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Bike mechanic

Justin

Maximum Pace
Nov 12, 2016
168
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Apologies if this is a topic that's been covered here recently (I did do a quick search, but came up empty-handed): I'm looking for a good mechanic in western Tokyo to handle a road bike overhaul, preferably within a 10-min bike ride of Eifukucho station -- ie I don't really fancy heading over to Nalsima, Crown Gears, Y's, etc. I've been past Friend Shokai in Minami-asagaya several times but never been inside. Can anyone vouch for it? I've also heard people mention Effect at Daitabashi. Any good? And Cycle Pine at Shimo-takaido looks like a fairly serious roadie shop. Has anyone here had an experience at one of those shops, or can someone recommend a different place in that general vicinity? Cheers in advance. Justin
 
I haven't been there, but I ride past Cycle Pine and they look pretty capable. They always seem busy in spite of a poor location, which says a lot.
Similarly, another few hundred meters down the track (Route 20) is a Buychari that also seems to be used to dealing with higher end bikes.
 
Wasn't aware of Buychari -- thanks for the tip. Another one to add to the shortlist. Cheers.
 
Efffect is the best mechanic in Tokyo in my opinion. Super nice guy and very thorough. Definitely recommend him. He can be busy though so don't expect to ride in and have him fix it on the spot. Might take a week sometimes
 
Nice one. I'll try Efffect first then. I'm happy to wait a bit for a good job. Thanks for the recommendations.
 
Nocchi at Efff(ff?)ect did a really outstanding job, so thanks again for the tip. (The number of fs in the name seems to change from shop sign to meishi to online listing to website ... .) It was great to deal with someone who's refreshingly free of the *bike shop attitude* I've encountered in a few people at the chains.

He made a handful of clever little tweaks to get everything cleaner, tighter, etc. Ultimately I was able to get this chunky aero bike well down in weight, albeit with wheels that are too shallow to give any real aero benefits and possibly defeat the whole purpose of having an aero bike. I probably should've gone a touch deeper for all-round wheels, but what the hell, aero schmaero, it'll be fun to take this out to the mountains.

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I'm not sure. I introduced myself in Japanese, Nocchi answered in Japanese, and thus the language of all of our future interactions was set -- in Japanese. Maybe some of the other people here know if he can speak English?

If you're looking for an English speaking bike mechanic in the same part of town, you should try Taku Sekine, who has a workshop at Higashi-kitazawa. Email: [email protected]. Taku knows his stuff. He teaches at the Tokyo College of Bicycle Design in Shibuya.
 
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