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Lazy rider

TheBusby

Warming-Up
Oct 23, 2011
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Hi All,

I'm a 31 year old code monkey chained to a desk most of the week, longing for escape from an otherwise sedentary lifestyle . I moved to Suginami-ku from California in 2005, and If I happen to call you dude please don't hold it against me. ;)

Although I grew up riding bicycles (50km+ rides), and my father is an avid cyclist, I haven't ridden much since switching to Motorcycles in ~2001. After doing quite a bit of walking/hiking the past 3-4 years, 10-35km jaunts across most of Tokyo; I'm finding myself drawn back to bicycles for commute and recreation.

Although embarrassed to admit it, the only cyclish thing I own at the moment is a stationary exercise bike named "Ai". That will change soon though, as I'm currently weighing various options, and would greatly appreciate any input from the wonderful community here.

Cheers,
Alan
 
Ahh - new blood. Hello, dude.

Budget?
Road/Mountain/Cross/BMX/Recumbent/Mamachari?
Gears or no gears?
Preferred frame material?

Give us something to go on, and we will probably deluge you with ideas and opinions which you will ultimately ignore and subsequently regret. Or not.
 
Depending on where in California you came from, duuuuuuude! or dude, umm, so is that like Ai the movie? Or like Ai the chick? Since it's coming onto winter you really have but one choice and that is to turn your stationary bike into a fixed gear muletto and ride it for 6weeks of increasing intensity following which you <may> change to a somewhat more road performance version having passed the triple gauntlet of Otarumi, Wada and Tomin No Mori followed by a Soy No Fat Triple Choc No White Nutmeg CappaLatte MatchaMochaWackka
 
gday, thats pretty not too far from my place, might be able to catch up once youve got a bike and im able to get back on mine...youll find a gold mine of info here!
 
Wow, thanks for the welcome.
I didn't want to post too much info in an introduction, but I see that I was mistaken!

In answer to your questions;

@Half-Fast Mike + @OwenJames -> Budget?
Not too concerned here, though mainly just want to find something good to have fun with. I find it unlikely that anyone would recommend a 80man+ custom wonder bike to start out with.

@Half-Fast Mike -> Type of bike?
Being that I would be hard pressed to find a section of dirt over 10 sq. meters within 10km of me, I'm guessing a road bike. I used to ride a hybrid, but the only unpaved riding areas I've noticed around me so far have been along rivers.

@Half-Fast Mike -> Gear or no gears?
Starting simple with one gear sounds great (used to love doing skids with a coaster brake), but I have some concerns that I'll elaborate on further below.

@Half-Fast Mike -> Preferred frame material?
Now that carbon has come down in price so much the past 10-15 years, I guess anything is possible. Would depend more on the bike, so no preference really.

@GSAstuto -> dude
I almost think of "dude" as Cantonese. In that rising, falling, or flat intonation; along with vowel length dramatically change the meaning of the word. :cool:

@GSAstuto -> AI
Er, my wife picked it out... :eek:
http://www.konamisportsclub.jp/goods/cata/fitness/ai.html

@Yukidon -> not too far from my place,
I'm near Takaido, so just a short shot down 311 from where you are I think.

@AlanW -> TCC needs more Alans
What's better than Alan, why it's Alans! :eek:


So I'm a fairly decent sized guy, 188cm 100kg, so I haven't found that the domestic market best serves my needs in many different areas. I'm guessing I'll need a 58+cm sized frame, but to be honest I'm not sure where I should go to get measured around here.

I'd love to start out with a beater bike, old fixie or whatever, and then work may way up to something nice (so I'd appreciate it properly); but I'm guessing my size is probably going to limit my options significantly, so I have a "take what I can get" attitude. If I have to start with something nicer just to get something that'll work, that's fine.

Regarding one or more gears, I'd like to try a fixie but have some concern that if I'm bagging the bike for train/office that dealing with rear wheel alignment will be an issue. Is that the case? Any concerns with quick release on the rear wheel of a bike with horizontal drop outs?

In regards to riding, I'm imagining some commuting when it's nice (along Inokashira-dori, 90 minute walk = 30 minute ride? )and hopefully joining up with the nice community here for longer group rides (safer in packs :angel:). I can't get my current exercise bike to up the resistance significantly without tricking it (disabling the heart rate sensor), so I don't really know what kind of shape I'm in for riding these days. :(
 
Well, for about the same price of an 'Ai' you can have true liveration [sic] my friend! Are you a Ruby sorta guy? Or a .Net?
 
Well, for about the same price of an 'Ai' you can have true liveration [sic] my friend! Are you a Ruby sorta guy? Or a .Net?

Well I'm a semi-reformed code monkey, so I do my best not to fling too much feces.
My go to combo used to be C+Ruby, but it's transformed into C+Clojure the past 2 years. :ninja:


So can anyone point me in the right initial direction for procuring a road bike? It wouldn't need to be new or shiny of course.

TCC Classifieds seems relatively dormant, and from googling around TCC I see a lot of users bemoaning the lack of a good LBS in Tokyo. Any particulars users or forum sponsors that come particularly recommended?

Advice?
 
Figure out what frame size you should be looking at first. Stu has a good thread about building up a roadie from a Yahoo Auction frame.
 
Those NOS frames are my 'go to' for decent 2nd hander builds. You just need to know that they are generally 126mm spacing and use threaded fork - so they are good for old stuff that people will toss out - or claim is 'vintage'.

There are quite a few NEW bikes available for good prices, too! One of my favs are the Maxway (TW) prdts which are available from various dealers for about 110,000 yen and up (120,000 yen for quite nice 105 builds). Need to know your size though - if you are under 185 cm it's easy to fit you. Over that and there are some challenges due to the sizes in Japan being smaller.

Figure out what frame size you should be looking at first. Stu has a good thread about building up a roadie from a Yahoo Auction frame.
 
i can vouch for maxway frames. i bought mine second hand and the previous owner's story was that it's a custom geometry so it's probably different from maxway's standard lineup, but the materials (4130 steel) and build are all very good. the maxway factory makes steel frames for lots of big brands like salsa and surly, so they're pretty well respected in steel frame circles.
 
Welcome Alan!

You might want to consider Wiggle for a bike that will fit you, I bought a Charge Mixer 8 from them, shipping was only 12,500 yen which is dirt cheap, the bike was on sale 40% off, which made it about 60% less than a comparable bike here in Tokyo, cheap!

The bike I built up from a NOS (New Old Stock) frame is great, don't get to ride it as much as I would like, but really it is a great bike to put some miles on. You like me are not in the feather weight class, so a super sick ultra light bike may not be the best choice...... just saying :rolleyes::D

My build thread is >> Here << The fork was included in the price, so that was not an issue, but I did buy the wrong brakes at first as the ones on bikes now have a much shorter reach, I had to get some older long reach brakes (thanks again guys!).

Cheers!

PS Y's road will do the basic measurement for 1000 yen.
 
Thanks again all!!!

I'll see if I can run down to one of the Y's road locations this weekend to get sized properly. According to the following site though, and my poor measurement techniques, I'll probably be looking for a 59-60cm frame.

(188cm height, 87cm leg length)
http://www.ebicycles.com/bicycle-tools/frame-sizer/road-bike

It sounds like the best two options are then to either,
1. Build up a NOS bike (*excellent* details in Stu's post)
2. Maxway

Quick question, where would I go to find Maxway stuff locally?

Thanks again!
 
one more thing, i take my fixed gear on the train often. i have a large bag that lets me get the whole bike in after removing the front wheel. as to rear wheel alignment, if you're riding a fixed gear in the mountains it's pretty common to use a flip flop rear hub with a transit gear on one side and a climbing gear on the other side and flip your wheel mid ride. it takes a little practice, but getting the wheel lined up isn't all that tough. i can usually get mine turned around in under 2 minutes if i'm not rushing.

you do NOT want to use a quick release on fixed gear with track ends.

for used bikes or frames, you might want to look at craigslist in addition to gaijinpot. sometimes there are good bikes posted on there by giant foreigners leaving the country.
 
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