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Flying Pigeon China

Old 04-18-21, 07:52 AM
  #1  
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Flying Pigeon China

anyone have a Flying Pigeon and know the best website to buy one?
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Old 04-18-21, 09:41 AM
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Why would you?

​​​​​​https://www.bikeforums.net/living-ca...ese-bikes.html

​​​​​​https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...-pigeon-2.html

​​​​​​https://www.bikeforums.net/commuting...ng-pigeon.html
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Old 04-18-21, 11:05 AM
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Now I'm curious: what kind of valve stems do Flying Pidgeons come with?
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Old 04-18-21, 11:10 AM
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Does it need to be labeled as a flying pigeon, or would a Dutch city bike serve the same purpose?
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Old 04-18-21, 07:34 PM
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There are scrapyards across the country that have scrap metal and some of it is sometimes bicycle shaped. My guess is some of those bicycle shaped scraps are from China so maybe not a Flying Pigeon but junk just the same.
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Old 04-19-21, 05:43 AM
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Originally Posted by Retro Grouch
Now I'm curious: what kind of valve stems do Flying Pidgeons come with?
I think Woods/Dunlop valves are common in China, so I would not be surprised if that's what they have.
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Old 04-19-21, 07:37 AM
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Don’t do it. Samples seen on these shores have been abysmal. Application of large amounts of skilled time will not make these into rideable bikes. Even if you were able to get one vaguely operable the aesthetics are pathetic.

You are in Australia? The Flying Pigeon is loosely based on old Raleigh Shanghai DL-1s. In Oz it should be no trouble at all finding a used real Raleigh DL-1.

My daily ride past fifteen years has been a DL-1 built by Eastman in Delhi. Eastman being part of the leftovers from the old Raleigh Atlas factory. Had it not been assembled and completely reworked by the Yellow Jersey shop in Madison, Wisconsin I’d have had no chance. Yellow Jersey has attempted to complete Flying Pigeons for customers who brought them in. Yellow Jersey has long been known for being able to make any strange thing functional. They gave up on Flying Pigeons.

I have seen what the Eastmans looked like as originally received. I have seen what the Flying Pigeons look like when received. No comparison.

Mine is a fully functional rider because it has been re-fitted with cantilever brakes. Rod brakes mostly plain don’t work. Functional rod brakes did exist. Top end bikes built in many countries in the 1930s and 1940s had beautiful rod brakes. When rod brake bikes became low-end bikes the first thing to be built too darn cheap was the brakes. The big exception to that was Italy, where the Tipo R brakes are still good enough.

Any basket case older Raleigh, Bianchi, Atala, Umberto Dei, in the general style you are looking for is a better starting point than a new Flying Pigeon.

Last edited by 63rickert; 04-19-21 at 07:40 AM. Reason: Overactive spellcheck
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Old 04-19-21, 08:31 AM
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Are there pigeons that don't fly?
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Old 04-19-21, 08:45 AM
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Through the 1990s, the Flying Pigeon PA-02 was the single most popular mechanized vehicle in the world. China’s post-Mao leader, Deng Xiaoping, even defined prosperity as a “Pigeon in every household.”

The classic Flying Pigeon is a singlespeed with 28-inch wheels, a fully covered chain, a rear rack, and push-rod brakes. Based in northeastern China, the Flying Pigeon factory has made more than 500 million PA-02s since 1950. They have never been imported into the United States (besides a stray handful that showed up in California).
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Old 04-19-21, 08:56 AM
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Originally Posted by 63rickert
Don’t do it. Samples seen on these shores have been abysmal. Application of large amounts of skilled time will not make these into rideable bikes. Even if you were able to get one vaguely operable the aesthetics are pathetic.

You are in Australia? The Flying Pigeon is loosely based on old Raleigh Shanghai DL-1s. In Oz it should be no trouble at all finding a used real Raleigh DL-1.

My daily ride past fifteen years has been a DL-1 built by Eastman in Delhi. Eastman being part of the leftovers from the old Raleigh Atlas factory. Had it not been assembled and completely reworked by the Yellow Jersey shop in Madison, Wisconsin I’d have had no chance. Yellow Jersey has attempted to complete Flying Pigeons for customers who brought them in. Yellow Jersey has long been known for being able to make any strange thing functional. They gave up on Flying Pigeons.

I have seen what the Eastmans looked like as originally received. I have seen what the Flying Pigeons look like when received. No comparison.

Mine is a fully functional rider because it has been re-fitted with cantilever brakes. Rod brakes mostly plain don’t work. Functional rod brakes did exist. Top end bikes built in many countries in the 1930s and 1940s had beautiful rod brakes. When rod brake bikes became low-end bikes the first thing to be built too darn cheap was the brakes. The big exception to that was Italy, where the Tipo R brakes are still good enough.

Any basket case older Raleigh, Bianchi, Atala, Umberto Dei, in the general style you are looking for is a better starting point than a new Flying Pigeon.

thanks, you are a wealth of information

I love Italian design but did not know China had been making these for 70 years and found the history very interesting
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Old 04-19-21, 10:05 AM
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A related question--what's the best bike rack to use when you're transporting a Flying Pigeon on a Trabant?
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Old 04-19-21, 04:14 PM
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Originally Posted by livedarklions
A related question--what's the best bike rack to use when you're transporting a Flying Pigeon on a Trabant?
La PreAlpina. They are easy to set up for the 47” wheelbase.
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Old 04-20-21, 09:00 AM
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Originally Posted by 63rickert
La PreAlpina. They are easy to set up for the 47” wheelbase.

Not sure the Trabant roof could support the weight. Maybe just drag the bike behind the car by a rope?
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Old 04-20-21, 10:03 AM
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Originally Posted by livedarklions
Not sure the Trabant roof could support the weight. Maybe just drag the bike behind the car by a rope?
On the plus side the 2 stoke exhaust emissions would probably add a nice oil rustproofing layer to the Pigeon.
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Old 04-20-21, 02:53 PM
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Originally Posted by livedarklions
Not sure the Trabant roof could support the weight. Maybe just drag the bike behind the car by a rope?
Trabant was routinely used as a team car all over the Comintern nations. The problem was the body was made from duroplast, something like Bakelite with cotton or wool as a fiber reinforcement. The old PreAlpina racks clamped onto the rain gutter. The plastic rain gutter lasted as long as it lasted. Suspect the team mechanics had some sort of fix for that. They would take the weight.

I was thinking more of something like a Bianchi Cesare or Gloria Tipo A on the roof of an Alfa Romeo 6C 2500. If a Trabant does it for you that’s good too.
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Old 04-20-21, 03:33 PM
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Thanks for the thread OP!

I suppose no bike collection would be complete without a Flying Pigeon in the lineup. I have seen videos from China that show scrapyard operations, and you can see FP after FP (or similar) being ground to bits with giant grinders. The entire bike is dropped in, no parts/components are removed. Just shredded into potato chip (crisps for the UK folks) size pieces. The amount of waste is staggering (worldwide, not just China!).

I considered one as a novelty, but the thought lasted no more than a few minutes.

Definitely see all the parallels between the FP and the Trabant.
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Old 04-20-21, 07:38 PM
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This was a display on the top of the city wall of Xi'an China. Didn't put the drive side out LOL


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Old 06-19-21, 05:02 PM
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recently chanced upon a Flying Pigeon bicycle

had it for a month,
located Melbourne, western suburbs, Australia.
does anyone know what it's worth or where to get a valuation ?

tried posting a photo here but it won't attach?
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