What Shanghai Is Riding Right Now #03: Barely Scratching the Surface
Here is the final article in the Shanghai series, and while writing it, I quickly realized that adding yet another triple bike check would not do justice to the incredible variety I experienced during my week there.
What truly defines Shanghai’s cycling culture, in my view, is something far richer. A new wave of shops and people is pushing well beyond the standard retail experience, showcasing a wide range of components and encouraging riders to fully explore their creativity when building a bike. The selection is vast and international, yet equally rooted in local products, from small, clever accessories to Shanghai-based brands starting to make a decent name for themselves. After all, this is China, where making things is one of the things they excel at.
Cirens is one of those places, a true hub for some of the wildest bikes I came across during this trip. Thinking back, I probably should have done three times as many bike checks, but it’s easy to get overwhelmed when everything is happening at once, especially in a city like Shanghai.
If you try to find Cirens on Google Maps or Apple Maps, don’t be surprised if it doesn’t show up. In China, those platforms are largely unreliable, and you’ll need to install Amap to navigate properly. Still, I’ll point you in the right direction if you ever want to save it offline and make the trip yourself.
Another great experience I had and point well worth mentioning is the people you meet along the way. Riders are genuinely stoked that you’ve come “all this way” to experience the city and its cycling culture. As always, riding with locals ended up being the highlight of the trip, though navigating Shanghai solo has its own kind of thrill.
A few things are worth keeping in mind though: The city is lined with plane trees, introduced during the early 20th century by French residents of the former concession, partly as a remedy for homesickness. A poetic idea, perhaps, but if you visit in spring, be ready to ride through clouds of pollen, and even without allergies, it can make breathing on the bike surprisingly difficult. And don’t even get me started on the state of my eyes after a day of rolling around….
Then there’s the traffic: You’ll be sharing the road and bike lanes with what feels like an endless stream of e-mopeds, loosely regulated and constantly fighting for position. It’s chaotic at first, but you can adapt quickly, and you’ll see that you’ll even come to have fun with it. That said, don’t expect this density to make drivers more cautious; sudden U-turns and unpredictable driving styles are part of the game.
Finally, keep an eye out for streets that are designated “car only," even if they look like any other road. If you’re stopped by the police, it’s usually just a matter of explanation, but best not to push your luck.
One thing I knew existed but didn’t expect to witness firsthand was the clear split between collector bike markets. With Western and Chinese internet ecosystems largely separated, including social media, it’s not uncommon for a rare bike to enter the Chinese market and effectively disappear from the global radar. Beyond that, the chances of it resurfacing in the West are extremely slim.
And that’s exactly what happened with this Bishop track bike. Long considered impossible to trace, it turned out to be quietly hanging on the wall of Pedal House, another shop in Shanghai. I’m pretty sure there are hundreds, if not thousands, of examples like this one, and this might be something that I'll have to investigate a bit further.
Finally, this brings me to one of my main points that Shanghai made me realize something I genuinely didn’t see coming… Road cycling can actually look better than I thought.
Hear me out before you start going nuts in my DMs. On my last day in the city, I was invited to the opening event of Standert’s first official Chinese reseller. Naturally, the focus was on road bikes, and as I took a closer look at what everyone had brought, something clicked. Road cycling doesn’t have to be visually dull, or at least not if you’re willing to step outside the unspoken codes that so many riders seem to follow.
Coming from a fixed-gear background, I’ve always enjoyed adding a few unexpected details, an obscure sticker here, and a splash of bright anodized components there. I’ve never been drawn to the idea of a fully blacked-out, indistinguishable build, and it turns out the Shanghai crowd feels the same way.
Custom-painted, limited editions, fully bespoke builds, everything goes, and it makes for a true visual feast. The sheer diversity of bikes and riders on display is striking. It also feels like just scratching the surface. There’s still so much left to explore, and I know I’ll have to come back to dive deeper into everything this city has to offer. But if you’re looking for a place to ride, meet people, and do some urban cycling in China, Shanghai is hard to beat.
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💾 : Leica SL
📍: Shanghai
