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Y's Bike Shop

macks

Warming-Up
Nov 8, 2009
2
0
Hajimemashite!

A bit new to this cycling thing. Have been riding a mamachan bike for roughly a year now, but a friend was willing to sell me some parts of her fixed gear bike..

I looked through the boards extensively, and I know many of you recommend assembling it yourself, but i don't think i'm anywhere capable of that at the moment...

Many people recommended Y's Bike Shops.. I'm thinking of going to the one in Akasaka? Has anyone been? And do you know if they selll parts only or do they also assemble/tune up bikes as well?

Look forward to chatting with you guys more!
 
Cheapie Fixe Help

I'd be happy to help. I'm currently riding a fixed gear based on junk parts and am a pretty decent mechanic with a few tools here. Japan is a wonderland of parts - especially for the DIY'er. The only key thing is finding a frame with horizontal dropouts - or luckily a gear match that will give you close enough chain length on vertical drops. Otherwise you gotta get an eccentric hub (expensive, ouch).

I reckon total budget --

1) Cheap / heavy steel (is real) frame. Older Japanese double butted frames are fine and you often find a whole bike for less than 5000yen on Yahoo auction. Try to find one that at least has 700c wheels as well.

2) Strip EVERYTHING off the bike. You may wanna keep the front brake. About 2 beers.

3) If ur really cheap (like me) just get a fixed gear rear cog (14-16) and cross thread it onto your standard (non cartridge) hub. Prepare with Locktite cleaner and prep and then use Locktite Red liberally. About 2000yen

4) 1 Chain - or reuse what came with the bike. About 1000yen for sedisport.

5) You can find real fixie wheels by the dozens on Yahoo auct if you dont want the cheapie route. This will also give you generally a swappable hub . Again you'll want a frame with horizontral drop outs to take advantage more easily.

This makes a great winter / city trainer and will likely cost less than 10,000yen total. Weight, etc , really doesnt matter. Just get a frame that fits.

Ideal chain size depends on what works with your bike and you. I'm currently quite happy with a 42-16. Most common cranksets come with a 42 chain ring - so nothing to do on the front end as well.
 
thanks for the reply.

I have everything for the bike (I believe!) except for a saddle and wheels. Does anyone know how much assembling a road bike costs at Y's? The other places recommended were a bit too expensive for me..
 
Bike Assembly

If you already have the bottom bracket and headset assembled, then it should be a breeze. Not much else is there that you can't do with a set of allens and a 15mm crank wrench. If you were around Shinjuku, I'd do it for a few beers.

The really only critical parts of assembly are reaming, aligning and when necessary, threading the BB and headset. Generally you need nice tools for this. The rest requires less than $50 worth of tools. Chain splitter, cable cutter, various allens and thin wrenches , etc.

Fixed gear has even fewer bits and pieces, so really, you should be able to knock it together without any serious difficulties.

This is a cool video - btw -- http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/columns/bobgarage/indexb.htm
 
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