Flying Pigeon LA is a specialty bike retailer started by two brothers, Adam and Josef Bray-Ali, located in the Highland Park/Cypress Park neighborhood of Los Angeles.
We host regular “Get Sum Dim Sum” rides, art gallery tours, and other recurring and one-off bike rides and tours. Our inventory is also available for rent as props or set decoration in film shoots, commercials, and Hollywood blockbusters.
We stock Flying Pigeon bicycles (our namesake), our “Deluxe” line of Flying Pigeons, Batavus, Gazelle, Pashley, Biomega, Torker, Velorbis, Christiania, Public Bikes, Linus Bikes, Pilen Cyckler as well as a few one-off bikes when the opportunity presents itself. Our accessories include the Bobike Mini/Maxi/Junior line, Yepp Maxi and Mini child seats, Design House Stockholm baskets, Pocampo Bags, Basil bags & baskets, various rear wheel locks from AXA & Abus, a select line of tires from Schwalbe, saddles and other goodies from Velo Orange and Brooks and loads of other beautiful and functional things for cycling.
The video segment below was captured by an alert Olympics fan (cycling was broadcast super late at night) and sent our way. In this segment, Lester Holt, of NBC, got Team USA cyclist Mike “Meatball” Friedman to test ride a Flying Pigeon on the Olympic Velodrome in Beijing in August of 2008.
Below are some frequently asked questions and links to other sites we’ve found helpful in our journey. We hope to see you sometime in our shop where we have a hot pot of tea ready, and a good Kung Fu show on the TV at all times!
- Where are you located? – The Flying Pigeon LA shop is located at 3714 N. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA 90065. We’re in the Cypress Park/Highland Park area of Los Angeles (between Pasadena and Downtown LA).
- Dim Sum rides, that’s genius. How do I get in on it? – Well we took Josef’s love of bicycles, Adam’s love of food and mixed them into a monthly ride. Every 3rd Sunday at 10 a.m. we meet at the shop for a leisurely ride for brunch at any number of local dim sum restaurants. We’ve actually found a way to make this ride about 90% downhill. Following brunch we head back to the shop on bikes or the Gold Line which stops just behind the shop. If you don’t have a bicycle we have a limited number of test bikes to let you use. Costs are usually about 10-15 dollars (please bring cash) and we are trying to explore as many good brunch places as possible
- Why should I buy a bike from you? - We know that there are options when you buy a bike. We want to earn your business by including things that the other sellers simply can’t. First, we assemble the bikes in our shop and run them through a stringent road test (generally riding over to the local fruit vendor and back). Before delivery, we tighten everything down, making sure that everything is ready to go and when we deliver the bike to you (in person at our store or through our delivery) we take the time to show you how to adjust, lubricate and tune up your new bicycle. If you have any trouble with the bicycle, we want to help you get it running the right way. Call us or stop by the shop during our open hours and we will get you rolling.
- We want to rent some bikes as props or set decoration for a photoshoot, commercial, or huge Hollywood blockbuster. What can you do for us? – We are happy to help your production in any way we can. Our inventory of unique and classic bicycles is at your disposal. We can provide you with 1-50 bicycles with short notice. If you have an idea please send an email to info@flyingpigeon-la.com and we will have our agent call yours. (just kidding about the agents of course)
- Where do these Flying Pigeon bikes come from? – The answer first is that they come from Tianjin, China which is a small town of 11.5 MILLION people first settled in 340 B.C. (i’m not making this up – look here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tianjin) Among other things Tianjin is known for being the sister city of Clarence, New York, heavy involvement in the opium wars, and making great bicycles.
- No seriously, where did you get these? – In 2008, we met a great friend (ironically enough she shares the name ‘Fei’ with the Fei Gei bicycles) from Shanghai who helped us arrange for the purchase and importing of a shipment of bicycles. With almost no prior international shipping experience (we’ve sent postcards home from trips abroad) we managed to take delivery of two container trucks full of Flying Pigeon bicycles.
