Tag: China
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Hipster fixies in China
I spotted these neon colored fixies hanging in a small bike shop in Dongguan, China yesterday. I have noticed more and more young people riding bikes like these over here (where they are produced of course), and they certainly stand out among the Flying Pigeons and other dusty black workhorse bikes and trikes that are…
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Guilin Bike Stand by David Hu
I am traveling in China this week, and at the moment I’m watching the evening celebrations of the Dragon Boat Festival holiday on Qiandeng Lake from my hotel window in Foshan. I think it is about time to get outside for a closer look, but first it seems fitting to quickly share a design for…
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Asian bike manufacturing and assorted links
I’ll be traveling in China the next couple of weeks, so new posts here at Bicycle Design will likely be infrequent. Before I leave though, I want to pass along a few links that I think are pretty interesting. On the subject of globalization and Chinese manufacturing, INRNG recently posted an interesting article about carbon…
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A wooden fixie, cargo bikes, a social statement, and more
What happens when a woodworker who normally rides a softride decides to build his own fixie? This custom wooden frame by Ken Stolpmann is the result. A post at Fixed Gear Gallery (which includes many more pics) explains: “The frame itself is entirely wood with some metal bolts and inserts for the bottom bracket and…
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2010 Shanghai Bike Convention
The Shanghai Bike Convention wrapped up last week, and People’s Bike has some great photo galleries of bikes from the show. Check out all of their posts with the tag Shanghai to get an overall feel. Of particular note are some of the new bikes from traditional Chinese brands like Phoenix, Forever, and Flying Pigeon.…
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My latest observations from China
As I mentioned last week, I want to share a few general observations about bicycle use in China. Some of you may remember a post from September of 2008 in which I said that there seemed to be less bikes overall on the roads (I realize I should have said fewer, but cut me some…
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Reading from China?
I wanted to post some observations about bikes in China from my recent trip, but that post will have to wait until I am able to collect my thoughts a little better. I was wide awake most of the night, and now I can barely keep my eyes open as I am catching up on…
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IBDC entries and a few other links
I am in China this week and next. My schedule is pretty tight, so I won’t have a lot of free time for the blog while I am traveling. Right now though, it is the middle of the night and I am still not adjusted to this time zone, so I will pass a long…
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US Pro Championships meet-up?
The USA Cycling Pro Championship races are coming up later this month- August 29th and 30th. I am just wondering if any Bicycle Design readers plan to be in Greenville for the races. It would be great to meet any of you who are in town that weekend, so leave a comment if you plan…
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Chinese folding bikes
My last post about commuter bikes for the masses generated some really good discussion from all of you. The discussion got me thinking- the “commuter bikes for the masses” concept would make a great design contest for the blog. I’ll let you know a little more about that soon, but start thinking about it now…
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Less bikes in China?
Well, I don’t really know if there are less bikes overall or not, but I do want to point out an observation from this trip. On past trips to China, I have posted several shots of various bikes on the street, including pictures of hundreds of bikes outside of factories that I have visited. Don’t…
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I’m back
Well, I am back home and still getting adjusted to the 13-hour time difference. Even though I checked my work email frequently on the trip, small daily tasks seem to have really piled up while I was away. I will be in catch up mode during this short Thanksgiving workweek, so it may be a…
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Just checking in
As expected, it has been a busy trip so far. I have been working long hours without any free time to get out and look around, so the only pictures that I have taken are from a moving van. Both of these shots were taken yesterday in a rural area just north of Dongguan. Cargo…
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More bikes in design magazines
Bikes in design mags; that seems to be a reoccurring theme here on Bicycle Design. This week I received my copies of ID Magazine, Innovation, and the DWR Holiday 2007 booklet. Not surprisingly, all of them had bike content. In ID’s “New and Notable ’07″ issue, they featured the Trek Lime and the Jorg &…
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Wages in China
A reader, Patrick, pointed me toward an interesting article in the New York Times about wage increases in China. The article uses the Dahon bicycle factory in Shenzen as an example. It starts out by mentioning one worker who is making about 25% more than he was at the beginning of the year through a…
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You be the judge
I was visiting a factory in China last year and saw a very distinctive element from a product that I designed on a competitor’s prototype (it was not a bike related product for the record). As if it wasn’t blatant enough, my product was sitting on the workbench right next to the competitor’s design. The…
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Trikes and Macs
I followed a link from designboom this morning to find these great shots of tricycles in Beijing. Since I mentioned utilitarian bikes around the world in a recent post, I want to pass these pictures along. If you are interested, you can also find a few of my own pictures of Chinese bikes and tricycles…
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What kind of bikes can change the world?
I was going to post something else today, but an anonymous comment left in response to my last post got my attention: “The Bicycles that can change the world are not made of carbon, do not have aero spokes, do not have 10 speed drivetrains. More likely, they are closer to the Atlas bike I…