V and B

A visit to Kawaguchi city

if you can call it a city because it pretty much seamlessly
luglessly?
connects to the rest of Tokyo
but it is home to one very special place that I know of

this is the Toei Bike Factory
as you can see they are churning out frames at the rate of about
one per week
which means there is a two year wait
which is not outrageous
for a custom-made frame
from what I gather

the place is not big
this is it
all you can see. one room.
three guys working today
and two guys not in
sick? passed away? not sure

this one is one of the Bluebird series

reproduced recently for their 50th anniversary

that's not a Cyclo rear derailleur but

a lighter-weight version of that design made by Toei

Supercorsa: more buildederer

Supercorsa project - the bits

Supercorsa project - the frame

some of you might remember a post
back in 2011
whoah, I was much more prolific back then
on my brother-in-law's bike
well that bike met its maker
or rather the frame did
long story
and anyway he
my BiL
not God
needs a new bike quite urgently
so out of the goodness of my heart I'm ressurecting
all the old Superbe parts
adding some bits
but most importantly attaching them to the frame
he always wanted as a kid
a Bianchi Supercorsa

new Pro's shiny errogenous zones

Now there's an SEO optimised title to attract the wrong kind of attention.
I suppose what I'm posting below is pr0n though
just maybe not the kind the next visitor to this reluctant little* site is expecting

neverthelessenjoy
superbigofcourse

*for the use of that descriptor, thanks to JF

VAR crank puller

since learning that TA and Stronglight 

require their own tools I've 

been on the hunt.

thanks to Hilary Stone, I'm now the proud owner of a dual TA/British crank tool and

VAR is something of a legendary brand in bike tools 

so I'm happy on both fronts.

the tool itself is reassuringly heavy, 

with beautiful, crisp threads.

Wish I Could Be There

more clean Victor and Positron rear derailleur (or "derailer" if you're Grant Peterson) close-up

Are you a knobule?

 

this picture made my day

I found it in the dictionary under

"schadenfreude"

but seriously 

it's not just the 'tragedy' of so much mangled plastic,

if you routinely portage your bike on or in your car

you are a dickhead

if you drive your bike places to ride to

you are stupid

and deserve everything that the bicycle-industrial complex

sells at you

the essence of amateur is having to

or choosing to

ride to the race

race

then ride home again

that's a kind of class that is rarely seen these days

A clean drive train is to celebrated and photographed

or it might just disappear under a layer of grime when the rain comes

if my bike was clean but no-one blogged about it
did it really happen?

Viscount Aerospace Pro with Panaracer Pasela folding 27 x 1" Tourguard tyres or tires if you will

search engine optimised heading
so I can sit back and watch the stats go through the roof as Russians and Venezuelans search for my bikes

Weigle 650b rando and workshop

perfect

Aerospace xSportx Pro part deux

more pics

sign of how little this bike has been used

and how well stored

by the little rusting on steel parts like cable hangers

some perishing of brake hoods but still well serviceable

a little bit of a shoddy job by the worker who braised the BB shell

but finally I know why my Supa Sport has the redundant little cable-guide braised on

to the lower left hand side of the down tube

it's actually a cable stop for the Titlist front derailleur

DA fronts came with their own clamp-on cable guide for both front and rear mech cables...

like here....................................................................................................^

original suede saddle

miles will tell...

splinched pic again

the whole beast