Tokyo Bicycle Show ( pic heavy )
A few cyclists on here I know, so I thought I'd add some recent pics. I went along to the "Cyclemode International 2012" show at the weekend. It's the largest of the bicycle shows in Japan. It is held in Makuhari, in Chiba prefecture on the east side of Tokyo Bay. I rode the 45Km from home and took some snaps of the things I found interesting. Which, I should mention, generally fall into the constructeur / steel / practical / touring style of bicycles rather than the latest Taiwanese carbon frame and this year's must-have "gruppo". To the roadies and weight-weenies - sorry ! But the magazines have all those pics, with the weight and price highlighted in bold, so no need to go to a show to get all the information you need
Anyway, first up, this simple Pashley :
Steel lugged frame, downtube shifters, and full mudguards. Nothing flashy but an honest bicycle I thought. A bit more flashy was this cafe-racer :
A little too much for me, this one. If you are going to draw attention to the lug, use a nicer lug to begin with ! Same issue with this otherwise excellent mixte :
Better be simple and humble, but well designed, like this Miyata :
Nice integrated seat clamp, and rear brake hangar. Hammered Japanese Honjo full length mudguards. Not expensive this one either ( about £1000 roughly ).
Now this was one of my bikes-of-the-show. Expensive ( about £3000 ... ) but quite beautiful. It's a porteur-style made by Grand Bois in Kyoto :
Front light integrated with the porteur rack :
Very clean cockpit. The rear brake is a Sturmey Archer coaster hub, hence the absence of the rear brake lever on the handlebar :
Hammered Honjo mudguards again. Original chaincase and original Grand Bois 650B tyres :
( continued )
A lot of the Japanese touring bike manufacturers use the French Randonneurs as their inspiration, with René Herse being the constructeur perhaps most admired. This was on the Grand Bois stand, in tribute and appreciation :
... and a current Grand Bois model in the same style :
Beautiful welding here. I like the "claw" seat stays :
The René Herse crank :
And custom rear light :
( continued )
Moving on, this was another contender for bike-of-the-show for me. Constructed by Yuka Kitajima :
Yes another porteur, but with ... some extras :
Leather chaincase
Essential Tabasco sauce holder
Wine glass and ( on the other side ) wine bottle rack
And Yuka-san herself with her "Pizza Party" porteur :
Handmade, wooden frame, from Sanomagic :
It's all wood too. The saddle, the post, the wheels, the handlebar and stem, even the light and water bottle holder.
The drivetrain was standard Campagnolo ( not wood ... )
( continued )
For the last 10 years, electric-assist bikes have been everywhere in Tokyo, used mainly by the mums on the school run. The forms are developing from the "mama-chari" ( "mum's chariot" ) integrated baby-seat style though. For example :
Electric-assist utility bicycle
The trailer is removable. See how small the motor is...
Electric-assist urban/mountain bike
Back to the proper bicycles :-) A Cherubim, with lovely clean lines :
High quality brazing, and the builder's flourish :
Cycled back to Tokyo, past Tsukiji fish market, the row of lights on the right hand bank, sleeping ready for Monday morning's catch :
And home via Ginza, where I snapped this just for you lot
-Paul
What a fantastic series of pictures - thanks for posting! Some of those bikes are lovely, and appeal to me far more than some head down bum up torture device! Lovely.
Fantastic photos and a wonderful amount of attention to detail in those builds that have been well captured on the pictures.
im not a fan of the whole "lets dress up and pretend its the roaring twenties and go for a jolly old cycle in the countryside with lashings of ginger beer and a side order of man love" thing though.
Like the wood bike.
Superb pictures, and bikes (though my own preference is for the go faster carbon jobs!).
Thank you.
great post paul;thankyou
Good luck everybody. Have a good one.
Lovely. That Grand Bois is close to the perfect bike (in my eyes)
Thanks for posting. Crazy bicycles. The difference in lug work between the René Herse and the others is interesting. I especially like special use bicycles.
Best wishes,
Bob
Thanks for taking the time and effort to post this Paul. Some lovely designs and all seem to have a very high build quality. The Cherubim looks fantastic and I love the frame design.
I remember when mountain bikes came out, the more traditional bike designs where seemingly disregarded as old hat and their second hand prices plummeted. Good to see a resurgence but it's a shame you can't get a good Reynolds 531 frame on the cheap these days.
Cheers,
Gary
I'm going to have to try out a mountain bike some day. I haven't got around to it yet. :)Originally Posted by Omegary
Best wishes,
Bob
when it comes to style aspects
Lovely set of images and post, really enjoyed it.
nigel
A great set of pictures, and some really quirky machines there! Thanks for sharing. That René Herse crank looks very similar to a Campag chainset I had on my trusty Carlton Clubman back in the early 70's, I'll hunt it out (it's still in the garage somewhere) and post a pic or two. It's on the bike here, after a pedal down to Lands End from Durham......
F.T.F.A.
Great pics, was there anything there with 6 inches of travel at either end?
I can ride carbon loveliness all day long but nothing beats real steel
VCheers for taking the time to display these pics buddy
RIAC
fantastic thread and pictures. thank you for taking the time to post.
Some really great cycles.
I'm more of a weight weenie / carbon fibre type guy but I enjoyed these pics. Thanks. Some different stuff there.
Especially the rene herse one with the chromed kick-ass torch fixed to the front rack.
I enjoyed your pictures, Paul. Thanks for posting - it's interesting to see what's happening not only on the other side of the world, but in an alternative part of the cycling universe.
I think that it was dougjb who posted recently asking for advice on a Pashley, and it opened my eyes to the wider cycling world, although I don't wear tweed. It must be more practical than lycra in the winter months, though.
Regards
Ian
Although no trees were harmed during the creation of this post, a large number of electrons were greatly inconvenienced.
Some fine looking bikes there. I love the individuality of the craftsmanship - however those wooden bikes would be murder to ride on British roads! What are the roads like in Japan for cycling?
Thoroughly enjoyed those photos, Paul, many thanks for sharing them.
Some pretty bikes, i used to love having a nice looking bike, such as an Independent Fabrications Deluxe, or DeSalvo Mountain with the custom paintwork, but it was a little too much money down the drain when i inevitably ruined them by either damaging the frame, or destroying the paintwork.
Still, one day i'll get something nice again with full spectrum paintwork, maybe.
Generally, Japan is SUPERB cycling country. Apart from the agreeable terrain and weather, perhaps two other reasons:
Everyone cycles, everywhere. Kids, mums, dads ... no family is without a cyclist. Cycle sales are 10 million a year. More electric-assist bikes are sold than 50cc mopeds. So the "them and us" that pervades car/cycle thought elsewhere doesn't exist. Cycling is functional, not aspirational. No one wears "cycling gear". Men in expensive suits ride cheap bikes with baskets and umbrella holders on the front. Women ride "mama-charis" to school with kids on the front and rear. Pensioners go to the local shop for rice and vegetables ( there are no out-of-town malls in Japan ). It's as normal and unremarkable as walking.
Secondly, you ride on the pavement. Goes against all that you get taught and read elsewhere, but, I have to say, I can't find a problem with it in practice. Tokyo for example is perhaps the most densely populated city ( 36m inhabitants, no spare space whatsoever ) on earth, with about half those partaking in the daily influx/outflow to work or school. But cyclists and pedestrians mix as a matter of routine on the pavements. The bicycle, as far as acceptance/law/behaviour is concerned, is a faster relative of walking, as opposed to a slower relative of driving. I've never seen a pedestrian/cyclist collision, and though I'm sure it happens, the potential for harm is less than any car/cyclist collision. The police ride their ( old Bridgestone ) steel bicycles on the pavement. It works, even if you don't believe it should.
Nice ! Do you still have the bike ?
Yes, lots of mountain bike stuff and indeed carbon racing things, but I have no interest personally. I do understand those that have though, I just don't share the interest.
I dont wear tweed ( or lycra for that matter ) and nor does anyone else. Just whatever clothes I have on, same as everyone else. There are some roadies, albeit heavily outnumbered, and no one - not even a roadie - dons the Lycra and "clips in" to go to work, the shops, or the pub. On any journey, you'll see hundreds of bicycles, but if you see one without a front basket, you've done well. Carbon, Lycra, bicycles without carrying capacity and attaching your feet to the pedals are for athletes in training only. It would be as odd as wearing a leotard to work for most ordinary people here
Paul
Last edited by Tokyo Tokei; 6th November 2012 at 00:35.
Thanks for posting up...some "interesting" designs to say the least..not many that I'd shell out my own cash on but vive la difference.
Red Steve, there were plenty of run-of-the-mill bikes too ! The pictures just reflect what I'm interested in. So as I mentioned in the opening post, they are very biased towards functional steel bikes. Also worth noting that it's a show rather than a shop as it were. Lots of those I pictured are from builders who are keen to show what they can do, if the customer requires. Like a concept vehicle at a car show. The Pizza bike, for example, is made by a lady whose company normally builds track bikes, made for speed. They want you to know their skill level.
Indulge me a picture of my daily cycle, as it probably explains my biases entirely...
It's an Alps bicycle, built locally ( by Hiroshi Hagiwara ... 3rd generation builder, sadly retired now ) to my measurements and spec. It does the morning bread run yet also carried me the 90Km round trip to the cycle show ( and later that day, another 5Km to a dinner engagement ) without fuss, in whatever clothes and shoes I had on.
Paul
I really like that Paul... a little more "traditional" with some nice added design touches too. I'd love a steel racer for pottering around on in the Summer months.
My friend has just bought a project, which he'll be renovating over the Winter. He's set up a blog page here:
https://sites.google.com/site/gitanebicyclerestoration/
I'd like something similar, but preferably Italian (an old Bianchi or Colnago would be great). Until then I'll have to make do with this one. Usually it looks a little cleaner but I just finished a 75 mile (120kms) ride around the lanes of Somerset when the weather wasn't too kind :-)
lovely post and a great story feel to it. makes you think you had actually been to the show.
thanks
Beautiful and functional, now just add a Rohloff and I think I would have my ideal bike sorted! I really like the bars.Red Steve, there were plenty of run-of-the-mill bikes too ! The pictures just reflect what I'm interested in. So as I mentioned in the opening post, they are very biased towards functional steel bikes. Also worth noting that it's a show rather than a shop as it were. Lots of those I pictured are from builders who are keen to show what they can do, if the customer requires. Like a concept vehicle at a car show. The Pizza bike, for example, is made by a lady whose company normally builds track bikes, made for speed. They want you to know their skill level.
Indulge me a picture of my daily cycle, as it probably explains my biases entirely
It's an Alps bicycle, built locally ( by Hiroshi Hagiwara ... 3rd generation builder, sadly retired now ) to my measurements and spec. It does the morning bread run yet also carried me the 90Km round trip to the cycle show ( and later that day, another 5Km to a dinner engagement ) without fuss, in whatever clothes and shoes I had on.
Paul
Nigel
that wooden bikes are absolutely awesome
Thanks for posting these pictures. I never get tired of looking at bikes.
Rick
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