Bicycle Culture Center: 2016 Handmade Bike Show [Japanese]
Archiv der Kategorie: Japan
Tokyo Handmade Bike Show: Cherubim Airline.
Eingeordnet unter 2016, Gierige Räder, Japan, Mob, Uncategorized
Toyama. Japan.
„Toyama, Japan“ from Pas Normal Studios on Vimeo.
“Being a foreigner in Japan is not easy but riding in the mountains where there are no rules or cultural etiquette is liberating. The mountains are universal and here you all battle the same road to the top.”
Sehr gut geschriebener und exzellent photographierter Beitrag auf Pas Normal Studios.
Eingeordnet unter 2016, Japan, Mob, Uncategorized
Tokyo Cycle Parts Show
The first Tokyo Cycle Parts show was held last week. This trade show is open only to the bicycle industry, which allowed focused inquiry into products, and provided a good glimpse at what is happening in Japanese cycling.
For me, it also provided a great opportunity to see acquaintances, such as Mr. Yoshikawa, the president of Nitto, and his son.
Mr. Emi, the owner of Ostrich, was there, too. We discussed a few new product ideas, even though I usually visit the companies directly to discuss new projects with fewer distractions.
Among the interesting new products were Ostrich’s bike stands. They raise the rear derailleur off the ground when the bike is disassembled for Rinko. The larger collapsible stand (bottom) has been available for a while, but the minimalist single-sided ones (in two lengths) are new. You can see a bike with the single-sided stand on the table in the photo of the Ostrich booth.
Speaking of new products, Nitto showed their first carbon handlebars. Made in Japan, they are made to Nitto’s exacting quality standards. The track version (above) is painted Nitto blue. Sharp eyes will notice the width: just 380 mm. Japanese track racers prefer narrow bars, so they can exploit small gaps when they make their winning moves.
As impressive as these bars are, I don’t think a carbon fiber version of the Compass Randonneur handlebars is in our future plans.
Another product is unlikely to make it into the Compass program: Nitto is making a seatpost-mounted Di2 battery system for Shimano.
MKS showed their pedals, including the beautiful top-of-the-line ones that Compass sells.
I finally got to see their new SPD pedal. More than a year ago, I’d seen drawings, then photos of prototypes. I am not so keen on the aesthetics, but the function is neat. The front retention mechanism is split, so you need to open only one side to release your foot, yet the shoe is held securely when you pedal. A Rinko version also will be available. And of course, the bearings are better than any other SPD pedal…
Honjo had only a small table to show their lovely fenders. I think that is because they are plenty busy these days.
From fenders to tires: Even in the mainstream, 650B no longer is purely for mountain bikes, and more companies offer road-oriented tread patterns. Vittoria’s new “Revolution” is 50 mm wide and looked promising at first. But the weight of 810 grams shows that there is a lot of rubber, and the description lists it as an “urban” tire. When will Vittoria finally offer their high-end racing tires in more sensible widths?
IRC’s new 650B x 54 mm tire felt more promising when I pressed it between my fingers. No specs were available. We’ll try to get a test sample soon. Perhaps it’s a sign that the Enduro Allroad Bike idea is catching on.
Soyo offers hand-made tubular tires that look very nice, but they are available only in narrow widths. And they carry a price tag of more than $ 200 for the best ones. Still, it’s nice to see that true handmade tires are still produced in Japan.
At the other end of the spectrum, airless tires are alive and well. And they are as scary as ever!
More encouraging: In Japan, you still can buy lugged production bikes with downtube shift levers and hammered fenders for less than $ 2000.
Of course, carbon is big in the mainstream, and Scott had their own candy made to celebrate their claim that they are “carbon experts”.
Contrasting with the carbon were the leather goods from a Japanese company. Their extra-thin handlebar tape looked interesting.
When I started cycling seriously, Hoshi spokes were considered the best. Nice to see that they are still around, offering a wide variety of spokes, including the bladed ones that they pioneered long before they became fashionable.
Another Japanese specialty are rain covers for child seats. It’s common to carry two children on your bike in any weather. This maker used cute inflatable figures to demonstrate their covers.
Among the many things at the Minoura stand was this neat camera mount, which uses your bike to stabilize your camera. Lionel Brans had a similar mount on his custom bike when he rode from Paris to Saigon in 1947. As long as you don’t need your bike in the photo, it’s a neat idea.
And then you have true oddballs, like these stickers to dress up your bike. Do you prefer your fenders with a houndstooth or a plaid pattern?
The sun was setting when I finally left the exhibit. As I walked by the pagoda of the temple in Asakusa, I was reminded how Japan has a long tradition of making beautiful things. The best Japanese bicycle makers are rooted in that tradition, and that is why we enjoy working with them so much.
Eingeordnet unter 2016, Japan, Mob, Uncategorized
Währenddessen in Japan. Und 68 Jahre vorher in Frankreich.
Eingeordnet unter 2016, Japan, Mob, Uncategorized
IOC approves 2020 Tokyo Olympics cycling venues
Wenig überraschend finden die olympischen Bahnrennen 2020 nicht in Tokyo, sondern in dem vor einigen Jahren neu gebauten Velodrom in Izu statt.
TOKYO (AFP) — The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has approved the venues for the cycling events at the 2020 Olympics, Japanese organizers said Wednesday.
All sporting venues for the Tokyo Games have now been allocated, officials added, with the exception of soccer, the venues for which are expected to be announced following next year’s Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
A planned temporary velodrome on Tokyo’s waterside Ariake venue has been scrapped and the cycling will be relocated to the existing Izu Velodrome, 145 kilometers (90 miles) south of Tokyo, set against the backdrop of Japan’s iconic Mt Fuji.
The international cycling union had initially opposed the move, claiming it would detract from the Olympic experience. But the IOC agreed to the switch as it saves another $100 million as part of a raft of cost cuts totaling almost $2 billion.
Road races and time trials will take place in Tokyo, with the start and finish line at the Imperial Palace Garden. Meanwhile, BMX events will be held at a purpose-built venue at Ariake, close to the tennis stadium.
“The Japan Cycle Sports Centre is located in Izu, and is the centre of cycling not only in Japan, but across the whole of Asia,” said Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto.
“This location constitutes the optimal choice of venue from a wide range of perspectives including athlete experience, maximum use of existing venues, post-Games legacies and for the future development of cycling in Japan and across Asia.”
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The dudes of hazzard in Japan
I am not that much involved in the MTB scene, but the new „dudeumentary“ by the dudes of hazzard had me laughing hard two times wihin the first 30 seconds.
Firstly, the selection of „Staying alive“ as title song is a fitting one for three dudes walking in front of the emperors palace and secondly, wearing Japanese one-off slippers that are too waay too small is a good choice for the title „Big in Japan“ (which followw as a song later anyhow.
However, one should never ever be discouraged by blocked road. Trust me, it’s worth to break this rule.
Meanwhile in Japan.
EB15: GOKISO BUILDS COMPLETE WHEELS OUT OF THEIR AMAZING SUSPENDED HUBS, PLUS TITANIUM HUBS & ROAD BIKES
Japanese brand Gokiso has added to their remarkably smooth micro suspension hubs, creating their own carbon fiber clincher road rims built into complete wheels.
The combination results in something they claim has extremely low inertia, requiring just 0.5g of force to start them rolling. That means they’ll spool up faster for quick acceleration and less effort to keep them rolling fast. Part of their ongoing energy savings comes from a unique inner bead shape that brings the tire much closer to the edge of the rim and creates a wide, stable tire shape.
Check it out, along with some new hubs and an absolutely gorgeous titanium bicycle from a partner brand…
Notice the minuscule gap between the edge of the rim and the tire? That’s by design, helping smooth air flow. But that’s just one of the benefits:
The rims’ unique bead socket shape is CNC’d in their own factory in Japan. On the inside, it’s shaped to completely trap the tire bead with no gaps. On the top, it’s curved to provide a smoother transition off the rim, which they say gives the tire a wider, more naturally round shape to improve stability. If true, we’d say it should also improve handling by making cornering more predictable.
They also say it creates a shorter (but slightly wider) contact patch with the ground, which results in lower rolling resistance.
A closer look on two different rim depths.
The rims will come in 29mm (480g), 38mm (500g), and 50mm (530g) depths, sold as complete wheels. The braking surface has a basalt layer to improve friction.
For the hubs, we covered their technology a couple years ago in great detail and with videos, but the short of it is that the ribs suspend the spoke flanges and allow for micro movements. Internally, a slotted sleeve acts like a leaf spring to add a tiny bit more movement, all while keeping the hub adequately stiff. Hit that link above to see it in action, it’s worth it.
At the top of the line are these titanium-shelled Super Climber hubs. They’re not the lightest ones they make, but they use more and finer ridges on the front and, well, they’re titanium. Weights are approximately 240g front and 450g rear.
Notice how the spoke flange floats above the rest of the hub shell. Each of the supporting ridges acts like an external leaf spring, and that’s just phase one of the suspension.
The aluminum shelled Climber hubs come in at about 190g front and 400g rear. Not light by modern standards, but there’s a lot going on inside them:
Click to enlarge and you’ll see the cylinder inside with slots. The outer hub shell only contacts this cylinder in the middle, letting the material left between the slots act as small leaf springs to provide a bit more suspension. The design separates any suspension movement from the bearings, so it doesn’t affect how smooth they roll. And thanks to very high grade ceramic bearings, they do indeed roll very, very smoothly.
The design splits the freehub body’s bearings, putting a hub axle support bearing between them, which spreads the load as wide as possible to reduce flex.
Top all that off with 92 teeth and alternating engagement (see how that pawl on the left sits between teeth? Two pawls are engaged at any given time, the other two just half a step off. That makes for very quick engagement, and since the pawls are twice as wide as normal ones, there’s plenty of contact to carry the load.
They also make internally suspended hubs. While they don’t look like the external ones above, the outer sections of the hub shell are also suspended over the axle, sitting on the inner cylinder only in the thinner center section. All of their hubs use a reinforced inner axle to support all of the micro movement without flexing.
Gokiso formed a relationship with Passoni bicycles and used their frames to demo the wheels. This one in particular stood out for its amazing craftsmanship.
Fluidly smooth welds drew us in, then details like the brake cable ports kept us hunting.
A small guide integrated into the derailleur hanger catches and hides an EPS/Di2 wire, keeping it from jutting out sideways or getting in the way of the quick release during wheel changes.
A little further reading on the hubs, click to enlarge. And check out their website for videos and more.
Arsène Lupin. Der Dritte.
Arsène Lupin war einer der Heldern der Vorabendsendungen meiner Kindheit.
Ich denke, wenn man in den Siebzigern oder Achtzigern aufgewachsen ist und von den Eltern früh zu Bett geschickt wurde, kennt man die Serien die so zwischen 6 und 8 in ARD oder ZDF liefen ganz gut. Und auch noch heute kann man sich gut darüber unterhalten, welche Serien besonders gut waren und einen geprägt haben, und welche nicht so doll waren. Ganz hoch auf meiner persönlichen Liste stehen da „Immer wenn er Pillen nahm“ (womit jetzt endlich ein Radsportlicher Bezug hergestellt wurde) mit Stanley Beamish – auch Jahre später hätte ich beim ersten Anhören darauf schwören können, dass die Damned eine Hommage an Stanley Beamish produziert hätten, es stellte sich dann aber heraus, dass Ihr Song „Grimly Fiendish“ hieß. Desweiteren Mini Max mit Maxwell Smart, Percy Stuart und am Wochenende Kobra, Übernehmen Sie, das für jüngere Leser nichts mit „Alarm für Cobra 11“ aber leider sehr viel mit Mission Impossible zu tun hat. Ach ja, und die Shadoks im Dritten.
Es gab aber auch Sendungen die ich hasste, und die ich mir nur ansah weil mir manchmal total langweilig war. Daktari zum Beispiel fand ich saublöd, ich kann auch heute nichts mit Tieren anfangen, deshalb bin ich ja auch mal Bauingenieur geworden, um da einen klaren Gegenpol zu schaffen. Ganz zu schweigen von so romantischen Knallern wie „Der Bastian“, „Arpad, der Zigeuner“ oder „Die Waltons„, was ja letztendlich reine Lehrerwertepropaganda war.
Gut fand ich auch Arsene Lupin. Das ist jetzt keine sehr helle Lampe die Kevin König mit Arsenbatterien betreibt, sondern die Geschichte eines französischen Meisterdiebes. Als Serie war das schon gut, aber was die Japaner daraus gemacht haben ist fast noch besser.
In Tokyo zum Beispiel, gibt es ein Theater der Takarazuka Gruppe, das ist etwas schwierig zu erklären. Im Prinzip spielen die Musicals, oftmals auf der Basis westlicher Themen, und alle Rollen werden von Frauen besetzt, auch die männlichen mit Schnurrbärten. Ich durfte mir einmal „Solferino“ ansehen, die Geschichte auf dem Schlachtfeld, die Henri Dunant dazu inspirierte das rote Kreuz zu gründen. Ich höre mal auf darüber zu schreiben und lasse die ganze Schönheit durch Augen und Ohren direkt einwirken.
Also Die Schnurrbärte haben schon was. Frauen steht so was besser als Conchita Wurst.
Wem das jetzt nicht reicht, der kann sich hier das Musical „Arsene Lupin der Dritte“ in seiner ganzen Schönheit über mehr als 95 Minuten anschauen.
Muss aber nicht sein. Aber wo ich das so sehe, französische Polizisten sehen ja hier noch besser aus als Frauen mit Schnurrbärten.
Und jetzt gibt es auch wieder einen Arsen Lupine der Dritte Manga Film mit einer astreinen musikalischen Untermalung.
Musik wie gemacht für’s radfahren.
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