In Tokyo, a born again biker of some 8 years, I wonder if anyone in this fair city shares my passion for 1950s lightweight English machines.
I ride a variety of bikes. My monicker is based on my rain-bike, a 1979 Dawes Atlantis which was originally Dawes' top racing bike but which I've fitted with mudguards and a Sachs-Fichtel Torpedo, a 2-speed kick-back hub from Germany. It's the bike that made me go 'Wow!' 8 years ago and started me off building bikes.
The 1st bike I built was a 1982 Trek 730 - only available from the factory as a frame. which I fitted with a 1978 Campagnolo groupset. The last bike I built, which is actually still a work in progress, is a 1954 Hetchins, sold back then as a 'Short distance time-trial machine'. It was and still is a fixed-gear machine. I rode it for the first time last Thursday (went out to Hasegawa Jitensha to see if he had any Mafac brake parts) and am now doing bits here and there to make it perfect. Today I re-adjusted a little play out of the front wheel bearings. That kind of stuff.
I have another Hetchins from 1950, a 1975 Peugeot I built for touring and a 2009 Chesini Pista, my first fixed gear.
Anyone else out there? Tokyo is a big place, after all.
I ride a variety of bikes. My monicker is based on my rain-bike, a 1979 Dawes Atlantis which was originally Dawes' top racing bike but which I've fitted with mudguards and a Sachs-Fichtel Torpedo, a 2-speed kick-back hub from Germany. It's the bike that made me go 'Wow!' 8 years ago and started me off building bikes.
The 1st bike I built was a 1982 Trek 730 - only available from the factory as a frame. which I fitted with a 1978 Campagnolo groupset. The last bike I built, which is actually still a work in progress, is a 1954 Hetchins, sold back then as a 'Short distance time-trial machine'. It was and still is a fixed-gear machine. I rode it for the first time last Thursday (went out to Hasegawa Jitensha to see if he had any Mafac brake parts) and am now doing bits here and there to make it perfect. Today I re-adjusted a little play out of the front wheel bearings. That kind of stuff.
I have another Hetchins from 1950, a 1975 Peugeot I built for touring and a 2009 Chesini Pista, my first fixed gear.
Anyone else out there? Tokyo is a big place, after all.