£17 bike

[Yuxi]

I walked round the local Carrefore supermarket yesterday and they were selling new adult bicyles for under £17. Single speed, with brakes, mudgaurds, chain gaurd and a big comfortable seat. I am in China though, in Kunshan where there are huge Shimano and Giant factories.

[matt-ITR]

A Carrefour in China?! Are the French taking over the World?!

[Gizmoish]

matt-ITR said:

A Carrefour in China?! Are the French taking over the World?!

They have Tesco and Wal-Mart too I think. 1.6 billion people discovering the joys of consumerism, you'd be mad not to at least try to have a presence.

I'm sure the Chinese one is a bit of a BSO, but I wonder just how cheaply you could make a decent rigid singlespeed bike these days - either out of aluminium or reasonably lightweight steel, say 12kg all in.

[pidsy]

Buy a container load and sell them to clueless people on ebay for quadruple the cost.

[mudshark]

B&Q are there too though the focus is more on fitting a place out than DIY.

When I went I thought it might be fun to get hold of a tradition Chinese bike, then thought I'd quickly get fed up with it. Fun fact - the Chinese tend to be scared of their front brake and often disconnect it.

Some bike related pics from my trip: