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It’s been a while, but after a good amount of prep and construction, Shanghai’s Factory Five have just opened their new space. They converted a 150sqm shell into their new storefront and design offices, while leaving the perimeter open to bring in natural light.
Factory Five carries their own frames, PAUL, Restrap, Mission Workshop and others.
Head to their Flickr to see more photos!
Yikes! Tyler from Factory Five is one of the raddest dudes I’ve met over the past few years, so I can just imagine him smashing around Shanghai on this thing. As a drummer of a hardcore band, he’s no stranger to camo (shorts), so it just seemed like a natural move to paint his new Factory Five F550s track with the digital pattern. Check out more at the Factory Five Flickr and see the build specs below.
Photos by Sean Murphy
As one of the first people to test out the new cycling gear from Mission Workshop, I greeted it with as much apprehension as enthusiasm. Surely, there were already a lot of options for urban cycling gear out there but were these new pieces strictly for cycling?
Not at all. In fact, while I enjoyed riding in the clothes, I didn’t feel like there was anything in particular that made it cycling-specific and that’s a good thing. The side utility pocket has everyday applications and the cut certainly fits on the bike. In the end, this is made in the USA, high-tech, high-quality clothing from a company that is no stranger to those traits.
The crew at Shanghai-based Factory 5 are some talented folks. They’ve been working on designing, developing and fabricating track bike goods in China. For them, it’s actually quite an easy task because they live just miles from the factories. One of their recent developments is this precision CNC milled, intricate dual-plane lattice cutout, prototype 7075 aluminium track chainring that weighs less than 80g.
So solid guys! I’ll post more once they’re available.
Photos by Benoit Florencon
While Steven Jensen was in Shanghai, he linked up with Benoit Florencon to shoot some photos at the H+Son factory before heading out on a quick street session. See more at Benoit’s site!
The whole time I was in Shanghai, I kept going nuts looking at all the street spots and no one was riding them. I’m glad to see that Steven Jensen got to hit as many as he could in the four hours of street riding he had while visiting. Also, I want to congratulate Steven on getting over his fear of air travel. That’s a long flight to lose your airtime virginity to!
Couldn’t make it out to the opening party of The Ends at Mission Workshop? No big deal, yesterday I shot some photos of the pieces and they’re all displayed in the Gallery. At this point, I’m exhausted from this whole process of going through 800 drum-scanned photos and narrowing a selection down to around 30 photos. The theme is apparent here, if you take the time to soak it all in and I’ll be posting more about The Ends over the next few weeks…
This show will travel to Eurobike and Paris later this summer, as well as Interbike. We’re still trying to figure out what pieces will be displayed where, but in the meantime, the photography book is available at Mission Workshop. Also, you can contact Mission Workshop if you’re interesting in purchasing one of these handmade, high-quality photographic prints on Fuji paper.
Here’s a video trailer promoting a series of webisodes that Mission Workshop is working on with the Werehaus, showcasing our bike tour in China:
“Setting out from Shanghai, John Watson and Mission Workshop began their cycling tour of China’s Yangtze River Delta. Using both film and digital formats, Watson photographed the surroundings and encounters with the local community. Led by their friends from Factory Five, they headed into a frenetic network of massive residential complexes, large industrial parks, and super highways. At first glance, the route seemed straightforward, however, the reality of the 1,000km trip was far more intense than anyone expected.”
Keep on top of The Ends at Mission Workshop and please come to the opening party, let’s hang out!
Last month’s tour was one of the best months of my life. China was, albeit a bit taxing at times, incredible and that’s all thanks to the crew at Factory 5. One of those dudes is Jeff and this is his no frills Factory 5 F550 track bike. Bare aluminum, black components and my favorite rims, this bike is clean!
I have to admit, it’s my favorite from the group and that’s mostly due to the utilitarian nature of the setup. Sometimes, there’s risers and a front brake, other times, compact drops. The gear range is spinny and as Jeff proved by smashing it up some serious climbs, he’s well equipped for anything…
James Adamson from Adventure Refugee has a long-time relationship with Ibis Cycles, so when the time came to prep for the Mission Workshop trip to China, he contacted them about a bike. Their Hakkalügi Disc Cross made the most sense for this tour.
Shown here, completely stock with cross tires or as it appeared in my post photos with Fyxation tires. The Hakkalügi retails with an Ultegra kit for $3699. Unfortunately, these are the last photos this bike will ever have taken of it because China Airlines crushed it in transport. Bummer! Check out more in the Gallery.
Another one of the Factory 5 track bikes that was on the bike tour was Tyler’s. This 61cm frame has quite the component kit on it. Most interestingly, one of five pairs of H+Son carbon fiber wrapped Formation Face rims. The aluminum rims were thinner, to compensate for the wrap, resulting in a lighter rim. They’ll never see full production, because they were a pain to fabricate, but they look great laced to Dura Ace 7600 36h single side track hubs. Tyler’s also riding Paul Royal Flush cranks, which he’s had for over four years in China with no issues.
This is the third prototype of the forthcoming Factory 5 aluminum low pro frame, with smoother welds. The final version will still have a few revisions. Factory 5 has been working on this particular model frame for over a year, revisiting the geometry before making the final version. It makes their motto “We Build. We Ride” even more fitting.
I wanted to photograph his bike after the tour, muddy and all, as a recording of how fucking dirty his bike got riding through China. I’m going to miss hanging out with Tyler. He’s like my metal brother in China…
Check out Factory 5’s current frame offerings here and more photos in the Gallery.
As I ease back into normal blog content, I’ll be posting some of the bikes that the dudes rode on our bike tour. The first of the bunch is owned by one of the most famous track bike riders in China, MMC. The story goes that MMC was one of the first people in Shanghai to really embrace track bikes. When he wasn’t tearing through the streets, he was scouring the internet for deals on vintage Italian and Japanese components and frames.
Once he started working for Factory 5, the guys made sure he was on one of their new prototype aluminum low pro track frames. These frames look great with their classic lines, true track geometry and a 1″ threaded fork mixed in with oversized and shaped tubing. This particular frame is the third prototype. Many changes will be made for the final production model.
You can build them out however you want (you’ll see more examples). MMC usually rides his Zipp 404 laced to gutted Novatek hubs (upgraded to titanium bits and ceramic bearings) but we put the HED3 on for the photo shoot. Even his cranks are balleur. Campy C-Record Pista with a custom manufactured carbon chainring. He literally contacted a local factory to make it for him (53 x 18).
It’s a slick bike and he rode it like a champ on our tour. It really has one of the meanest stances I’ve seen recently in a track bike… Check out Factory 5’s current frame offerings here.
These past few weeks have been absolutely incredible. Our bike tour was easily one of the most exhilarating rides I’ve ever been on. To be concise, it was an eye-opening experience. I really thought that I knew what China was all about but almost immediately, I realized my preconceptions vastly polarized. My anxieties about some situations subsided, as the harsh reality of globalization’s effect on a ancient land settled in.
There’s nothing that can prepare you for the realities that hide on the outskirts of the city. As my film gets processed and scanned, I’ll begin think about how I’ll present my experience on paper. Right now, I feel like I’ve been nursing a two week long hangover. My body aches, my head is pounding and my lungs need some recovery time. So would I do it again? Of course.
When it’s all said and done, I’ve met some truly amazing people and had the opportunity to share all these experiences on bikes with them. I’ll say in confidence that we all will walk away from this trip with some great memories and for that, I’ll always be thankful to the communities that we rode with, the towns we stayed in and the guys at Factory 5.
Until next time, Shanghai, zài jiàn.
As the culmination of the Mission Workshop China Bike Tour with Factory 5, we threw a huge party last night. 700 bottles of beer, 2 Pocari Sweats and a few 2 liters of Sprite brought in around 400 people throughout the evening. Shanghai’s bike scene is a mix of ex-pats and local Chinese riders, so the crowd was quite interesting from a westerner’s point of view. I had a mini-photo show from some photos I posted on the site, James played some rough-cuts of the Mission Workshop videos and Shanghai brought the fun.
Tomorrow morning we all leave China and I still haven’t even begun to process this trip. I’ll share with you some thoughts later on, but for now check out some narrated photos from the party in the Gallery!
Last night, we arrived in Shanghai, where we’ll stay until Monday night. Saturday night is the Mission Workshop party at Factory 5 where I’ll be displaying some of my favorite digital photos from the trip. There will be mountains of free beer, good music and great people. If you’re in Shanghai, roll through!
Unfortunately, Vimeo, Youtube, Facebook and even Gmail (sometimes I can load it up) is blocked in China, so regular blog posting won’t commence until I’m in Australia on Tuesday (your Monday). Thanks for understanding and if you sent an email, there’s no need to forward it again and again, I received it…
Expect some more Shanghai-related posts to go up periodically over the next few days, including bike portraits, so stay tuned.
This is the fourth layout of the 2013 PiNP Calendar, entitled “Easy Street”. The camera, lens used and location are noted on the bottom left of the document.
After any climb, sometimes it just feels right to unclip and coast on a track bike. Here, Jeff from Factory 5 in Shanghai shows us how it’s done.
Right Click and Save Link As – 2013 PiNP Calendar: April
Sorry for this being a bit late, I don’t have InDesign on my laptop and had to farm the design work out to Austin. Thanks Lauren!
There was nothing pleasant about today, aside for the company. The things I saw on the road will forever change the way I view the world and globalization. Without going too much into the politics of it all, I’ll just say that I’m glad to have gotten the first leg of our ride out of the way. On paper, the route looks easy. 100k door to door, and about 90 meters of climbing.
These numbers are almost laughable, compared to other rides we’ve all completed, but those weren’t in an AQI of 350+ and through a toxic wasteland. To give you some perspective, Los Angeles has the highest AQI in the United States and today, it’s at 70. I’ve never experienced anything like this before.
The morning began early, as we checked out of our hotel and headed to Factory 5 to ready our bikes. At 10:30am, we put on masks (literally) and rode alongside a highway out of town. You’d think the air would be worse in the center city, but it was the opposite. Soon, it was like we were riding into a fog, rolling into San Francisco but there were no mountains, no iconic bridges or architecture, just smoke stacks and automotive factories.
Your face began to burn, eyes water and all you wanted to do was take off your mask to get some “fresh air”. Upon doing so, the smell of burnt plastic almost made you gag. It was literally hell and I can’t fathom the reality that people live in it everyday. The striking dichotomies were everywhere: a brand new VW dealership, next to a vacant lot with a pond, that was completely red with bacteria, or the canals and waterways turned black from factory waste next to a parking lot filled with brand new Buicks.
60 miles felt like 120. My lungs burn and my face is windburnt. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so hungover from a ride. There’s no gallery, since I shot all film today, but will leave you with the photo above to just say that I’m glad to be indoors for once. For more frequent updates, keep an eye on Mission Workshop’s (@MissionWorkshop) and my Instagram (@JohnProlly) during the day.
There’s nothing like a recovery day. Not physically, but mentally. We have all been running at 100% since arriving in Shanghai and the guys from Factory 5 needed to catch up on things around the office. While they worked, I headed out around town with Lyle and James from Mission Workshop and took some photos with the Mamiya. When we got back, it was time to rock and roll.
Tuesday nights are the weekly group rides in Shanghai. They meet up at Factory 5 and roll through town at a moderate pace. Once the group leaves the center city, out towards the more industrial areas, the ride turns into a sprint as everyone puts out 100% for a few miles. It was a lot of fun chasing people down and shooting photos. Even in the complete darkness, I managed to get some rad shots! It was a great way to spend the last night before we leave for our 7 day tour around Shanghai…
Check out some narrated photos in the Gallery and keep an eye on Mission Workshop’s (@MissionWorkshop) and my Instagram (@JohnProlly) during the day for updates.
