Tokyo Cycle Show ( Picture Set )

[Tokyo Crank]

Hello

Not directly Rivendell related but I hope some might find it of some interest. I attended Tokyo Cyclemode on Sunday, the largest annual cycle show open to the public in Japan. It was 50km or so from home, so I cycled over and took some snaps of the things that interested me. On entering, I spent about 30 seconds in the carbon-racy-electric-gruppo-lycra-powermeter area, which was admittedly large and busy, and then moved on to an area where I felt much more at home.

Too many pictures to post directly, but you can see the full set here : http://flic.kr/s/aHsjCHtu9t

I hope the link works. I did have a small Rivendell surprise while touring the show. You will see it in the picture set.

Paul

[grrlyrida]

Those are some beautiful bikes, particularly the pink portuer. I lived in Japan for several years. I would love to go back and purchase a bike from there. Thanks for the pics. I enjoyed the entire slideshow. I saw the Rivendell surprise!

[Michael]

Those bikes must cost a fortune in Japan, to us Americans.

[Steve Palincsar]

On Tue, 2012-11-06 at 04:31 -0800, Michael wrote:
> Those bikes must cost a fortune in Japan, to us Americans.
>

They look fairly similar to the sort of thing you see at NAHBS, and
those bikes are certainly affordable. After all, you can go down to
your LBS and spend $12,000 on a carbon racer (and maybe not even get
electronic shifting).

[Tokyo Crank]

The bicycles shown generally range from about ¥100,000 ( $1200~ ) for the Miyata to about ¥400,000 ( $5000~ ) for the Grand Bois Porteur, which is an order-made build. The very high yen certainly doesn't help foreign buyers - Japanese companies in all exporting industries are hurting - but I think these prices are still reasonable. As mentioned, it would easily be possible to spend a lot more on a Taiwanese carbon framed bicycle with expensive wheels and "top-end" groupset. I'm not knocking that as a choice, but it helps put the price of these ( and Rivs, which use a lot of Japanese parts ) into perspective. When I read Grant's comments about the high yen, I really understand.

Thanks for the comments. I don't know if it shows up in a Flickr slideshow, but I wrote some notes under each pic, including the price if I had it.

Paul, Tokyo

[jeffrey kane]

Awesome post ... many thanks!

[PATRICK MOORE]

Very interesting photo set. I'm curious about your own bike: the saddlebag isn't attached to the seatpost, so it must be supported by the fender. Is the fender reinforced in any way?

What holds the pump in place at the top of the stay?

And: what chainrings? The small must be a 26; how is the upshift to the large ring?

Thanks.

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[Ryan]

Ruffy Tuffys and Roscoe Bubbe bars?

[Ryan Watson]

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[Tokyo Crank]

Patrick

The ( Carradice Nelson ) saddlebag is supported with a bagman. I've tried it without, and it sits just so on the mudguard. But in that position, it hits the back of my legs, so bagman it is. The mudguard by the way, is split underneath the brakes. The rear half can be removed without tools. This is to help pack it, for carrying on a train. The pump has it's own attachment fittings brazed on at the top and bottom of the seat stay. It is located there, rather than the top or seat tube, to allow the bicycle to be more easily carried over rough ground when pass hunting or, more common in my case, when going up and down the steps in a Tokyo highway underpass.

The front gearing is 44x26 rings ( TA crank and BB ) which is quite common on Japanese touring bikes. The builder was keen to explain the overlapping ratios of a front triple, and the benefits of a low tread crank. The front ( and rear ) derailleur is a Shimano Dura-Ace. Despite having a narrow cage and fairly large radius, the front shifting is fine. I wouldn't go throwing it from one ring to the other with wild abandon, but it does it's job with no rubbing in either position. I've not had to adjust it yet in 8 years or so. Likewise the wheels, Ukai rims on Ultegra hubs, 650A tyres ( the most popular size in Japan ). The wheel rims are quite narrow for a touring bike, but are still true after 5000km a year on and off road in all weather, and no spokes need adjusting yet. The builder did a good job, I think.

Paul

[dougP]

Paul:

Your chainring & tire size beg the question:  what is your cogset? 

5,000 km per year for 8 years!  "The builder did a good job"!  I think the builder did a GREAT job.  What tires are you using?

dougP

[Tokyo Crank]

Doug

The cassette is an Ultegra 12x27. The rear derailleur, to anticipate a question, is the long cage Dura Ace 7700GS. The original tyres were Mitsuboshi Trimlines. It is currently wearing Michelin World Tour 650 x 35A. Could only find an ancient review of these online, where I believe they were memorably described as "pitiful". They are certainly sturdier than the Mitsuboshis, but although I may have felt they weren't as fleet as foot at first ride, I suspect it was psychological : I'm not any slower. They were a $&¥£€%##^ nightmare to fit on the rims, but once on, I have no complaints. No punctures, no dramas, and tread still looking good after 2 and 1/2 years use. World Tour indeed.

Paul

[PATRICK MOORE]

Thanks, Paul. I used a 46/26 TA Pro 5 Vis for a while off road, then switched to 44/30 (home brew 14 or so -34 9 speed) for faster shifting and a slightly lower range on the big ring, but the SunTour shifter shifted the larger gap fine, if a bit slower. I ran the rings on the inner two postions, largely because of chainstay requirements, but it also had the happy result of letting me use a shaped triple fd.

Can I persuade you to give us in words and pictures the details of the quick-release fender portion? One annoying thing about fenders is how they interfere with stuffing a bike into the back of a small motor vehicle. Your arrangement may be a solution.

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[Tokyo Crank]

Patrick

Not my bike pictured but it's an Alps I found on the web with the same design. The mudguard is a standard Honjo type, cut in half just aft of the brake bridge. A rectangular metal tab is affixed to the front half of the mudguard, using the same nut that holds it onto the bridge. This is never moved. The remaining half of the metal tab pokes out, and has a threaded hole. In the picture, you can see that the rear mudguard has been removed and the locknut replaced for safekeeping. The locknut has a leather washer to prevent rattles and metal fatigue :

The only other attachment point for the rear half of the mudguard are the stays. The dropouts are standard but the mudguard stays are attached with spring-loaded bolts. These just need a push, and the stays are released :

A small picture set is here http://flic.kr/s/aHsjCKQBcy 

Apologies for not taking my own pictures and to the originator of these pics.

I should add that after a couple of years, the spring in the push-release bolts on the dropouts became loose. The resulting noise was painful, so I asked Hagiwara-san ( of Alps ) for advice. He gave me some standard, Philips-head bolts to replace the spring loaded ones. No further issues. The allen key I carry that fits my brakes has a Philips screwdriver on the other end, so it's no extra bother, and I value the silence !

The "Easy Rinkou" by Grand Bois shown at Cyclemode 2012, from the original photo set, has a similar design to the Alps, though it appeared to be more machined. 

Paul

[PATRICK MOORE]

Paul: many thanks again for taking the trouble to reply in detail and to find photos. I'll have to remember this if I ever get fenders for the errand Riv. 

Now all I have to do I find a useable source for 559 Honjos ... (Hiroshi, who sold me my first pair some years ago, hasn't carried them for some years). 

Paul

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