Typical China Experience

I broke down and bought a bike last week. BF bought one last year and often gets around the city for errands. It was a really warm sunny day last Sunday so I just had to get one so we could go for a ride together. I hesitated this long because it just seems like a perilous activity in this crazy Chinese city (so many cars, people, and bikes all at the same time going in different directions and speeds with rules I just don't get, especially at intersections).

So we went to the bike shop where BF bought hers. Of course they tried to show us the more expensive bikes first but I just want real basic transportation for occasional riding, nothing more. So there were two bikes to select from and I got a quick ride on each one. The shop owner does not speak English and trust me we can't speak Mandarin. We kept negotiating on the price to a point where he was not budging and I felt we were getting taken advantage of. We decided to walk away and look somewhere else. Wouldn't you know it the words "OK" came out of the shop keepers mouth but with much disdain for us. The whole outfit cost 400 yuan which is a little over $51. I know others have gotten their bikes for 300 or less but I thought well maybe the size of my bike alone justified a higher price and after all it was $50.

The shop owner proceeded to have his workers put on new pedals, a basket, and bike lock. We left the shop on the bike with BFon the back. Well the pedal was hitting on both sides with each stroke. I took the bike back to be fixed and they pounded away on the cranks to fix it. So off we went back to the apartment. It was getting late and very windy so we called it a day.

Yesterday we thought it would be nice to ride our bikes to a museum. I tried to ride my bike up the garage ramp at the apartment building and felt something slip and the pedaling did not feel right. When I got on the bike again I noticed the pedals were in the same position and there was no way to pedal the bike. I showed the bike to the guard at the apartment door and he pointed down the street. He doesn't speak English so I assumed he meant there was a street bike repairman down the street who could repair the bike. BF and I headed down the street and found a bike repairman on a corner two blocks away. There are bike repairmen scattered throughout the city streets.
I showed the repairman my predicament and he went to hammering and breaking off bolts to put new ones to keep the cranks in place. Then he noticed that there was still a problem with the crank and motioned that there was a lot of movement. He took off the cranks to find that the bearings were not packed and perhaps some were missing. Next he noticed that the rear wheel was not going straight and there was a lot of movement in the rear hub. He took off the wheel and wouldn't you know it the ball bearings were a problem there too. He then pointed out holes in the tire, no tape was put on the inside of the wheel to protect the inner tube from the spoke ends. I thought to myself what else could go wrong.

I finally got to take the bike for a spin and noticed that the steering was loose. I showed the repairman, so he took the handlebars out. Wouldn't you know it, there was a broken bearing ring. The bike is a total piece of crap that isn't even worth the $50 I paid for it. Now it is a $65 piece of junk after the 2 hour bike repair.

We finally took off on our bikes and decided to stop for lunch since it was getting late. We noticed that the weather had turned and was getting colder and windier. After we ate lunch we went outside to get back on our bikes and it was raining hard (it really does not rain much here in Beijing. I think it has only rained on 5 days since I have been here). We gave up and headed back home. We will have to see the museum another day.