Comments on: Jhong: Bicycle Culture Revolution

By: Nom

Nom — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 18:05:41 +0000

“Some cycling advocates in America want to Sinofy American cycling by turning it into a plain, utilitarian form of mere transportation…”

While others want to make it the generic hipster version of the fixed gear bike. Safety first coolness second?

By: Cyclelicious

Cyclelicious — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 19:33:18 +0000

Thanks again! That makes sense.

By: Cyclelicious

Cyclelicious — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 19:28:21 +0000

I know *nothing* of idiomatic Chinese, so thank you so much for the intel on zhong/jhong/.

The fixed gear explanation I saw somewhere was that the “fly” portion of 死飞 is for flywheel.

By: drwxrxrx

drwxrxrx — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 19:25:40 +0000

Bah, just answered my own question. It's short for 死飞轮, "rigid flywheel".

http://chinafixedgear.ning.com/forum/topics/yin...

By: Cyclelicious

Cyclelicious — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 19:25:00 +0000

It's my slightly cranky commentary on this.

By: drwxrxrx

drwxrxrx — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 19:16:03 +0000

Can anyone familiar with the scene over there explain why they chose “death flying” as the translation of “fixed gear”?

“Jhong” (really “zhong” in Pinyin) means “middle” or “center”, and is also a short word for China itself (whose name means “middle kingdom”).

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 18:34:48 +0000

“Some cycling advocates in America want to Sinofy American cycling by turning it into a plain, utilitarian form of mere transportation with little room for individuality.”

How do you mean?