I haven't even seen any cycling magazines of any sort since I've been here. But then again, Japans been good for my magazine addiction -- at least until I get more than my 150 kanji under my belt. Its true though, 99.99 percent of the people ride those obachan bikes (which i must confess, i've also grown to enjoy riding sometimes especially if I have a load of stuff to go in the basket) Those who do ride nicer road bikes are all decked out in the about 500 dollars worth of gear and thats just their cloths. Appearence is everything here man. If you could make up some louis vitton cork tape you'd likely make a killing.