spotty panasonics, metallico dildo barman, cystal fellow stem, sunset in osaka

A few older shots from the last couple of years.
1. A beautiful sky in Osaka, Autumn.
2.Kenchan, the guy responsible for the Metallico Dildo bars.
3.Taito, of Chickenot in Kyoto, very fast and spotty. Note the odd brake lever placement.
Many events in Japan (this was a road race in Osaka) require at least one brake be fitted, so
some riders tack the lever on the top tube to get it out of view while they are racing.
4.Blue Vittoria Mondiale tubular, on my old grey bridgestone.
5.Unfortunately Nitto Tokyo discontinued the Crystal Fellow stems in early-mid 07.

Chopped up Keirin frame...

A Peloton Shitamori NJS frame, in pieces....(continuing the theme of chopping up
nice things)

Cutting parts in half...

Sometimes parts are just asking to be cut in half....

Random bikes in the shop....

Sky blue OCEAN Keirin Sentouki frame, with nitto street piste straight
bullhorn bar (new for '08), messed up carbon disk, and 2 kashimax top
tube protectors, one is for the brake! Also fitted is a carbon corima pillar,
and araya gold njs front rim.


Black OCEAN Pacifix Exclusive w/a mixed bag of parts fitted...



CA4LA's Miya no LEVEL 24/24'' funny bike converted to fixed.
Finding 2 24 inch rims is not fun! But it paid off.....a very rare
and wacky bike, even by Japan standard....

The weirdest bike in my own collection, a 1 (or maybe 3) off
prototype fixed frame, inspired by the satan star, hand made
in Tokyo. I won it at a recent track bike event in Osaka, beating
the 'Famicom Boss' in the final of a foot down contest. Osu!

Dildo drops, and tear drop tubes....

Kenchan of Metallico is working on a custom B123 Nitto NJS drop
bar that has rounded steel ends, with no seam, much like his straight
polished Metallico Tsuchinoko bar, which is more often referred to as
the Dildo bar....
This one is a 350mm prototype.




A beautiful 700/650 frame built by Hashiguchi San, for
Murakami San of the Joto Ringyou track team in Osaka.
The tear drop shaped seat tube does not take your average
round seat pillar. A custom made tear drop shaped pillar
was custom made for this frame. Yabai!

A few shots from Nara Keirin a few weeks ago. The best thing apart from watching the racing, is the artwork on the posters...some people steal them and sell them online, which I guess is a pretty solid idea. The samurai senshu is going to win by any means.
photo 2....Championship stripes on the roof.
photo 3....The seedy Keirin crowd in Japan; if you take your eyes off the
bikes for a second, you might think you were at the greyhounds...

What I noticed, regarding parts/frames this weekend......
Maeda, Peloton frames a-plenty, a few Makinos, Panasonics, Bridgeys, 1 Samson, 1 Nagasawa,
Peloton was the most common frame I saw this day.
Everyone was using single straps. One guy had a Ariake Jaguar saddle! Surprised he had not
worn it out yet....very old model.

Random Gaijin...

Robert and Gabe, who reminded me how to speak English a few weeks ago. These got some cheap airfares from Sydney, dropped into Osaka, asked for a couple of nice bikes, and 3 days later took these bikes on a tour around Japan. Nice plan. Nice guys. Thanks!

Tree House

This is the shop (more like a big kids tree-house) myself and Kishiguchi Yo share
in Horie Osaka....NJS SuperMarket, and Ocean Cycle Factory office.

My new bike, and Robs silly Anchor.

My purple KIYO with rare Fujita Conpy Boy saddle, and my housemates silly Anchor bike w/star wars bars, 125g tyres, S Cubic chainring, corima carbon seat post, and Dura Ace pedals.
I like it hanging here next to mine, making my bike look just a little less obnoxious.

B Dash Trike Race....

Minami Osaka's B-Dash messenger company (named after Super Mario Bros, when you hold
the b button down and boogie) are throwing a trike drag race night tonight somewhere in Osaka, cant remember the name of the place. This is the Ocean Cycle Factory entry, with Nitto B123AA drops, Nitto black stem, Dia Compe 1'' threaded headset, Dura Ace pedals, Cinelli straps, and now (not pictured) a wheelie bar, in case things get out of hand.

Nagasawa BB Shells

Nagasawa BB Shells old and new. The old looking one is the newer one, and the new
looking one is the old one. I like the old one.

Super Aero oddities...

This is a purple edition of the beloved Super Aero rim by Araya, 30mm sidewall, no braking
machined surface, and it is a clincher! 650c 28 hole....
Behind it is a very rare 24h, 24 inch funny bike Super Aero tubular, NOS.
And the meat in their 80's sandwich is a hed3 custom painted at VIVALO in white
with pink and green metal flake (clincher).
And below are some toe clips, which are probably the hardest to find NJS clips made. Minoura
now make dinky wheelbuilding stands, and bike racks.

3Rensho MTB and BMX rarities....

Ok so this blog will mostly be slightly nerdy and have the word 'rare' in each post.
I will try to back this up with stuff that is actually kind of interesting and/or hard
to find. Here are some more strange bikes from Yoshi's studio....a BMX and a MTB.
So far, 2 posts and no track bikes in sight......
Let's Pisuto! Let's BMX! Let's MTB! 'Let's Road-O!

CHI'CHA!

This must the chibiest 3rensho ever made....so ugly but I cannot stop looking at
it.......I have noticed a trend in Japan, where street riders have started to dig
for 55-58cm frames, since these frames arguably have the nicest triangle proportions.
I used to enjoy the fact that the frames I wanted were the least popular in Japan.
Time to start a trend overseas.....let's ride 44cm frames (the size of this road frame below).
Let's Pisuto!