The laowai riding the road bike in a shirt, tie, and helmet probably looks weird.

7/25
So I committed to going bike shopping after work. I'd been trying to find a second-hand store, but the best I'd managed was a few battered old bikes at the new places. I went to one store that sold all high-end mountain bikes, either imports of international brands or counterfeits, but I decided to keep looking. Electric bikes are definitely the thing, and it seems that not pedaling them at all and sitting side-saddle is the accepted mode. Bonus points if you talk on your cell phone or smoke a cigarette.

I was really going to buy a Beijing clunker, a nice, new, $25 Flying Pigeon or Red Flag cruiser bike, but after testing a couple I couldn't get used to sitting back that high and the position of my hands; it was too easy to oversteer and I felt off balance. The Flying Pigeon seemed indestructible; instead of cables for the brakes it had solid metal bars. The frame was big, thick steel tubing that weighed a ton. Gears? Who needs them? I tried a 'Giant' (Taiwanese ripoff of the US brand) cruiser that was ok for 450RMB ($55) new, and I was about to pick that one up when I saw the Battle.

I'll post pictures soon, but it's great. I got it new, plus a 'free' lock (apparently they took pity on my bargaining skills) for $70. It's a 15 speed road bike (with indexed gears!), probably much nicer than my beloved, antique Raleigh I left in Boston. The Battle isn't super light, but it handles well and feels like what I think a bike should. My gears have been leaving the locals in the dust. I don't think the mopeds 3-wheeled motorcycle taxis like being passed by a biker. I don't have a helmet yet, which is making me uncomfortable in the crazy traffic, and I didn't bring my lights with me, which made me just as invisible as every other biker on the road on the ride home. Tomorrow I'll go to the 'Giant' outlet near my work; they have a wider selection of helmets than the place I went today, which had exactly one. Not one model, one helmet. I'm also going to buy a second lock, and maybe keep my bike on my floor of the building rather than the bike lot outside.