blocks. Good to look at but not good enough for everyone.
If I could only have one bike it might be a CX bike or a Road bike and just maybe a MTB but it sure wouldn’t be a heavy steel city bike. Though I have thought about adding a Bowery to my collection it is a SS but it is not heavy.

Fizzaly

Nearly everything in my stable is steel and most weight a ton for me its about comfort and we can argue all day long whether or not steel provides a better ride, but all i know is my butt thinks it does This video reminds me i need to get to work on my old 3 speed cruiser

mihlbach

No doubt something like a Flying Pigeon is better suited to everyday city riding that a carbon race bike, but thats really just a strawman. Everyone already knows this.

There is considerable room for improvement without sacrificing durability. Its possible to cheaply build an everyday bike out of lighter, more durable materials (including aluminum frame) and other modern innovations and end up with a bike that is both lighter and more durable than a Chinese Flying Pigeon. You could easily build an aluminum framed Flying Pigeon-like bike, with an IGH, fenders, rear rack and all the works that is way under 30 lbs. Bikes like this are available but are costly because they don't sell, except to a niche group who can afford them.

Unfortunately, most people, in the US at least, looking for something cheap and utilitarian go to wal-mart and buy a useless MTB look-alike with fake suspension, with the mistaken assumption that they are buying the bicycle equivalent of an SUV. If we had a better bike culture, people would, in general, have a better understanding of what type of bike would best serve their needs, and the fake MTBs probably wouldn't even exist.

Robert Foster

I totally agree. And the thing is whatever bike culture we do have realizes we have better choices than heavy gas pipe bikes. With modern materials a city bike does not have to be clunky and heavy all by itself. Most of the major better made manufacturers offer MTB, SS, CX and Hybrids that more than likely will be every bit as dependable as a heavy steel gas pipe bike. Reading Sheldon Brown we discover that steel has the same strength even if it is High tinsel, Chrome Molly or titanium. The advantage to the latter two is weight, because they can be made lighter for the same strength.
Yes old heavy steel bikes will do for a minimum bike if that was all you could get or afford. But not many people look for the bare minimum, and sales figures will compliment this idea. If you can’t sell it people aren’t riding. So I say again the best city bike is one people will actually buy and ride even if it turned out to be a fixie or a road bike.

nashcommguy

Great video. The cyclist seemed sincere in his respect for the utilitarian qualities of the Flying Pidgeon. They're very similar to the Raleigh's of the same vintage. In fact, one could surmise that Mao ordered the disassembly of a Raleigh and had the Pidgeons built to those specs.

W/t rise of China as an economic power the automobile is becoming more and more the mode of transportation to which one aspires. With that is coming the rise of heart disease, diabetes, obesity, etc. All the maladies that are effecting the auto-centric USA. What a shame.

The anchor in the video seems to be a little saddened by the change from 1980 until 2008. More cars, fewer bikes.

Robert Foster

Yes, things have changed and are changing in China. Bajing used to be the city of bikes. Not so much anymore and the people themselves are eating the change up.

https://03071c2.netsolhost.com/blog1/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/beijing-traffic-jam.jpg

India isn't far behind.

Roody

Why does it always seem like you're gloating and/or smirking when you report things like this?

Robert Foster

Only because you take it personally. A picture is a picture and directions people are taking are simply a direction. There may be times I think to myself, "I told you so", but that is pretty natural. In this case it is simply a case of a contention I have been expressing in these forums for months. Not mentioning it will not make it go away. A fact has no emotion gloating or smirking.

wahoonc

Funny thing is I bought what should be considered a modern city bike and after outfitting it properly the beast STILL tips the scales at over 50#

I am sure part of that is due to the XL frame size...and it happens to be aluminum and not steel

Aaron

Smallwheels

I like the concept of steel being easier to repair. What I don't like is the weight. I suppose unless someone is racing the material of their bicycle shouldn't matter so much. Well I like my bicycle to be as light as possible with the things I put on it as accessories. I hate pedaling more weight than I need to pedal. The wind and cold give me enough trouble. Every ounce saved makes my riding easier.

I won't buy expensive accessories to save weight. I just buy good quality durable parts. I have plastic fenders because they are more durable than beautiful aluminum fenders or wood fenders. Still, I'm glad my frames are aluminum. They are also more durable in winter and won't rust.

I don't think the best bicycle that is needed by most people is a fifty pound bicycle.

Robert Foster

But think how heavy it would be if it started at close to 50 pounds before you outfitted it.

Drew Eckhardt 

In 2006 the average Dutchman rode just 902 kilometers.

The average American worker commutes 16 miles each way to their job which is 12,100 kilometers a year assuming the 10 holidays and three weeks of vacation which are typical for many professions.

The two situations are radically different. Faired recumbents might be most appropriate for transporting the average American over 10X the distance of a Dutchman at acceptable speed.

I rode a comfort bike for a little while recovering from a herniated disc, and I'd drive before riding that sort of butt numbing slow thing 25 miles a day.

Robert Foster

Not long ago I thought I wouldn't be the least interested in a recumbent because the don't climb well. But I realized my MTB with a Trailer wouldn't climb well either and for utility a bent with a trailer or a bent trike would be a very good option. But my mileage was down a bit this year to 6500 miles. About 1200 could be described as utility.

gerv 

If my bike was 30 pounds heavier and I myself was 30 pounds lighter, it'd all even out, wouldn't it?

Smallwheels

Only on a scale. If you were thirty pounds lighter your cardiovascular system would be working much better and you'd be going faster. This is assuming that you were originally thirty or more pounds overweight. If I lost thirty pounds I'd be in a hospital bed.

Dahon.Steve

The trick to riding a heavy bicycle is to ride a lower gear than usual. I usually choose a gear that's 54 or 56 inches. If the bike was 50 lbs, I would drop that to 52 or 50 inches as a start up gear.

Fizzaly

Not all steel bikes weight a ton, my friend has a steel framed racing bike that tips the scales at 19lbs not bad for a 58cm steel framed beast. If i take all my gear off my kuwie it weights about 35lbs which really isn't bad for the level of components i have on it, though with the gear and two empty bags it sits at 48lbs (i just had to have the steel fenders)

Robert Foster

I know a Steel Waterford is pretty light. I don't know about racks on one however. Many of the local custom steel bikes in Portland are reasonable light. They simply have a waiting list that is unreasonable.