bring vs buying & bike brands in China

[blink]

I've heard a lot about bikes getting stolen in china and so I decided not to bring my really nice road bike with me this fall. Does anyone know what bike brands/types are standard in China and how much they cost? I'd like to do most of my commuting by bike and it'd be nice to buy a bike that was worth taking home when my studies are over.

What do you think? Is bike stealing really a big problem? I've heard someone mention that you can find Giant bikes in China. Are bikes there really much cheaper than in the US?

[Xiao Kui]

Is bike stealing really a big problem?

Huge - so bad that there is a usually a market in each city (sometimes they move when the police put the pressure on) for stolen bikes, which you can read abt in other threads on this forum.

Locks are important but they are easily cut off or opened with a master key. I've lost 3 bikes in China - one a Giant that was stolen 3 hours after I bought it. I'm convinced the perp tailed me home from the Giant store. It was stolen (chain lock cut) outside my apartment while I was upstairs looking for my U lock. That was 7 years ago - I've learned a lot since then.

Basically dont' park your bike anywhere in the city where there isn't a designated bike parking lot, with someone collecting a few mao to watch the bikes. Most apartment complexes have pretty safe bike garages and as a resident you pay a small monthly fee to store your bike there.

I've heard someone mention that you can find Giant bikes in China. Are bikes there really much cheaper than in the US?

You can get a low-end Giant for abt 400 yuan or $50 US. I think these are worth it because you don't end up doing much repair with the Giants and the cheaper bikes don't ride as smooth and you often end up doing repairs. The Giants are hassle-free. But I marked mine up(my second Giant - never stolen- had a couple cheap Chinese bikes in between) with a permanent marker and nail polish, covered the logos(was more interested in the bike itself than its appearance. ) Because a shiny new Giant attracts a lot of attention, as does any shiny new bike.

A good idea may be to 1. don't bring your nice bike to China 2. Get a low-end Giant while in China to use there and mark it up. Or get a Chinese bike. 3. Before you return to your home country get a good Giant or Diamondback to take home with you. These are 2 brands that I have seen in China- Giant is definitely easy to find. I lived in western China so there's probably more variety of brands in the east, where people have more money to spend.

[got_no_jaffas]

the only foriegn bike i have seen in beijing is giant. i have not seen any others, specialised, ridgeback, kona. my giant mtb cost me 900 kuai, and i still harbour doubts as to whether it is a real giant bike!

i have 2 big f@ck-off locks that cost me 200 kuai to lock the back wheel & the front wheel to something solid. i do not however leave my bike locked on the street very often. usually i lock it at blcu.

bike theft is a problem but if you look at some of the locks that people have, i reckon i could steal their bike just by snapping the lock. i recommend you actaully lock your bike to something & not leave it locked freestanding.

i am pretty happy with the bike, the first chinese made bike i bought was a right piece of crap that lasted 1 week before the chain snapped & bits fell off it. this is actually the norm, it would be highly irregular if a chinese made bike did not fall apart on you.

cycle defensively & do not think you have right of way. i have collided once & i have seen many other cyclist collisions & crashes in 3 months here than i have ever seen in my life back in london or singapore.

[venture160]

there is a TREK store here in Beijing, in XiCheng, someone where on the 2nd ring road... i've passed it a few times.

[artichoke]

Someone had parked a Bianchi at the BLCU bike racks near South Gate when I was there last year. Otherwise, Giants are all I've seen that I recognise from home. I bought a Forever foldup, and it lasted quite perfectly for the 3 months I used it. I have since given/loaned (whatever) to one of my Chinese friends. I'll either borrow my bike back on my return or buy another one - but this time one of the cheaper 80yuan ones I think. It only costs a few yuan to get any repairs.

[paramoreap]

Do they make bikes in China that would accommodate a 6'4" male?

[adrianlondon]

Yes, but you'll be buying new rather than second-hand. There are loads of Giant stores around in Beijing; I assume other cities are the same. Don't let the name "giant" fool you; most of the bikes are still for small people.

In China, everyone rides bolt upright and with their knees permanently bent, so the bike frames feel small even for someone not as tall as you.

[pandaxiongmao]

If it is a real Giant dealer, they should be able to order a 23 inch frame for you and swap the parts with one of their frames on the floor.

It can be difficult, but I found a 23 inch knockoff GT frame on the Internet for 300 kuai. I built my bike up from that. It also has the advantage a lot of would-be thieves are too short to actually ride my bike away. I still use a Kryptonite lock I brought from home to lock my bike though, and always park in an attended area.

[geraldc]

Ironically lots of people in the UK are now ordering high end made to measure titanium bike frames direct from China as they're so cheap (well relatively, anyway). I know a few people have ordered from here http://www.xacd.com.cn/ and are happy with the results.

[pinkpolish]

hi friend,

today my bike was also stolen from parking place of my classroom.. i am very upset... of course what else can i do? can you tell me where these stolen bikes are sold in zhengzhou, henan province, china?

[waiguoren]

Can someone give me a feel for the degree of sophistication of bike thieves in big cities (BJ in particular)? Do thieves carry high-quality power tools? Would you feel secure having your high-quality bike locked with the Kryptonite New York Fahgettaboudit U lock?

[jobin]

i bought a really old, 28 er, (largest common sized wheel) for 100 rmb five years ago. Big, black, rusty, with big strong basket and rear sitting platform but need long legs to ride, seat poor, bike taped and wired but in fact highly functional and easily fixed on every corner. result: cheap, get around town without any problem, lock up or not, no matter-few want such a bike, no good resale value, too big for most chinese, outright ugly! for me a great solution and i will miss it when i leave. when needed, sometimes in a parking lot, i do use a chain and lock around the wheel. flashy stuff may bring headaches.

[waiguoren]

jobin,

Thanks for the response. I understand bike theft is a major problem, but I don't see why the thieves in BJ or other major Chinese cities should be any more sophisticated than those in, say, NYC. I'm trying to understand if proper bike protection for high-crime areas in the US (e.g., heavy U lock securing rear wheel to frame, ultra-heavy chain securing front wheel to frame to lamp post, lighter chain securing seat) is sufficient in China.

A bit more context: planning to go to move to BJ next month and thought I'd like to have a bike with me. Talked to my 叔叔, a BJer, who told me it would be a mistake to have a nice bike in the city and that bike locks are easily removed, U locks not excepted. Inferred that BJ bike thieves must carry power tools, then second-guessed myself, then decided to come here to ask.

[taylor04]

I knew a really tall foreigner who took the seat off his bike and sat on the back support(where you can put extra stuff). His bike wasn't stolen in the year he had it, and a lot of times he wouldn't even lock it!

I have used foreign locks, chains around lampposts, multiple locks, but they've all been stolen. Best bet would probably be to park it in your room at night(if it's nice) and very public areas when you're out.

On another note, I've always wanted to loosen all the bolts on a second hand bike and let it sit there unlocked waiting for a thief to come along. Then, with a big smile on my face, watch him hop on to ride away only to have it completely fall apart! This is an idea that come to me from pure frustration, but will never be implemented.

[waiguoren]

Hi taylor04,

Can you give a bit more info about the specific locking scheme you used? Which locks were used to secure which portions of the bike? I'm confused because a "proper" locking scheme ("proper" according to city cyclist types) should be impregnable except to a well-trained thief with appropriate, expensive power tools. I'm just surprised that China is any more dangerous than NYC, where I would gladly leave my bicycle locked up.

Regarding your fantasy, it appears that something similar has been done before: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8qj4rkfINo

[taylor04]

I can certainly say I never used any professional locks like kryptonite on my bike. When I first came, I brought a foreign lock with me. It wasn't this lock but looked quite like it, http://www.amazon.com/OnGuard-5031L-Doberman-Combo-Bicycle/dp/B001865UCI/ref=sr_1_88?ie=UTF8&s=sporting-goods&qid=1270093963&sr=1-88 only it was a bit thicker. I used that lock go to around a tree plus a tire lock Stolen within a half hour. My next giant bike wasn't as nice, so I just bought a kind of crappy lock for when I was out and kept an eye on it. I had a huge chain at home with a padlock like this. http://www.tonsionlock.com/uploadpic/1.2548731111421.jpg It had a square key which apparently made it harder to break. I used both the crappy lock and the huge chain. One morning I woke up and couldn't unlock it, then I noticed the inside of the crappy lock was completely bore out and unusable. They attempted to bore out the padlock but apparently a fail safe went off or something making the lock completely unopenable. It took the workers there 15 minutes to cut the chain with a grinder for me. I got another decent Chinese lock for the bike, but got really drunk one night, knew I was taking a risk but didn't want to ride it home. I found half a link on the ground the next day.

The second bike being stolen was my fault for leaving it out at night, but it wouldn't have mattered what kind of lock I had unless we're talking about a kryptonite fuggedaboutit. The first one, I still don't know how they stole. I'll save you the stories of my friends getting theirs stolen, but my gf had 3 stolen, roommate 2, etc. I hear Hangzhou is quite notorious for bike thieves though, I don't know about other cities.

The locks were always secured to the frame and hooked to an unmovable object such as a tree, lamp post, etc.

[taylor04]

I just saw a really funny video about a guy stealing his own bike on the NYC streets.

The difference with NYC and China, is people care less in China...

[Sweeter]

@ Waiguoren - my suggestion is not to bring your own nice bike to BJ. I'm sure you can easily find a local one and i'm sure it'll function just as well as you can expect, so why bother?

[amandagmu]

I don't know about China, but here's what I did in Taipei and what I'm planning to do when I get to Beijing in the fall:

- brought my fancy schmancy road bike for outside-the-city and weekend early morning jaunts inside the city. When I went out with it, it came back with me. It was parked next to my closet permanently, inside my 6th floor studio (required two keys to get in--downstairs and my apartment). Never had a problem

- I bought a brand-new ($30 USD) bike in Taipei to park downstairs/outside and everywhere else I went. I used it for ALL bike riding in the city. Nothing fancy at all, just your generic solid no-name-brand components and no gears ($$ and didn't need them since the city itself is FLAT). It rusted a lot because it rains a lot in Taipei - 6 weeks straight without stopping in the winter - but I just covered the seat with a plastic bag. To deter the possibility of it getting stolen I brought a solid kryptonite lock combo (4 or 5 numbers) from the U.S. (Washington DC), and I did as everyone else on here has told you already, I parked it in public, highly visible spots near entrances to subway stations and such (aside from when I had at my apartment).

The best part was that I lived several blocks from a family-owned bike shop that sold high-quality Giants and Giant hybrids. When I had a problem with either bike (fancy Trek I brought with me or the $30 USD thing I bought there) they fixed it at a nominal fee, like the chain broke and I paid the equivalent of $3 for the part and repair. They serviced the Trek for $5-6 USD. It probably helped that I spoke Chinese, so if you don't you might consider finding someone who likes bikes and becoming friends with them and their bike shop real fast... or find an expat group to help out if all else fails for the fancy bike.

I'm thinking of leaving my road bike at home when I move to Beijing in September/October. Seems a lot less bike-friendly than the pretty little mountain towns, Yangmingshan, and the coast I biked to near Taipei.

[Flying Pigeon]

i bought a really old, 28 er, (largest common sized wheel) for 100 rmb five years ago. Big, black, rusty, with big strong basket and rear sitting platform but need long legs to ride, seat poor, bike taped and wired but in fact highly functional and easily fixed on every corner. result: cheap, get around town without any problem, lock up or not, no matter-few want such a bike, no good resale value, too big for most chinese, outright ugly! for me a great solution and i will miss it when i leave. when needed, sometimes in a parking lot, i do use a chain and lock around the wheel. flashy stuff may bring headaches.

jobin,

have you sold your bike yet? what brand is it? where did you buy it? i want to buy an old roadster bike as well.