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Laowai bicyclist praises sturdy bikes and friendly repairmen
By Raoul van Engelshoven |
September 7, 2009, Monday
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NAVIGATING Shanghai as a laowai on two wheels has been a daily treat for the past four years.
I bought a heavy and sturdy Feng Huang (Phoenix) bike at a non-negotiable price of 350 yuan (US$51) in a cycle store along Eshan Lu, Pudong. It was a luxury model.
It had a leather-look saddle, which surprisingly lasted for about two years after which it changed shape and hurt my private parts. The replacement however, at a cost of 18 yuan, lasted only two weeks.
At that point I gave up and mounted a true leather Brooks saddle on the bike, which will be the only part I will remove and take with me if I ever have to leave the bike behind.
The reason for buying a true Chinese road bike was to test its longevity. Well, apart from some dominant rusty look on most parts, which showed up immediately, the bike still runs as good as new and without any squeaking.
I mounted a green back-sack, which I brought from the Netherlands and in which I put my personal belongings. As such I easily mimic a China Post delivery man, which is the continuous feedback I am getting from my Chinese fellow cyclists.
I did experience some initial so-called "greasing-in" problems, one in particular being the crank continuing to come loose during the initial months as the tightening nut came out because of loose measuring, spilling all my bearings on the road.
Street smart
A decisive street-smart bicycle repairman on the corner of Nanquan Lu and Weifang Lu (Pudong) who immediately smiled and apparently recognized the "standard" failure, helped me overcome this by banging one night with a heavy hammer on the crank's housing.
The crank problem is cured for life! Before he reached out to his hammer to apply the final cure, he did change the axle and the bearings and told me they were more durable. It was not only that he did this in less than 12 minutes, but notably this was done in the scant light street light and some car headlights as it was well past 9pm when I needed his help.
A new axle, new bearings and adjustment of my brakes, as well two new spokes, all in one go and just in minutes for 28 yuan. This on-the-spot fixing is what I see as one of the joys of riding your bike across the city.
These street-smart repairmen (and one woman) on the pavements are my heroes. I know exactly where they hang out, and waive to every single one of them when I pass by, as you simply never know when you will need to call on them. Where else in the world will you get served at every corner of the street, literally at any time of the day?
The going rate for fixing a flat tire is two yuan, but I did once feel the urge to pay 10 yuan to the man who was kind enough to help me well after 10pm. Getting a new inner tube mounted at 7am in the morning is also 10 yuan. All service comes with a smile.
Hustle and bustle
In many cases you get involved in the local hustle and bustle. In once instance I had to wait while a plastic-recycling lady was having her flat repaired. She apparently had labored the whole day as she had amassed a huge pile of collected plastic bottles on her bicycle, a well-worn three-wheeler, which had rear wheels that were worn to their final threads.
One of them got punctured, and most certainly the second one was to burst shortly as well, given the protruding inner tube. As I was picking up on the painful investment the lady had to make, which was undoubtedly substantial with respect to the profit from her plastic payload, I couldn't resist paying for replacing her two tires. This, including repairing my own flat, hit me for a total 25 yuan.
Yes, I might look a little out of place when I am in the middle of the pack, waiting for a light change, dressed up in a suit and bow-tie, but the smiles, the smells, the sights, the real joy of street life with stories like these, make my day.
There're many other people next to the pavement who make my day. Although they have now become a less frequent sight, fellow cyclists carrying fowl of all sorts are also quite interesting.
Once I helped chase two escaped ducks back to their owner cyclist who thanked me profoundly for this service, although I am not sure I did the two ducks a service.
(The author is vice president of the Industrial Sector of Global Growth Markets. His e-mail: vanengel@cn.ibm.com.)
I bought a heavy and sturdy Feng Huang (Phoenix) bike at a non-negotiable price of 350 yuan (US$51) in a cycle store along Eshan Lu, Pudong. It was a luxury model.
It had a leather-look saddle, which surprisingly lasted for about two years after which it changed shape and hurt my private parts. The replacement however, at a cost of 18 yuan, lasted only two weeks.
At that point I gave up and mounted a true leather Brooks saddle on the bike, which will be the only part I will remove and take with me if I ever have to leave the bike behind.
The reason for buying a true Chinese road bike was to test its longevity. Well, apart from some dominant rusty look on most parts, which showed up immediately, the bike still runs as good as new and without any squeaking.
I mounted a green back-sack, which I brought from the Netherlands and in which I put my personal belongings. As such I easily mimic a China Post delivery man, which is the continuous feedback I am getting from my Chinese fellow cyclists.
I did experience some initial so-called "greasing-in" problems, one in particular being the crank continuing to come loose during the initial months as the tightening nut came out because of loose measuring, spilling all my bearings on the road.
Street smart
A decisive street-smart bicycle repairman on the corner of Nanquan Lu and Weifang Lu (Pudong) who immediately smiled and apparently recognized the "standard" failure, helped me overcome this by banging one night with a heavy hammer on the crank's housing.
The crank problem is cured for life! Before he reached out to his hammer to apply the final cure, he did change the axle and the bearings and told me they were more durable. It was not only that he did this in less than 12 minutes, but notably this was done in the scant light street light and some car headlights as it was well past 9pm when I needed his help.
A new axle, new bearings and adjustment of my brakes, as well two new spokes, all in one go and just in minutes for 28 yuan. This on-the-spot fixing is what I see as one of the joys of riding your bike across the city.
These street-smart repairmen (and one woman) on the pavements are my heroes. I know exactly where they hang out, and waive to every single one of them when I pass by, as you simply never know when you will need to call on them. Where else in the world will you get served at every corner of the street, literally at any time of the day?
The going rate for fixing a flat tire is two yuan, but I did once feel the urge to pay 10 yuan to the man who was kind enough to help me well after 10pm. Getting a new inner tube mounted at 7am in the morning is also 10 yuan. All service comes with a smile.
Hustle and bustle
In many cases you get involved in the local hustle and bustle. In once instance I had to wait while a plastic-recycling lady was having her flat repaired. She apparently had labored the whole day as she had amassed a huge pile of collected plastic bottles on her bicycle, a well-worn three-wheeler, which had rear wheels that were worn to their final threads.
One of them got punctured, and most certainly the second one was to burst shortly as well, given the protruding inner tube. As I was picking up on the painful investment the lady had to make, which was undoubtedly substantial with respect to the profit from her plastic payload, I couldn't resist paying for replacing her two tires. This, including repairing my own flat, hit me for a total 25 yuan.
Yes, I might look a little out of place when I am in the middle of the pack, waiting for a light change, dressed up in a suit and bow-tie, but the smiles, the smells, the sights, the real joy of street life with stories like these, make my day.
There're many other people next to the pavement who make my day. Although they have now become a less frequent sight, fellow cyclists carrying fowl of all sorts are also quite interesting.
Once I helped chase two escaped ducks back to their owner cyclist who thanked me profoundly for this service, although I am not sure I did the two ducks a service.
(The author is vice president of the Industrial Sector of Global Growth Markets. His e-mail: vanengel@cn.ibm.com.)
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