Itinerant

I am in Japan and will be for a bit. Anything I should be looking for? What’s the second hand C&V scene like? Any tips? Looking to make the best of my time here. Thanks for any advice!

mechanicmatt

Go buy some cools tools, Vessel screwdrivers, Koken sockets and wrenches, some Japanese pull saws and Hozan bike tools. Otherwise I know nothing you need to get from there.

Juan Foote

Be careful to watch out for the gang affiliated drift racers. Most often they drive really flashy cars, play loud music, crazy hair styles. If you aren't careful you might flirt with the wrong girl and get pulled into an underground scene and forced to learn how to drift in a car gifted to you by a rapper, such that you can win a race and take a bounty off your head. Dangerous stuff.
If you see a heavily muscled bald guy driving a Charger, befriend him. Knowing him and the connections that will bring will be highly beneficial to you later when you come back to the states.

easyupbug 

This is good advice and the the steel C&V market is amazing from Ebisu to Zunow, with prices similar to the Italian handcrafted. There is an amazing museum in Osaka if you are near.

tpadul 

That's awesome!! How lucky are you!!! I'm jealous, my daughter has been living in Japan for the past 3 years now. She is in the Navy stationed in Yokosuka right outside of Tokyo. I was there for 2 weeks back in 2018 and I did not want to leave, love Japan so much.

What part of Japan are you in and how long will you be staying??

scarlson

Visit CS Hirose if you can!
Hirose site (in Japanese)

Also, anyplace that sells TOEI frames. I think you can't visit the Toei factory unless you are like friends with them.

In my googling, the Tokyo Cycling Club forum pops up sometimes. Maybe go on there and introduce yourself? They seem to be an ok crowd especially for non-Japanese outsiders.

Nitto products are pretty available and affordable over here, as are Panaracer tires. These to me represent the best in their field. But are Honjo fenders maybe cheaper over there? Honjo fenders seem overpriced in the states, so maybe it's a case of a captive import market like Peter White has been doing jacking the prices up on Busch and Muller stuff, which you can often get in Germany for half what he sells them for here in the USA.

Velo Mule

Careful riding on the "Wrong" side of the road. On my visits to England, when I was walking, I often would forget which way to look first when stepping off the curb. All those years of getting used to one way, takes a while to change over.

Enjoy. Post cycling related pictures when you can.

2cam16

bwilli88 

Nitto stuff, any Zunow or 3Rensho...

3speedslow

I grew up in Japan on Okinawa. Do everything! Eat all the different foods you can, buy a mini velo and tear around the cities you go to, leave those places and head out into the quiet country and find the real Japan!

P.L.Jensen

I've come home from Japan with inexpensive Japanese hammers, world class cutting edge tools, $500 Suntory whisky and great memories...










... and a pair of these...

noobinsf 

He passed away recently, unfortunately. I think his shop will continue, but he is not there. =(

On another note -- if I were in Japan, I might try to take in a Keirin race, but I have no clue what COVID is doing to schedules.

Salamandrine 

If I were you I would concentrate on eating as much food as possible.

Besides that, maybe visit Fairweather / Blue Lug and Grand Bois.

polymorphself 

Grand Bois!

xiaoman1 

Bikes would not be my first priority, I would try to visit as many of the cultural sites IMHO Going to Japan for parts is a missed opportunity.
from the web: https://theculturetrip.com/asia/japa...eritage-sites/
Kyoto, Narhara, Shibuya, and many others....of course, I would stop on my way to visit a few bike shops....check the local for sale to get a 3Rensho's along with a few Keiren track bikes to ship back and help pay for your trip!
P.S. I need a set of front and rear discs for my Bertoni. 650 front and 700 rear.
Enjoy your trip...Best Ben

sheddle

Watch out for any kids in Akibahara with glasses and a beat up city bike. They can climb like Pantani.

scarlson

Yes Hidetaka Hirose is gone but his shop, Cycle Shop Hirose (CS Hirose) will live on in the hands of Mr. Okada. You can still go (provided they are keeping regular hours during this pandemic).

microcord

Yes, Corsa Corsa is the place to go if you are very rich and besotted with prominent Italian brand names. But if you aren't, you're more likely to enjoy a visit to Tempra, farther out along the same radial road (Komazawa-dōri) through southwest suburban Tokyo. Tempra sells used keirin frames, and more. (Remember of course that keirin frames have been repeatedly subjected to huge stresses.) However, the only vintage bike emporium I know of is Katō Cycle, in Nagoya (though I've never been there).

If you're looking for a "vintage" frame or bike, it had better be 56 cm or (better) 54 cm or smaller. Larger than 56 cm is vanishingly rare. OTOH a non-vintage but more or less "classic" of 58 cm or above can eventually be found, if you're patient, lucky, or preferably both. There are sometimes fleamarkets of used bikes and their parts, but a major source is Yahoo Auction, whose share in Japan of the online auction biz is similar to eBay's elsewhere.

There are two great opportunities in Japan for the "CV" aficionado. One is ordering a handmade frame (of any size, of course). There are plenty of builders with experience and skills (as recognized by for example authorization to build frames for Keirin), not just the few whose names have made it to Bicycle Quarterly and the like. A lot say little or nothing on the web. (Why should they?) The other is of course riding. There are some pretty spectacular places within reach (even if unassisted by car or train) of central Tokyo, let alone other cities. (And Japan seems to have relatively few sociopathic drivers, and none who are coked up.) To find out more, sign up for "Tokyo Cycling Club" (which isn't a club but just a website, and anything that people care to arrange or ask about via the website; which is free of charge; and which isn't limited to the Tokyo area).

Charles Wahl

Sake.
Enjoy!

3speedslow

Do NOT be the ugly American! Too much of an individualistic attitude will bring disapproval... practice “Wa”.

3speedslow

AHH, to be 15 and learning what too much sake can do to you!

microcord

Yes, many roads are congested.

However, for the last half dozen of my rides, each of over 140 km and starting and finishing in inner Tokyo suburbia, I've completely avoided congestion other than for low-speed (and thus safe) congestion of half a kilometre or so along one stretch of a road named Onekan, and short stretches adding up to a couple of hundred metres in Hashimoto (Sagamihara).

Cycling infrastructure is .... well, it's lip-service to cycling infrastructure. Delivery drivers work long hours for which they are poorly paid, but they (and other drivers) aren't ground down as ruthlessly as they would be in various other nations; and if they do feel they need a lift, stimulants aren't as freely available as elsewhere (and coke is almost unknown). Of course cars and trucks can and do crash into and even kill cyclists, but I'd be interested to read factual evidence for a claim that cycling in Japan is very dangerous compared with cycling elsewhere.

mechanicmatt

I meant to say that I personally didn't know what else to get. I've heard visiting the Nitto factory is cool as well. Looks like there is a bunch of others sharing great places as well.

friday1970

and when they climb, they smile as they pass you. I've seen it!

Lascauxcaveman 

Find a nicely preserved '95 Nissan Skyline GTR and bring it back home to me. Pretty please?