Eric Demay

If I had room for a 3rd bike at home (let alone room in my luggage), I would bring one of these Flying Pigeons to Montreal with me, converting it to a stylish fixie for sunday rides in the plateau.

These bad boys have been in production since Mao took over in the early 50s, and are still manufactured today, with the same all-steel frames, the covered chain, sprung leather saddle and old school rod brakes. Though a exponentially growing number of chinese are trading two wheels for four, you can still see many of these riding the streets, mostly by old men, somewhat of a souvenir of a forgotten era now clashing with the decor of today’s contemporary China.

In China, I saw them priced new at around 480 RMB (CDN 95$) and you can probably get a well-used one for less than 100 RMB (CDN 20$). Flying Pigeon NYC and Flying Pigeon LA are selling some in America.