TOEI on eBay
 

Can't recall the last one of these I saw for sale on eBay - I think most folks who own them keep them:

http://tinyurl.com/dmoyx2

Definitely check out the Flickr set, too - really exquisite workmanship and overall design sense. French style and class with Japanese attention to detail and finish. Man I'd love to own one of these in 58cm.

Absolutely <almost> beautiful. Until we get to the Brook's black-leather handlebar tape. Finished with the ever-present gob of electrical-tape. I'd unwrap 'em and do it over - top down. Like I've done with my bike and several others.

<now begins the tirade on why it's destined to fail and this and that...> :D :eek: :D

Hockey stick tape works wonders for finishing tape, I've found.

-Kurt

That's gorgeous. When I was in Berkeley in January, I drooled at a Toei frameset in the window of Jitensha Studios. It was a red wine color, and the finish and details were remarkable. I didn't even ask about the price (though it was my size!).

Neal

Toei is the first name that came to my mind when I saw the holy grail thread. I've never been interested in race bikes.

Wow...thanks for the link. That's one of the prettiest bikes I've seen. I can't find a single fault, but then again, I'm not as picky as some others.

Wow. Maybe my new holy grail.

Is that a chainstay protector on the chainstay--my Koga Miyata frame has one too.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2026/...163964.jpg?v=0

It even has a little hanger for the chain a little ways up the seat-stay! I don't see those everyday. Nice! $4,000 eh? Hmmmmmmm.....

If you price that bike from a top-quality framebuilder, I'll think you'll come out spending quite a bit more than that. Of course, that would be for a new bike with custom sizing. But for someone for whom this is a good fit, considering the condition, it might be a good buy. TOEI bikes are not outrageously expensive new, considering the quality, but there's the wait and the cultural/language barrier (many if not most US buyers go through Jitensha Studio). The fully equipped randonneur bikes with racks and all the braze-ons and nice little details I inquired about at NAHBS were in the $6000-7000 range (and more), and in at least some cases the builders did not have nearly the level of experience TOEI has. There are some folks who prefer a one-man shop for their KOF dream bike, but I don't happen to be one of them.

that was quick :)

That is an interesting stem and bell. It looks like the striker is just on a spring.

my 1988 trek 360 and 1986 schwinn tempo both come with those.

It is. You can get them at Velo Orange.

Yeah, but looking closer at that bell it looks like its tapped into the stem. I've never seen this done before.

Speaking of the stem, what is it?

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3199/...60e8ddc1_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3164/...a3b89556_o.jpg

Im fairly certain the top cap on that stem is also the switch for the headlight...

drool. drool.

Yeah, looks like the same "switch" on the Rene Herse website:

http://i44.tinypic.com/dy1t8x.jpg

anyone know what kind of saddlebag that was shown on the flicker pages?

It's a custom TOEI stem with the decalleur option. I got the same one appart from the bell, pretty sweet stem.