Every Tuesday evening, long after office workers have gone home, a shabby office complex on Jiangsu Road is invaded by hundreds of cyclists. People living and working in the neighborhood have become used to the spectacle, which has grown steadily larger since the first of these night rides was organized back in 2009.

"There were only 40 to 50 regular riders when we began, however the group has expanded to some 400 to 500," event organizer Tyler Bowa told the Global Times.

As the cycling community expands rapidly in Shanghai, so does the number of boutique shops offering bikes, parts, and accessories.

The Global Times has visited three of these specialist shops, where the focus is on the craftsmanship of the bicycle and attention to detail.

Factory Five offers a full range of bicycle products.

Factory Five

The aforementioned night ride is organized by Factory Five, one of the city's most prestigious bike shops. Opened in 2009 by five cycling fans, the shop moved from a small workshop on Donghu Road to Jiangsu Road three years ago.

Hidden away in an office complex, Factory Five's do-it-yourself ethos is encapsulated in the graffiti on the doors, dim neon lighting, and lampshades made from segments of recycled wheels, creating a post-industrial ambiance.

The shop offers a full range of products, and serves as a venue for bike fans to talk about their passion and tinker with their mounts.

"At the very beginning, we just wanted to have a place to hang out with friends and fix up our bikes," Bowa said. "But local bike shops have very limited resources and they were not willing to let us hang out in them." Behind the concept were five fixed-gear enthusiasts (hence the "five" in the name) who wanted to create a community around bikes in the city.

Though only three of them are still with the company now, the concept of building a bike-lover's hub has never changed.

The shop will open its own bar in the summer, offering another place for customers and bike lovers to hang out. They also plan to extend the available space for building, fixing and storing bikes.

Address: Unit 102, Block 5, 876 Jiangsu Road

Opening hours: Tuesday to Friday, 10:30 am to 9 pm; Saturday and Sunday, 1 pm to 7pm; closed  Mondays

E-mail shoutout@wearefactoryfive.com or visit wearefactoryfive.com for details

Rideal's bicycle frames hanging on a red brick shikumen wall

Rideal

Tucked away off Jiaozhou Road in Jing'an district, Rideal is a newly-opened bike shop run by two local Chinese men.

Twenty-nine-year-old Yang Yang quit his job as an IT engineer at Microsoft and opened Rideal with a friend in August last year.

Sitting in a shikumen building, the shop retains its original red brickwork. Hanging from the walls can be found bicycle frames from China and overseas.

The signature product of the shop is the vintage Phoenix frame from the former Shanghai No.3 Bicycle Factory.

"In the 80s and 90s, it was a dream model for every bike rider in China," Yang told the Global Times.

The Phoenix frames available at Rideal are all produced by Shanghai No.3 Bicycle Factory but were made with the intention of being exported rather than sold on the domestic market.

This means the models available in the shop are available in many colors, as opposed to the basic black of their domestically-bound counterparts. The colors include red, dark green and sky blue.

"All the export models have a very user-friendly design," Yang said. "Each frame comes with a portable bike pump."

Rideal provides tailor-made bikes, allowing customers to choose which tires, saddle, breaks and pedals are used.

They can even apply their own decal designs to the frame. Assembly of custom bikes usually takes around a week if the components are locally-sourced. Those using overseas components can take as long as eight months.

The shop also holds a flea market every Sunday where people can trade bike-related items.

Address: 383 Jiaozhou Road

Opening hours: midday to 10 pm

Call 186-2168-5331 for details

Bicycles at Factory Five Photos: Cai Xianmin/GT

Brompton Junction

Not until UK Prime Minister visited Brompton Junction during his last trip to Shanghai did the local community realize that this 100 percent handmade bike brand is as British as fish 'n' chips.

Opened in September, the shop is a joint-venture and the brand's first outlet in China. Following the success of the Brompton Junction stores in Kobe, Hamburg, and Amsterdam, the brand is very confident in the expanding market in China.

Sitting in a two-story lane house, the brand's signature bikes are folded into oversized pigeonholes on the ground floor. In total, there are 15 different frame colors available. The shop sells four key types of bike with different handlebar styles and gearing.

Address: 634 Fuxing Road Middle

Opening hours: 11 am to 9 pm

Call 3423-0535 for details