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New guy looking for some racing

halftrack

Warming-Up
Apr 19, 2012
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New guy looking for some race suggestions

Hello every one!

I'm a student in Tokyo, living in Setagaya for one and a half years now. I've been lurking on the forums for a while, but this is my first post. Before I came to Japan I had a racy hybrid for commuting that I also did some touring with. Last spring I was getting slightly flabby and decided to get a road bike ... good idea, reached my weight goal with good margin last year, but didn't gain a lot of speed. I haven't been riding a lot this year, but now I'll have some more time, and I'll hopefully be a bit more structured with my exercise. However, beside a km/h and km goal for the year, I want something more and was thinking about joining a race in the second half of the season. I've seen the racing subsection and read much of it, but perhaps some of you could give me some more concrete advice?

I'm thinking a not-too-serious race ... maybe a hill climb as they don't seem to bring as much carnage. I've tried looking around at the various pages, but my Japanese is basically non-existant, so ... any suggestions for Jul.-Oct.?

Also, as a student, I'm not exactly loaded, so I'm pretty sensitive to sign-up fees and logistic costs. ;-)

I'll throw in another question at the end: Twice, (different) nipples have unscrewed on my not-very-new rear wheel (Fulcrum Racing 7) and while I have gotten them back on, I fear it is only temporary. Furthermore, I was not able to true it the last time due to some nipples being very thight and at least one being rounded and me not being all that competent. I'd like to have the wheel rebuilt with new nipples. My questions are: how much should I expect to pay for a rebuild? I've read many recomendations for Positivo lately and they're conveniently located, but maybe there are others that are cheaper without compromising quality too much? (I'm located near Kyodo station.) Should I get the spokes changed at the same time?

Thank you!
-- Jon

(If you've seen a lone white guy on/near tamagawa on a blue aluminium Felt, breaking all the "rules" ... that's probably me. :) )
 
Hey Jon,

Welcome to the forum. I'm not going to be much help on any of your questions, but since you're in Kyodo, I just wanted to say that I have always had a pleasant experience with the staff at Cycle Paradise there. You should check them out sometime.
 
Hey there;

Racing-wise, if you are not wanting too much carnage and a cheap thing, some kind of Enduro would be good. Eric and I are planning to do another one at some point, so keep your eyes peeled for that. I am sure there will be a lot more suggestions as well!

Wheel; get in touch with Tim (GSAstuto on the forum).
 
Hi Jon,

I live a km south of Kyodo, near Tokyo Nodai / Setagaya dori / Baji Koen. Welcome to TCC! My son bought his used road bike at Cycle Paradise, mentioned by SurlyCyclist.
 
Hi, thank's for your suggestions. Found another nipple had unscrewed itself yesterday. I'll just have to take it to the professionals now. I'll check out Cycle Paradise and see what they want for a rebuild with new nipples.
 
Thanks for the advice everyone! I thought I posted a reply a while back, but it seems like it disappeared into the bit-bucket.

I'll definitely keep an eye out for enduros here in the coming months. They seem like a decent introduction to amateur racing.

For the third time, a nipple unscrewed itself and my bike's been out of service for almost two weeks now due to lack of time and energy :-( ... However, I did visit Cycle Paradise last sunday, but unfortunately they only had Japanese-size nipples so I have to find another shop ... :-/
 
Thanks for the advice everyone! (I thought I posted a reply a while back, but it seems like I've been hitting the "blog this post" button instead of the "quick reply" button :eek:)

I'll definitely keep an eye out for enduros here in the coming months. They seem like a decent introduction to amateur racing.

For the third time, a nipple unscrewed itself and my bike's been out of service for almost two weeks now due to lack of time and energy :( ... However, I did visit Cycle Paradise last sunday, but unfortunately they only had Japanese-size nipples so I have to find another shop ...
 
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