Since our school is located near the western edge of town, I get to walk toward the mountains on my way to classes each morning. Most of my 20 minute walk is along one of the bike lanes built adjacent to a new highway:
Other than a formal trip in October to Western Hills Park, we haven’t yet had the chance to explore some of the nearby trails (too busy setting up an apartment and learning to be a teacher). But those rocky peaks have certainly been calling my name lately, so you can imagine my interest when a student said that he rode each weekend with a mountain bike club. I’ve been thinking about getting a bike, but wasn’t sure whether I should get something for the trail or for the city (the most likely use). It wasn’t too hard to convince me that I should at least get something with a front shock and a few gears.
I never really considered myself to be very tall, but that perspective has changed after spending an entire day visiting local bike shops in search of a large frame. After finding a few candidates, I finally narrowed in on a UCC Dynamite 1.0 with some low-end Shimano parts:
After cranking up a steep hill, jumping a few curbs, and noting the wrong picture and misspelling of “Porducts” on the official company website (http://www.uccbicycle.cn/en_products.asp), I knew that this was the bike for me. Almost everyone that I know in China has had their bike stolen at least once, so the price seemed about right ($300 with the ergonomic grips). I also broke away from Chinese tradition and bought a helmet ($17.50), standing out like a sore thumb among the thousands of other bikers as I rode through town.
It’s certainly not as fancy as my Salsa ElSanto with XTR components back in the States, but here are the standard close up photos for my biker-geek friends:
So glad you found a good bike! I’m sure we’ll have our own set of searches and headaches as we look for a frame tall enough for Timothy this summer! We know all too well the frustration of a stolen bike now…Brian’s electric scooter was stolen this week! Not an easy task by whoever did it–we were wishing it had been my cheap bike rather than his scooter!
Brian – so sorry to hear about the scooter. In addition to the financial loss, it’s such a feeling of violation when someone steals something from you. But don’t worry – I’m sure that the local police will quickly find it and return it to you… ha, ha, ha, thump! (in case you remember the old joke about a man laughing his head off).