Félix Guirola has big dreams—too big for his home country. The Cuban construction worker has assembled a 10-meter (33-foot) bike out of recycled Chinese bicycles, rebar and other odd parts, the only components available to him on the island. He wants to get the towering vehicle into the Guinness Book of World Records, but at the moment he can’t afford to buy the bike chains he needs to complete it. This sort of challenge is an everyday reality for many Cubans, who still struggle with scarcity and poverty even as their country opens up its economy.