Bicycle Status

I think we have referenced in an earlier blog that we bought a bike here in Shanghai. It is a nice 3-speed bike with a basket to haul groceries and a child carrier for Natalie. What I don’t think I have mentioned was that our house already had 4 bikes when we moved in. Two bikes were for adults. One was a dirt bike for a teenager. The fourth one was for a Shriner or a circus clown. It turns out the landlord is a famous inventor in England and had invented the world’s smallest bicycle. I haven’t tried to ride it, or unfold it, but it looks intriguing. The wheels are about 6 inches in diameter. But that is not the point of my blog.

The two adult bikes were not in a usable state. The women’s bike had a wheel lock on it. The landlord provided the keys to unlock but the key did not match the bike lock. The men’s bike also had a lock but its key did work. But unfortunately the men’s bike had a tire that wouldn’t hold air.

About two blocks down the road from us is an older man who sets up a bicycle tire repair shop on the street curb everyday. When we purchased our new bike it gave me the opportunity to take the other bike with the flat tire to the old man. I have to admit that I looked a little strange riding a bike with one hand on the steering wheel and the other hand on an empty bike. I quickly learned how to handle an empty bike while riding another. To our neighbor’s kid’s delight, I managed to wipe out and wreck both bikes about 50 feet from my garage door. In case you ever have to haul a bike while riding another bike the key is to handle the empty bike’s handlebars from the center near the fork. Hanging onto an empty bike from one end of the handle bar tends to make the bike go in directions that you can not control very well. Of course you can ignore this if you want to become the neighborhood goofball to the kids on your block. But again I digress, this is not the purpose of my blog.

The purpose of this blog is to inform you on the process of getting your flat fixed while in China. I eventually arrived at the man’s corner. It was obvious that my tire was flat. He had time to study that as I approached because I certainly caught the attention of passerby’s as I rode next to an empty bike. He knew what I needed. He flipped the bike over and removed the wheel. He proceeded to remove the tire from the rim and pulled out the inner tube. He looked at the inner tube and went to his mobile 2-wheel cart. He looked in for about 5 minutes. I knew that he was looking for a new inner tube and that he was not finding a replacement. He came over to speak to me. He knew no English and I knew no Chinese (very common relationship around here). We were at a stand still. I didn’t know if he wanted me to get a new tube or what. Another older gentleman was riding by and the tire repair man said something to him. The man got off his bike. The tire repair man jumped on it and took off. It was obvious to me that he was off to get a new inner tube. Prior to the tire repairman leaving the two had a short talk and both laughed. I knew they were laughing at me. Now the bike-less old man said something to me but I had not learned any additional Chinese in those 5 minutes since the conversation with the tire repairman. The bike-less man invited me to sit with him at the curb on a little stool that was about 6 inches high. At first I refused but he was very insistent so I joined him. Oh how I wish I had a picture of this. It would have been the big young American sitting on a little stool next to the small older Chinese man. I received a lot of looks and stares from passerby’s that morning. We were there for about 20 minutes before the other man returned. In his absence, business was good for the tire man. About every 5 minutes someone would stop by and pump up their tires with a manual air-pump that the man had sitting near his curb shop. When completed, people would throw money in a jar. To pump your tires up would cost you the US equivalent of a penny.

When the man returned he had a new tube (plus several others to replenish his stock). They were all brand new in their boxes. He quickly changed the tube and remounted the tire to the frame. He pumped up all tires and gave it a quick ride. Everything was in order. I had been thinking during the whole process about what to pay him. I read an article about these types of repair shops and typically a dollar would suffice for a repair. But since the tube had to be replaced I had no idea of the cost. I decided to offer him 5 dollars (or 40 RMB). He took the money and gave me 5 RMB (about $0.60) back in change. I tried to refuse but he was very insistent that I take the change. I thanked him (I do know that in Chinese) and headed home with both bikes.

I returned and park the newer bike in the garage and took the older bike with the new tire to the gym for a quick workout. I forgot to mention that the bike was manufactured in Shanghai by a local company. When I jumped on it I quickly realized a problem. My knees would hit the handle bars but I could manage by pedaling bow-legged.

I worked out in the gym for 60 minutes. I returned to my bike only to discover that the same tire was flat. I pushed it home and stuck it in the back of the storage room. Heavens forbid if I invest another $4 in that bike.