Basque California bike made in Cambodia

No competition at home as in the website of Pamplona: Olentzero came, and the Three Kings came as well. These three types brought a pink California model of the BH brand to my daughter Lili. Hey, that bike brand is from my hometown Eibar, I said. But upon careful inspection, I realized that, as expected, it was made far away: in Cambodia, to be precise.

There was a time in which several bike brands were produced in Eibar. BH (Beistegui Hermanos, the Beistegi Brothers), GAC (Garate, Anitua and Co.), Abelux, Orbea... Now none of these factories is in Eibar any more, and of those that remain active in the Basque Country, they probably assemble or import Asian goods, more than anything else.

BH was one of the first employers of my father. In the early 1940s, he worked there. They didn't make bicycles then, but bombs. There was a market, clearly. From my dad's bedroom, he can still see the old factory, with the old symbol of BH (recently painted) in a wall that faces home directly.



That's what is left of BH in Eibar. A sign. More or less what's left in the actual bikes, the BH sign is not even metal, just a sticker added to the Cambodian product.

Asia is big. They also produce terrific cinema. Danger, Lust, from Ang Lee. More sexual than Brokeback Mountain (particularly, more heterosexual, I may add), a must-see.