Stephen Barner wrote:
> I have never travelled outside the states farther than Canada, but I had a
> cycling friend who went to China about 15 years ago and commented that it
> seemed everyone there rode bikes similar to the Raleigh DL1, which was a
28"
> wheeled rod brake holdover from the 1930s. I imagine the Brits setup
> factories in Asia which were taken over by Mao and never changed
production.
> My friend said that the marketplaces in the rural communities would
feature
> one or more "bikeshops," which consisted of a person squatting down in
back
> of a series of bowls in which were laid out all the different rod brake
> parts and other assorted giblets that fit virtually every bike. I think
> Flying Pidgeon is a big name over there. The parts are very cheap, as it
> the labor. Nothing that has any life at all in it is wasted.
Alas, things are changing in China too. Nowadays almost all of the bikes
sold in China are mountain bikes. The roadsters that used to be virtually
the sole bikes seen in China, were in fact quite acceptable bikes. They also
reflected the most commonly found bikes in almost every country in the world
as little as 20 years ago. In Scandinavia, Germany, the Benelux, Italy, all
of Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia, these roadsters were the norm and
continue to be common today. Basing myself on the ride of my 1937 own
original Bianchi roadster and others ridden in the Netherlands and
elsewhere, they make for great rides on all but the hilliest terrain. It
seems that only in North America and France that they never made it big.
Touching on the post about Clifford Graves' ride through China, I must also
say that when travelling through China, you do not often feel the constant
eyes of officials watching you as was prevalent in Iron Curtain days in
Eastern Europe. Nowadays, you can actually travel very freely and
notwithstanding the racial difference, you no longer get stared at. It is a
great place to travel and the people are very friendly.
> I have a brother who has sarted a kinderschool in the Philippines.
Another
> brother (more mechanically inclined) went to visit and told me that he saw
a
> Philippino mechanic putting a patch on another patch on a tube that
already
> had at least 10 other patches. Also, the mechanic made the patch himself
> with an old tube and gasoline. A popular conveyance is a type of
motorcycle
> that is powered by an engine from a waterpump that was left behind after
> WWII. There are hundreds of these running around Davao City.
>
> When my Philippino sister-in-law visited recently, she became physically
ill
> at one point because she was so overwhelmed at the conspicuous consumption
> of Americans and the thought of how this compares to the situation
> experienced by her extended family. We are, indeed, out of touch with the
> third world.
I have great friends in Africa and they have the same feeling of disbelief. What is however worse is when people from Europe see the waste.
Steven Maasland Moorestown, NJ
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