💾 Archived View for zaibatsu.circumlunar.space › ~solderpunk › bikes › finnish-pigeon › philosophy.t… captured on 2020-09-24 at 02:11:23.
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The Finnish Pigeon is supposed to be my everyday "beater" bike for running errands close to home. Trips to grocery stores, cafes, the post office and library will be its bread and butter. It's a workhorse, not a joy rider or a showpiece. It should be at home on whatever terrain the above mission statement requires (which includes cobbled streets, and gravel paths through parks), should be ridable in most weather conditions (I probably won't ride to the grocery store in a downpour, but I might ride there an hour afterwards when the roads are still full of puddles), and should be able to carry a good amount of stuff. It also shouldn't look terribly fancy - I don't ever want to have to stress about it or parts of it being stolen, or worry about leaving it parked outside in the rain. The bike should be as reliable and maintenance free as possible, although realistically I am not likely to ever ride this thing so far from home that it couldn't be walked back in about half an hour if it became totally unrideable. What's with the name? The most numerously manufactured vehicle of any kind in human history is a Chinese bicycle called the Flying Pigeon, which has been manufactured in Tianjin continuously since the 1950s. Although apparently now very out of style, for several decades they were the cornerstone of Chinese utility cycling, used by everybody for everything. Heavily patterned after classic English roadsters, with fenders, a sprung saddle and fully enclosed chain, to me the Flying Pigeon is the almost-modern flagbearer for the concept of a practical, utilitarian bike designed to be affordable, durable, useful and repairable rather than light, fast, and flashy. The old Tunturi I rescued has a lot of features which make it a great base to build a Finnish-style tribute to the Flying Pigeon. It has a heavy all-steel construction, with the same ultra-classic diamond frame with very relaxed geometry, and fenders. The chain is not fully enclosed, but it has a much larger chainguard than later Tunturi offerings did, so it kind of looks similar. There's a rear rack and a sprung saddle and upright, swept-back handlebars. Rod brakes are out of the question, and I wouldn't want them anyway because they don't perform well, but otherwise I should be able to build something pretty close in both spirit and appearance.