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New Girl!

Akage38

Cruising
Mar 20, 2012
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Hi Tokyo Cycling Club!

I'm a Tokyo-based originally-from-London girl, and a relative beginner to cycling having only recently invested in a proper road bike to replace my old, heavy, second hand six-speed mama-chari.
I accidentally discovered my love for cycling when I decided to start cycling the 10km from home to my office (on said heavy mama-chari) as a means of avoiding the busy rush hour trains, and began to realize that it was actually becoming the highlight of my day. Needless to say cycling on a much lighter and faster bike has at least trebled my enjoyment!

Fulfilling highlight of owning a road bike so far:
Making it up the relatively tame hill by the side of Yoyogi park without being a gasping mess by the end

Shallow highlight of owning a road bike so far:
Having a random pair of junior-high school students stop next to me at lights and tell me I was cool. No-one has ever said this to me in my life. I am the most perpetually uncool person ever. This just about made my year. :cool:

Lowlight of owning a road bike so far:
(Lightly) crashing into a guy on a mama-chari who suddenly did a U-turn right in front of me without looking first - stupid maneuver but the collision was at least partly my fault because I'm still not used to how hard I need to pull on my brakes to stop suddenly compared with my old bike.

Anyway as I said I'm pretty much a beginner, so I apologize in advance for any really daft questions! :eek:
I look forward to getting to know you!

Jess
 
Welcome! TCC is a great resource for information and guidance! There is a wealth of experience here.

If you are interested in group rides you should also check out our sister club Half Fast Cycling Tokyo. The have a subforum on TCC HERE, and their homepage is HERE.
 
Welcome!
Sorry to report that I have been teaching sarcasm to high school students for many years.:eek:
 
Welcome!
 
Welcome Jess!:D
 
Hello Jess,

You are more than welcome to TCC:)
I am so glad to have girl company in TCC as no more lady participate to any TCC organized riding recently except me:eek:uch:

Should you have any questions about biking, please let me know.
Looking forward to riding with you :bike::bike::bike:

Naomi:)
 
Alright Jess.

Linked to Naomi's comment about not many girls riding; there have been a number of women who have ordered the new kit, so hopefully this will change in the near future!
 
Yes, it will reverse any global warming coming from Tokyo.

Hahahahahhaha! I'm wondering what triggered this response!

Have fun Jess! Daft questions or not, this place has some great and really helpful people (they even helped with my excessive ..noobness many times!) so don't hesitate to ask!
 
Wow, thank you so much for the warm welcome everyone!!

Welcome! TCC is a great resource for information and guidance! There is a wealth of experience here.

If you are interested in group rides you should also check out our sister club Half Fast Cycling Tokyo. The have a subforum on TCC HERE, and their homepage is HERE.

Yes I've already signed up for their mailing list, so far all my cycling has been strictly solo so I'm hoping one of their beginner's rides will be a suitable way to build my confidence for riding with others. I'm a bit nervous, but looking forward to learning from my sempai!

Welcome!
Sorry to report that I have been teaching sarcasm to high school students for many years.:eek:

Ahaha, yes to be fair it was already dark by that time and the comment was probably directed more towards my shiny white bike than to me :cry:
Even so, I'm hoping just having proximity to something cool might rub off on my being in general! ;)

Hello Jess,

You are more than welcome to TCC:)
I am so glad to have girl company in TCC as no more lady participate to any TCC organized riding recently except me:eek:uch:

Should you have any questions about biking, please let me know.
Looking forward to riding with you :bike::bike::bike:

Naomi:)

Hi Naomi, so nice to hear there are other female cycling enthusiasts out there!
Once I have a bit more confidence, I would love to come join everyone for some organized rides - I really look forward to hopefully meeting you (and everyone else) then! :D
 
Hi Jess

I'm wondering if you'd mind telling me in more detail, what kind of bike you have and where you purchased it. I'm a beginner female cyclist and interested to know where you got yours and what kind.

Thanks
 
Hi Jess

I'm wondering if you'd mind telling me in more detail, what kind of bike you have and where you purchased it. I'm a beginner female cyclist and interested to know where you got yours and what kind.

Thanks

Hey Alei,

Welcome to the forums!!

I have a Specialized Dolce Elite Triple:
http://www.specialized.com/tw/en/bc/SBCProduct.jsp?arc=2011&sid=11Dolce&gold_ses=

It set me back 90,000 yen, and was slightly cheaper because it was the 2011 version rather than the one of the most recent models available. It's an entry level road bike, but I absolutely love riding it and have no regrets about my purchase. I'm about 155cm tall and on the recommendation of the guys in the shop got it in a size 48, I tried the 44 and they thought it was too crampt for me and would be uncomfortable for longer rides.

I bought it from this small Specialized concept store near Nishi-Eifuko (Inokashira line), mainly because it was close to where I live, but in the end I was extremely impressed with the service and the guy in there is friendly and helpful, though you will need Japanese:
http://www.garage-takaido.com/
They also run events like bike rides and free workshops on basic bike maintenance/repair, which have been useful for me.
I'm sure people on these forums have plenty of good recommendations for other bike shops to look at though.

Though I did research my bike it was not a 100% informed choice because I didn't and (still don't) appreciate exactly how much difference in riding experience certain upgrades make. Road bikes can get very very expensive so as a beginner testing the water I didn't want to spend a fortune on upgrades that wouldn't make much difference to me - I wasn't convinced for example that a carbon frame would be worth the money for the kind of cycling I wanted to do (though these things probably matter if you want to race).

I think it will definitely be worth doing your research on the kind of bike you need for your purposes before you settle on anything, and definitely do consult the mine of knowledge on this forum :D

Keep us posted on what you end up going for!! :)
 
Alright Jess.

Linked to Naomi's comment about not many girls riding; there have been a number of women who have ordered the new kit, so hopefully this will change in the near future!

or they are buying presents for their other halves......
 
Well if they are buying presents for their other halves, then the women buying the kit are either in a same-sex relationship, or their male partners are cross dressers.
 
Hi Jess

Thanks so much!!!
I checked out the website of that bike store. I think it's worth venturing out there.
I like that they have bikes specifically designed for women. The Specialized Dolce series bike seems exactly what I'm looking for. And based on the website, the prices are totally reasonable! Thank you. What a great find.

This forum has been great so far...have lots more to learn.

Will definitely keep you posted once I've made my purchase.
 
I definitely endorse the Dolce. It has a great spec and backed by a good company. I'd just shy away from the 46cm version. If you fit on the 48cm , then you'll be in fat city.

Hi Jess

Thanks so much!!!
I checked out the website of that bike store. I think it's worth venturing out there.
I like that they have bikes specifically designed for women. The Specialized Dolce series bike seems exactly what I'm looking for. And based on the website, the prices are totally reasonable! Thank you. What a great find.

This forum has been great so far...have lots more to learn.

Will definitely keep you posted once I've made my purchase.
 
What are people's thoughts on Felt bikes? They have a decent women's range too - the ZW series. I'm leaning towards the ZW-75.
 
Welcome!


I've always liked Felt, probably tough to go wrong there.


Bought my girlfriend a Dolce. Ridden once. Probably not long enough for you, but if it doesn't get much more use you'll find it in the Classifieds in a couple months.... :eek: :eek: :eek:

Picked that one after some research, and spending time at the shop. Bought at Nalsima Friend in Aoyama. Ironically, just across the street from the Specialized shop....
 
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