They say a Pigeon's worth a thousand words, right?

"Dogapult" (dogapult) 01/18/2019 at 11:10 • Filed to: Flying Pigeon, Bicyleopnik, Bicycle, China, twowheelsgood

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Well, here’s my Pigeon.

The Flying Pigeon PA-02. The Least Original Bicycle Ever. Made by the Tianjin Flying Pigeon Cycle Manufacture Co. in Tianjin, China, since 1950, and all the way up until a few years  ago! This is the most produced mechanized form of transport ever. Over 500 million were made over the Pigeon’s production run. Interestingly enough, The Honda Super Cub, in 2nd place, passed 100M in 2017. This was, well, how China got around, up through the early 90s, at least. Parts are still commonly available in China, and actually, two other cycle brands, Forever and Phoenix, still make the Chinese Traditional Bicycle, selling them on Taobao for about $100 apiece.

And now, some specs:

The wheels? a massive 28"

Only one gear in an enclosed chaincase. Thankfully, it’s not a fixie!

It’s all steel, and as such, supposedly weighs almost 42lbs!

Rod brakes. so what that means is, the brakes don’t work, or at least don’t work well.

a really nifty bell.

“The All-Steel Bicycle” They ain’t kidding.

Unfortunately, as I found out, Pigeon build quality declined once they were no longer required for transport in China, and production was no longer in-house. (mine is around a 2010 or so) So the paintwork isn’t perfect, the wheels aren’t perfectly round, the rod brakes are pretty garbage, the chaincase is noisy. Honestly, though, when you’re riding it, you don’t notice these things. It’s comfortable, and with the weight, you can get momentum to ride at a nice pace. It’s clearly a roadster, not designed for speed, but leisurely rides. (I’ve got a Trek 1000SL if I need speed and performance in a bicycle.)

Hold whatever you’d like to your Pigeon.

For all its shortcomings, I wanted a Flying Pigeon for a while, and luckily, I managed to find one out in Los Angeles that a friend could pick up for me. It was a mess trying to get it home, though. Can you believe Fedex wanted something like $400 to ship it?

In the end, it was cheaper to take a nice trip out to Los Angeles and spend a weekend there, then take it back as a checked bag on a Spirit flight.
Either way, a Pigeon’s worth 1000 words!

A throne of cheap leather and springs.

Nibby > Dogapult 01/18/2019 at 11:16

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VOLVO WAGON

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > Dogapult 01/18/2019 at 11:20

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4/5 hipster mustaches!

Dogapult > Nibby 01/18/2019 at 11:34

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Yup. my ‘92 240 wagon is great for hauling Pigeons.

TorqueToYield > Dogapult 01/18/2019 at 11:41

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TIL you can check bicycles as airplane luggage.

I can imagine the faces of the people around you when that thing came out the bag carousel and you picking it up and riding off through the airport.

Dogapult > TorqueToYield 01/18/2019 at 11:47

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If only. Nah, it had to be wrapped in cardboard. and to fit it, I had to take the handlebars off and undo all the rods for the rod brakes.

facw > TorqueToYield 01/18/2019 at 11:48

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Normally you take them apart a bit first. Also for airlines, you probably want a hard-sided case for anything you care about:

I have a bag, which I’ve used on buses, but it would not offer enough protection from baggage handlers for flying:

Though who knows for a big steel monster like this, maybe the bike can handle what they can dish out.

Dogapult > facw 01/18/2019 at 11:59

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I don’t have any pictures of the wrapping we used, but it wasn’t enough. They bent one of the rod brakes and scratched a spot or two. 

Urambo Tauro > Dogapult 01/18/2019 at 12:02

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FP has a pretty great logo there. I’m digging th at front ba dge.

Berang > Dogapult 01/18/2019 at 12:14

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I remember seeing one at a local bike shop around 2010, and thinking it didn’t look too bad - at least not any worse than a Chinese made Walmart bike in the same price bracket.

One of the things that surprises bike enthusiasts when they visit countries like Germany or Japan is that the bicycles most people have around are actually pretty cheap quality, like their versions of Huffy. You don’t actually need very much bicycle if you’re just using it to drop mail off at the post office or grabbing a sandwich down the street.

BTW, here’s my early 1970's Columbia Roadster:

This would be the American take on the utility bike, like most others, except American companies favored the coaster brake, Europeans (with the notable exception of the Germans) generally avoided them.

The Roadster name dates back to the 1870s, when Columbia used it on their lower priced models. It was then used for “lightweight” bikes when the balloon tire models came out, and finally, applied to the single speed models for the last few decades of the company’s bicycle production.

Columbia tried desperately to get adults interested in cycling after WWII, but by the mid 1950's, had discontinued their larger frame sizes. Like most American companies they were caught off guard when cycling exploded in popularity towards the end of the 1960's, and had a hard time keeping up with the bike boom of the 1970's. The company was bought up by MTD, whose management basically ran the company and factory into the ground. By the time they sold Columbia off, the company was dead in the water.

They still exist today, making office furniture and importing a few children’s bike from China - but the historic factory building was torn down a few years ago and basically the only thing that survives of the old company is a small single story office building that used to house the company museum.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Dogapult 01/18/2019 at 21:51

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Rod brakes? No thanks. I’d do a coaster brake conversion. It would be safer. 

Dogapult > TheRealBicycleBuck 01/19/2019 at 00:59

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I have plans to build a FrankenPigeon with cable brakes and a few other things.