Here’s a nice photo gallery of cargo tricycles in China by BriColeurbanism.

Links:
• Photo Gallery of Cargo Tricycles in China
• Bricoleurbanism.org Website

I generally try to keep this blog upbeat and focused on bicycles. But, the other day I found a picture I took a couple of years ago during a business trip to China. The photo speaks for itself… The air pollution in China is awful…

This picture was taken in Ningbo City, about three hours drive from Shanghai. In the early 1990s, most people in China were still using bicycles or mass transit. Cars were a luxury for the rich. Back then the air was clean given the size of the population. But now in many of the factory towns across China, your eyes water as soon as you step out the front door.

The sad thing is we keep blaming China for all of this, but most of those poluting factories are making products that are bound for US and European markets. Basically we’ve just exported our pollution creating factories and jobs to China. Anyway, everytime I go to Costco, I always get a sense that I’m just adding to this cycle…

I ran into this video about New Urbanism, which is the trend in urban planning which promotes walkable livable cities. This video is a really cool intro to the whole idea. Hopefully the idea of using bicycles for transport in these new cities will take off.

There was a great New York Times article and video cast about the bicycle culture in Portland Oregon.

NY Times Video
NY Times Article

The citizens of Portland have done a great job of making Portland one of the most vibrant and livable cities in the US. It’s got everything a world class city has to offer and you’re only a short ride from some very scenic areas such as the Columbia River Gorge. Definitely a great place for a bicycle holiday.

A few months ago during a business trip to China, my friend an import export broker invited me to visit some bicycle factories with him during my day off. Always on the lookout for new products and suppliers for his clients, he regularly visits Chinese factories. I jumped at the chance and toured three different bike factories with him.

The factories were in Tianjin City about an hour outside of Beijing. Tianjin is a massive port and factory town. The city is drab and heavily polluted. You literally couldn’t see more than three blocks due to the air pollution. Tianjin is famous in China for being the hub of bicycle manufacturing in China. With over 200 bicycle companies in Tianjin, we only had time to visit three.

The factories varied greatly. The first was a former gov’t owned company that made sturdy low-end bicycles for sale in developing countries. The second was a state of the art OEM supplier for US bike companies. The last was a modern factory that made bicycles for the China market under their own brand name.

The first factory we visited, the Tianjin Flying Pigeon Bicycle Company, was a former gov’t owned company. It is a fixture in Chinese society, famous for having made billions of bicycles since it was established by Chairman Mao fifty years ago. You’ll see their classic bicycles providing basic transportation for people all over the developing world.

What surprised me most about the TFPBC was how friendly the people were. They had an easy going rythmn similar to farmers working the fields and were always easy with a smile. The factory was run in an informal style and the buildings showed their age. There were even a couple of stray dogs that the workers adopted that were wandering the factory. The equipment was old, manufacturing techniques dated, and quality control questionable. I even saw workers smoking cigarettes while working the line. However for me the whole experience was like a history lesson. Entering their factory was like traveling back in time to the communist era.

The Factory Experience: Time proven manufacturing methods for the world’s most popular bicycle…

Although they manufacture other bicycles these days, they continue to build the classic Flying Pigeon Bike. Their biggest customer thesedays, the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Photos: Tianjin Flying Pigeon Bicycle Company Factory Photos I’ll post more about Tianjin City and the other factories later. Stay tuned and thanks for stopping by.

Renowned actress Daryl Hannah took time out of her busy schedule to participate in the Los Angeles County River Ride. A long time supporter of green initiatives, Ms. Hannah rode to support the LA County Bicycle Coalition. She road an iZip electric bicycle given to her by actor and longtime green activist, Ed Begley Jr. Check out the following links to catch up on cycling in LA: iZip Electric Bicycle LA County Bicycle Coalition Daryl Hannah TV interview iZip Bicycles & Scooters Ed Begly Jr.’s TV Show - “Living With Ed”

Just posted photos from the 2007 China International Bicycle & Motor Show in Shanghai. It was gigantic. There were 5697 booths in 9 buildings that covered 105000 square meters of convention hall. The manufacturers were definitely not holding back.

Many of the designs were based on European and American designs. However, there were bicycles and other products that were uniquely Chinese. I was pleasantly surprised at the huge variety of electric bicycles, e-scooters, and e-motorcycles that were on display. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come.

I edited some video of the Shanghai Maglev Train from a recent business trip to China. We covered the 40 km distance from downtown Shanghai to the airport in 8 minutes. Top speed 430 kph (267 mph).

It’s not directly related to cargo bicycles, but more so with hybrid commuting (using a bicycle locally and a train between cities). Imagine if a high density region like the US West Coast corridor (Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, LA, and San Diego) were connected with a high speed rail line like this.

It would definitely make hybrid commuting a more viable and enjoyable option. Plus imagine all the fun bicycle tours that become a realistic option. The rail lines wouldn’t have to be magnetic.

But wouldn’t that be cool?

My friend JKoshi captured this photo during a trip to China. If you’re a parent of small kids, you’d appreciate the convenience. hmm… I wonder if you can do this in a car?

Check out the rest of Koshi’s Flickr albums. He’s got lots of other great travel and bike photos.

I finally got around to editing my video from the Shanghai farmer’s market. This short video clip captures how the farmer’s use the bicycles as mobile storefronts and how they’ve modified the bikes with local materials for their own needs. I hope you enjoy the video. If you’d like to use it for non-commercial use feel free to send me an email.

Live action video of farmer’s bicycles in Shanghai China

I just posted my photos from the North American Handmade Bicycle Show at the San Jose Convention Center. There was a huge number of custom bicycle builders from all over the world attending the show. The variety of bikes ranged from all out velomobiles to rat bikes built with found materials. It was great talking with the builders who went out of their way to be friendly and answer any questions.

Some of the themes I noticed throughout the show:

• Resurgence in bicycles designed for daily riding
• Lots of custom racks for carrying stuff
• Large diameter wheels for smoothing out the road (29″ mountain bike tires vs. standard 26″ wheels)
• Wheels with internal geared hubs for low maintenance
• Long wheelbase bikes designed for hauling stuff & touring
• Castellano Designs Downhill Wheelchair

Some fun stuff I saw at the show:

• Whiskey flask holder
• Coffee jug holder
• Seatpost bottle opener

My photos from the show on Flickr

Just finished a video slideshow of bicycle photos I took during a business trip to Shanghai. There was a Chinese farmer’s market near our hotel and it was cool seeing the bikes used as mobile storefronts. It was even cooler seeing local materials used to modify the bikes.

I got a chuckle trying to imagine how a farmer would MOD a high end carbon fiber road bike. heh heh…

I’ll post some live-action video footage when I finish editing it. For now, here are links to the slideshow and my photos on flickr.

Video slideshow (9.9 Mb streaming video file)

Still photos on my Flickr page