In China, bike sharing became a thing. People invested in bike sharing companies, and thousands of bikes were made. They finished up with far too many. Now there are thousands of bikes left to go rusty.
It seems nobody has thought of sending container loads of these bikes to other countries. These bikes were made tough, and break much less than normal bikes. They would make ideal children's bikes, particularly for children who don't care to look after their bike.
(09-15-2023, 06:02 AM)Painkiller Wrote: If they are anything like walmart quality bikes, thats exactly where they belong. should never have been made in the first place,
They are much stronger than Walmart bikes. They are built to break as little as possible, when left out for bike sharing. Give one to a child who abuses their bike, and they probably wont break it.
However, the ride quality is not so good. They have solid rubber tires, so they don't get punctures.
I tend to disagree some with your statement of better than walmart bikes. Does that pile of bicycles disturb you? Is that why you made this forum? All fine if that is the case. Let me ask you, where are from? and how old are you? and are you Male or Female. I generally do not even discuss or help anyone on this forum if they cannot as much fill out a generic bio such as yourself. however you again have brought an interesting topic to the table! But filling out the Bio does help others to communicate more effective, thats what makes a family in a solid ongoing site that brings people of similar interests together in a good way. You need to realize one about China, The bike industry has gone through many changes over the years and one cannot be alarmed over pictures like this. Great subject and incentive for me to start a forum related to this and the truth about it in hopes of calming the waves and If this upsets you just maybe you will understand that it should not at all.
There are two kinds of people in the world, "Those who help themselves to people, and those who help people!"
(09-20-2023, 09:10 AM)Talha Wrote: Which city is the yard picture from?
Doesn't really matter what city, Just pick one. The OP will not answer questions on its own posts half the time anyways and most of the time hasn't a clue about what the actual problems are either. But since it brought the subject up I would like to clarify the reality of what you are looking at in those photos of piles of bikes. Obviously one might get the wrong impression of a photo or two of a few thousand bicycles in a pile in one place. "A picture paints a thousand words", so here are a few words.
These bikes were mass produced in a hurry I might add, in factories with low pay and bad working conditions more than likely. Because China cut loose on a bike sharing program that all the corporate greeds had to dominate the market and it failed miserably. China was capable of producing Bicycle back in the day that were pretty good quality and as important as a car is to the mainstream today. However these bicycles would cost the Chinese family roughly 6 months to a years worth of wages to own one plus a waiting list of a year or even two before taking possession of the bicycle. I know this to be true first hand. I even was fortunate enough myself to have owned such a bicycle, a bicycle that was never ever an export item to the United States of America. If you believe that a pile of these bicycles could have have produced and tossed in a pile like in the OPs posted here you have not a clue of what the bicycle culture was back in the day China was built before they became known as great mimics of the worlds finest products. Companies that sacrifice people for profits in the grossest manner ever imaginable.
So speaking of what goes on in the US alone and these numbers are conservative, because of Chinese Production of low quality bicycles that flood this country everyday we make piles every year that dwarf the OPs pictures in daily garbage pick up throughout the year. There are more than 10,000 cities in the US. If one bicycle from every city was tossed in the trash Mon. thru Friday that would equate to 2,600,000 bicycles a year and the highest percentage of these bikes are low grade massed produced garbage that should never have ever been produced and sold in the US or anywhere. Every garbage day every week, every month, every year. That is the true sadness.
I for one have never ever tossed a bicycle in the trash. But these bicycles are produced with the intent that they will go to the trash. The only way to stop it is to not buy them at all.
There are two kinds of people in the world, "Those who help themselves to people, and those who help people!"
Hello Painkiller, thanks for posting pictures of these bikes that were meant to last forever. This is such a contrast to the new bikes that are meant to last a few years if not less.
I have seen such bicycles in use during my rides here in rural parts of India. The villagers and farmers sometimes carry bales of grass, and bags of stuff on these workhorses. Attached are a few pictures of a rider and a bike I found parked by a farm. I love the suspension seats. The seat used to be made of leather (like Brooks) while the newer seats are made of a synthetic material.
Some of these literally last a few generations. I used my grandfather's and am sure it's still being used by someone..
(09-24-2023, 11:56 PM)Painkiller Wrote:
(09-20-2023, 09:10 AM)Talha Wrote: Which city is the yard picture from?
Doesn't really matter what city, Just pick one. The OP will not answer questions on its own posts half the time anyways and most of the time hasn't a clue about what the actual problems are either. But since it brought the subject up I would like to clarify the reality of what you are looking at in those photos of piles of bikes. Obviously one might get the wrong impression of a photo or two of a few thousand bicycles in a pile in one place. "A picture paints a thousand words", so here are a few words.
These bikes were mass produced in a hurry I might add, in factories with low pay and bad working conditions more than likely. Because China cut loose on a bike sharing program that all the corporate greeds had to dominate the market and it failed miserably. China was capable of producing Bicycle back in the day that were pretty good quality and as important as a car is to the mainstream today. However these bicycles would cost the Chinese family roughly 6 months to a years worth of wages to own one plus a waiting list of a year or even two before taking possession of the bicycle. I know this to be true first hand. I even was fortunate enough myself to have owned such a bicycle, a bicycle that was never ever an export item to the United States of America. If you believe that a pile of these bicycles could have have produced and tossed in a pile like in the OPs posted here you have not a clue of what the bicycle culture was back in the day China was built before they became known as great mimics of the worlds finest products. Companies that sacrifice people for profits in the grossest manner ever imaginable.
So speaking of what goes on in the US alone and these numbers are conservative, because of Chinese Production of low quality bicycles that flood this country everyday we make piles every year that dwarf the OPs pictures in daily garbage pick up throughout the year. There are more than 10,000 cities in the US. If one bicycle from every city was tossed in the trash Mon. thru Friday that would equate to 2,600,000 bicycles a year and the highest percentage of these bikes are low grade massed produced garbage that should never have ever been produced and sold in the US or anywhere. Every garbage day every week, every month, every year. That is the true sadness.
I for one have never ever tossed a bicycle in the trash. But these bicycles are produced with the intent that they will go to the trash. The only way to stop it is to not buy them at all.
Damn I wonder if you could offer these companies very little for the bikes just to get them off their hands and then ship them to other countries for a profit and have solid cheap bikes for whomever is looking for a starter bike or something. Are they owned by companies or the government?
(09-27-2023, 07:05 PM)Lss555 Wrote: Damn I wonder if you could offer these companies very little for the bikes just to get them off their hands and then ship them to other countries for a profit and have solid cheap bikes for whomever is looking for a starter bike or something. Are they owned by companies or the government?
I think you would either travel to China, or have a contact in China check them out for you. Then you would need to find out what is involved getting a container load of these to wherever you want to send them. Of course there is loading the container, and unloading the container at the destination, and having somewhere to store them. Some will need repairs. In some cases you should be able to swap parts, to make good bikes.
There have been various companies making them, with different designs. You should check the designs, and see which is most suitable. So it gets back to, you would probably need to travel to China.
Then you need to pay the initial cost of transporting them.
I think they would be ideal for children who don't care too much about looking after their bike. They would break much less then ordinary bikes.
People wanting maximum performance, wouldn't want them.
A charitable organization might decide to send container loads to a poor area in Africa, or another part of the world.
Ah yeah I suppose for the effort they put into selling them for dimes on the dollar they might not want to and bikes are pretty big as far as shipping them would go unless you took every one apart then reassembled them on arrival and maybe it would just be cheaper to buy them elsewhere or something but I guess it would be nice to put them to use
(09-30-2023, 02:14 PM)GirishH Wrote: I am guessing they would rather destroy than sell for little.
I know of a NGO based out of Boston that refurbished old, used bikes and ships containers to Central America and Africa.
The cost involved in the above bikes from China and cost for repair might force the NGO rethink..:-(
I believe they would sell them. You would have to find out who to talk to, and negotiate a price. You would need to go to China. They are in all the large cities, so if you can't arrange anything in one city, go to the next.
I suggest when loading the container, inspect each bike, and only take those which are in good condition. Leave the bad ones there.
You would ship them direct to wherever you want them to go. You would need mechanics at the destination. You would probably miss a few that need some work.
Don't disassemble them. If you did, you might go over the maximum container weight. Just pack the container so it is full.
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