Classic & Vintage - Tokyo Vintage - A Day of Beautiful Bikes

Me and the small group of fellow vintage cycle fans I've posted about before met up today for our first ride of the year. I wanted to check a few things on my 1975 Peugeot PX60 before taking it touring so I rode that.

It's a pretty straight ride from where I live to the meeting point, some 15 miles away, a short distance from Sekidobashi, the site by the Tama River of the twice-yearly vintage bicycle flea market http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/717812-Renovating-a-full-chrome-1982-Katakura-Silk/page8 I posted about back in April last year (1/3 of the way down the page). On the way there I passed a shop I'd visited a couple of times beforebut which was closed today so I just stopped to take a couple of photos of the De Rosa, Colnago and Legnano for sale in the window:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7023/6618581915_f613d1efa2.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22983673@N02/6618581915/)
IMG_7465 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22983673@N02/6618581915/) by Dawes-man (http://www.flickr.com/people/22983673@N02/), on Flickr

Yes, that's right, US$4,680. You wouldn't believe the prices here, although bikes are usually in excellent condition for that kind of money.

The 1988 De Rosa Professional, for US$4,940:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7162/6618582485_953bb21701.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22983673@N02/6618582485/)
IMG_7477 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22983673@N02/6618582485/) by Dawes-man (http://www.flickr.com/people/22983673@N02/), on Flickr


There's a cycle path alongside the Tama River which runs for several miles either side of Sekidobashi, a favourite place for Tokyoites to ride and probably why they hold the market there. On a quiet day like today the traffic on Route 20, which runs almost parallel to the Tama for some miles, is quite light so it's far quicker than joining the cycle path at Futakotamagawa, for example, some 12 miles to the south, and pottering along the river. With heavy traffic, the 20 is a nightmare as the 2 lanes each way are too narrow in many places for a car and a bicycle together, resulting in lots of stop-and-start riding, close shaves and irritated car drivers. This a comparatively wide part of the 20:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7031/6621919073_85f59bbe4f.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22983673@N02/6621919073/)
IMG_7478 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22983673@N02/6621919073/) by Dawes-man (http://www.flickr.com/people/22983673@N02/), on Flickr

Today I took the 20. Even so, with all the traffic lights, it still took an hour and a half and was dead boring so I ducked down to the river about 5 miles from where we'd arranged to meet and continued along the river.

Among the different C&V groups here in Japan the biggest single, and easily the longest established, must be those fans of Randonneur bikes, with Herse and Singer machines being favourites. Not for nothing does Japan host their own home grown and well-regarded Randonneur makers ALP and Toei. However, they do have a 'reputation' for being 'serious' and riding always pristine machines. Put another, very un-Japanese way, they tend to be dour and obsessive. They also tend to be older and neatly dressed. I passed a bunch of around 8 of them coming the other way and despite smiling and saying 'bonjour' a couple of times not one of them even cast me a glance as they shone past. The other thing I noticed today was that almost every single 'serious' sports bike rider I passed coming the other way, the ones in full lycra, team jersey, helmet and wrap-around glasses, lowered their eyes to the path immediately in front of them and looked even more serious as they approached and rode past.

There were 6 of us today and when I got to the meeting point I found the others had brought a 1938 Hetchins:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7144/6618582663_a0b6f46cb9.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22983673@N02/6618582663/)
IMG_7482 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22983673@N02/6618582663/) by Dawes-man (http://www.flickr.com/people/22983673@N02/), on Flickr

A stunning 1939 Baines 'Flying Gate':
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7019/6618583705_b56fb68d60.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22983673@N02/6618583705/)
IMG_7500 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22983673@N02/6618583705/) by Dawes-man (http://www.flickr.com/people/22983673@N02/), on Flickr

A 1930s FW Evans:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7008/6621956135_a39117dc67.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22983673@N02/6621956135/)
IMG_7501 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22983673@N02/6621956135/) by Dawes-man (http://www.flickr.com/people/22983673@N02/), on Flickr

An early 1980s and rather unusual National:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7023/6618582965_02579608c0.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22983673@N02/6618582965/)
IMG_7484 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22983673@N02/6618582965/) by Dawes-man (http://www.flickr.com/people/22983673@N02/), on Flickr

And a sparkling 1984 Toei:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7018/6618584669_afa5cc83da.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22983673@N02/6618584669/)
IMG_7515 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22983673@N02/6618584669/) by Dawes-man (http://www.flickr.com/people/22983673@N02/), on Flickr

continued below/

I was the last to arrive and after about 10 minutes of smoking and chatting we set off for Sekidobashi as we'd heard there was going to be a small market that day. Small turned out to mean just 4 sellers. Others had turned up on their bikes and I suppose there were a total of maybe 30, including ours:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7161/6618585179_c108667c46.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22983673@N02/6618585179/)
IMG_7518 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22983673@N02/6618585179/) by Dawes-man (http://www.flickr.com/people/22983673@N02/), on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7015/6618587781_5b3e8a4807.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22983673@N02/6618587781/)
IMG_7543 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22983673@N02/6618587781/) by Dawes-man (http://www.flickr.com/people/22983673@N02/), on Flickr

A while after we arrived a guy wearing a pith helmet turned up on an ordinary - when he took his helmet off I was amused to see a head of a very similar shape.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7012/6618586995_6ca022fca3.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22983673@N02/6618586995/)
IMG_7535 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22983673@N02/6618586995/) by Dawes-man (http://www.flickr.com/people/22983673@N02/), on Flickr
This machine was odd, with what looked like a mixture of old and new in the form of an alloy rear wheel with a modern hub and caliper brake.

I wandered around looking at the few stalls and bikes scattered around. There was a guy selling Randonneur parts. I bought a neat little NOS seat-stay reflector bracket for around $6.50 and the guy offered me a very expensive handmade chocolate from a box. We chatted and he told me he had 10 Alex Singers and had just returned from a visit to the Singer shop in Levallois Perret, just outside Paris, where he'd bought the chocolates. He had a very nice pair of straight brake levers for sale for $30 but they were too small gauge to be useful to me.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7166/6618585335_2554e32316.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22983673@N02/6618585335/)
IMG_7519 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22983673@N02/6618585335/) by Dawes-man (http://www.flickr.com/people/22983673@N02/), on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7012/6618586667_b0047b6f98.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22983673@N02/6618586667/)
IMG_7533 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22983673@N02/6618586667/) by Dawes-man (http://www.flickr.com/people/22983673@N02/), on Flickr

Chatting and gazing done we set off for lunch a 30 minute ride away. I'd imagined a standard Japanese restaurant of some kind but instead we arrived at what looked like a bicycle shop, where the owner invited us to bring our bikes inside. It was called the French Valve:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7141/6618590313_eb0e6a5a4e.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22983673@N02/6618590313/)
IMG_7568 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22983673@N02/6618590313/) by Dawes-man (http://www.flickr.com/people/22983673@N02/), on Flickr

Entering I saw there was a bike up on a work stand, various tools around the walls and bikes everywhere but at the back half of the shop was a long counter and it was here that we were to have lunch:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7147/6618593003_fc694a0b6d.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22983673@N02/6618593003/)
IMG_7601 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22983673@N02/6618593003/) by Dawes-man (http://www.flickr.com/people/22983673@N02/), on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7031/6618593255_bed3b0270a.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22983673@N02/6618593255/)
IMG_7606 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22983673@N02/6618593255/) by Dawes-man (http://www.flickr.com/people/22983673@N02/), on Flickr

Walking around the shop there were several Katakura Silks, an R. Mottet, an EZO, a German machine I half remembered but couldn't remember the name from the half gone DT decal and a full-chrome Alex Singer tandem. In addition to the bikes and frames around the place there were interesting displays of parts, like the FDs on a post:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7020/6618593617_e51e3489a1.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22983673@N02/6618593617/)
IMG_7610 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22983673@N02/6618593617/) by Dawes-man (http://www.flickr.com/people/22983673@N02/), on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7020/6618589045_fbe5bd6eda.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22983673@N02/6618589045/)
IMG_7555 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22983673@N02/6618589045/) by Dawes-man (http://www.flickr.com/people/22983673@N02/), on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7147/6618590851_77831b5787.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22983673@N02/6618590851/)
IMG_7573 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22983673@N02/6618590851/) by Dawes-man (http://www.flickr.com/people/22983673@N02/), on Flickr

Lunch was marinated venison followed by venison pasta, both excellent. Venison isn't commonly eaten in Japan so the meal was quite a treat for someone like me from England, where it is a luxury.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7003/6618593351_6d504ee96c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22983673@N02/6618593351/)
IMG_7607 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22983673@N02/6618593351/) by Dawes-man (http://www.flickr.com/people/22983673@N02/), on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7032/6618593495_d16e08f3cb.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22983673@N02/6618593495/)
IMG_7608 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22983673@N02/6618593495/) by Dawes-man (http://www.flickr.com/people/22983673@N02/), on Flickr

During and after lunch we talked bikes. Of particular interest was a frame the owner of the Baines had in the shop, a 1941 Claud Butler with original but well-weathered paint. The owner of the FW Evans had borrowed it to photograph the graphics in order to copy them for CB that he is presently restoring. The old frame was fabulous with its box-lining and scalloped seat-stay eyes. It was a part-lugged, part-bilaminated frame and everyone was puzzled by the complete lack of breathing holes in any of the tubes. The consensus was that they must have been welded shut after the frame was finished and had cooled down. Does anyone have a better answer?
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7174/6618592851_d39f0a2300.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22983673@N02/6618592851/)
IMG_7600 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22983673@N02/6618592851/) by Dawes-man (http://www.flickr.com/people/22983673@N02/), on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7029/6618593751_29ca89db1f.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22983673@N02/6618593751/)
IMG_7612 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22983673@N02/6618593751/) by Dawes-man (http://www.flickr.com/people/22983673@N02/), on Flickr

So, that was my day. From there I rode the 15 or so miles home and promptly fell into bed for a 2-hour sleep.

If you click on any of the photos in these 3 posts you will get taken to the Flickr album with another 65 or so photos, a lot of them close-ups.

Looks like a splendid day!

Cool adventure for the first of the year... any day for that matter! Thanks for sharing, I really enjoyed the story and the pictures.

Just want to add that what made the National so unusual was that the frame was made to take apart:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7165/6618583131_d14b4b3d2f.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22983673@N02/6618583131/)
IMG_7486 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22983673@N02/6618583131/) by Dawes-man (http://www.flickr.com/people/22983673@N02/), on Flickr

And I love the cable-connectors:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7011/6618583369_b1d31e784a.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22983673@N02/6618583369/)
IMG_7490 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22983673@N02/6618583369/) by Dawes-man (http://www.flickr.com/people/22983673@N02/), on Flickr

Dawes-Man, Thank you for sharing. Brings me back to where I grew up, Okinawa. Just a beautiful place !Back then it was a Bridgestone 10 speed that got me around. Fond memories of riding all day and seeing sites like what you have shown us.

Thanks, 3SS

What a fun day! Great report.

During and after lunch we talked bikes. Of particular interest was a frame the owner of the Baines had in the shop, a 1941 Claud Butler with original but well-weathered paint. The owner of the FW Evans had borrowed it to photograph the graphics in order to copy them for CB that he is presently restoring. The old frame was fabulous with its box-lining and scalloped seat-stay eyes. It was a part-lugged, part-bilaminated frame and everyone was puzzled by the complete lack of breathing holes in any of the tubes. The consensus was that they must have been welded shut after the frame was finished and had cooled down. Does anyone have a better answer?


I concur the holes were brazed shut after completing the other joints. This has been a point of pride with some frame builders - especially custom builders.

Cheers,
Alex

Amazing report, and amazing bicycles. Thanks for sharing!

:thumb:

Nice report Dawes-Man. Some fabulous bikes there, and that plate of venison had me salivating. RB.

Thanks for the report and pictures, just right for a New Years treat.

What a fun day! Great report.


I concur the holes were brazed shut after completing the other joints. This has been a point of pride with some frame builders - especially custom builders.

Cheers,
Alex

I am not so sure, one might look for a burble under the tube paint for a filled hole, but I have seen enough others to conclude that some frame were just brazed closed. Conventional thought is that trapping flux is not good, but that is today. As the tube cools, the tube will not collapse from the reduction in pressure inside the tube.

Thanks very much Dawes-Man, great report. Last time I was in Tokyo I had hoped to find some builders or shops. This was pre widespread internet and the numbering scheme of addresses left me scratching my head until right before departure. In the older parts of the city with small properties it is really diabolical.

....

Yes, that's right, US$4,680. You wouldn't believe the prices here, although bikes are usually in excellent condition for that kind of money ....

Whoa! Well, I guess it's a good thing they're not in crummy condition for that price! :)



...... around 8 of them coming the other way and despite smiling and saying 'bonjour' a couple of times not one of them even cast me a glance as they shone past. .....

Dawes-man - Next time just flip them the bird - I'll guarantee they'll look back. :p

Anyway, I have to say that the pics of the bikes and the digs around Japan are fascinating to look at - The combination bike-shop-luncheonette are all very interesting. - And so many great bikes! Thanks for posting! :thumb:

Thanks, Dawes-man. I enjoyed the story and the pics.

Japan is such an amazing place, with fascinating people and culture. Attention to detail is a constant. It would appear that you've picked up quite a bit from your time there.

:D

Thanks for the fine photos and stories.

I think I know where I'm headed after retirement - and I think I know how to fund my time there, too :)

Fantastic story and photos; I'd love to do something like that. The immaculate bikes sure tell the story of why all the high-end, very good condition stuff is always being won by the Japanese on Ebay. Best of all, they're out there riding the stuff!

Since I always wondered if the stuff was going into display cases, your post shows at least some of them are using the bikes/components for their intended purpose.

Good show!

DD

That's one heck of a way to start the new year! Cool pictures and the cafe looked awesome. As for the breather holes. It's pretty simple I did that on the frame I built. Just put a piece of brass rod in the hole and touch it with the torch but not too long. Then just file it down and viola! No holes! Mystery discovered.

Wow! Great ride report ... and I'm so envious. My vintage rides tend to be with a group of one with gourmet lunch of a peanut butter sandwich. Seriously, what an amazing group of bikes.

thanks for sharing!
always love the japanese meticulous care on things.

Terrific post! Keep them coming!

Thanks!


thrifty bill

Whoa! Well, I guess it's a good thing they're not in crummy condition for that price! :)

:) I did think my sentence was a bit odd. As I know you know, I meant to say that prices are very high here but what you get is usually pristine or very near. I learnt from a student who is interested in Leica cameras that many sellers refuse to sell to Japan as the Japanese will go over things they buy with a magnifying glass and complain if they find something invisible to the naked eye. I guess it's all part of that.

A conversation we had at a previous meeting was about repainted frames. I mentioned that in the UK some restorers will treat rust pitting and then paint over the area without filling it beforehand so that a future buyer will know what's under the paint. The others were very interested in this idea, to which I subscribe, but said that most Japanese would want the area filled to get a perfect finish. There was lots of um'ing and ah'ing when I asked them if they wouldn't prefer to know what they were buying rather than something perfect looking but with invisible rust holes and they then confessed that it was for that reason they generally preferred to buy frame with original paint.


Dawes-man - Next time just flip them the bird - I'll guarantee they'll look back. :p

I'm sure you don't mean that, Auchencrow, not someone as refined as you... :) I'm more perverse and keep smiling :D

Glad you like the post!

Great pics, great slideshow thankyou

Many thanks for a very fun set of photos and posts.

As for the non-responsiveness of your fellow cyclists, maybe they're still embarrased about Pearl Harbor and Nanking . . . . :rolleyes:

Another great report Dawes-Man! Wonderful pics! Convey to your colleagues that their bikes are fantastic!
As for the passing cyclists....culture, protocol, and plain ol' lack of attention I guess. This is a question to ask your buddies and shop owners you can confide in.

awesome posts! thanks for sharing.