As part of my search for a hobbit touring bike, I found a junior bike online yesterday. It's a 36cm Echelon girl's bike with 24" stepthrough, with 26" wheels. I thought this might be a viable option for me if it is a good frame, so I looked up "Echelon," apparently some folks on here get a bit excited about Echelon's because they were made by a Japanes family of craftsmen that own Cheribum bikes. However, this bike doesn't look like good quality to me, not that I know much. It looks like it is lugged in the back but not the front, and it looks like the cables are connected to the top tube with tie wraps rather than braze-ons. I'm guessing it is as low-end as Cheribum ever made, either because it's a little girl's bike or because it was made for a company in California that imported cheap Cheribum bikes. I spoke to the owner, and she said that there is a decale on the bike that indicates that it is made of chromoly. She was Asian and said that this bike is from Japan. I can't see it very well, but the head badge looks like it might have the same "C" as the headbadge for the Cheribum bikes, though the emblem on the front forks looks different. Any feedback?