Love my drivetrain

even its shadow
riding home along Darebin Ck trail
with new front panniers
and new folding 32mm (1.25") tyres

Victor gets an upgrade

i've retired Positron
in favour of this lovely Suntour shifter that I've had spare for a while
and its companion rear mech
the equally lovely V-GT
the shifting is delightfully precise

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

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

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

I's Bicycle visit report but not because JH went there, just because I'm a bit lazy and, well, because.

my boy approaching all hallows
be warned these are the BIGGEST pics I've uploaded yet
so click away

ive had his blog pinged to the sidebar for a while now
realised there are some good pics from visiting his shop last year
Mr I of Grand Bois fame
pic of Ernest Csuka of Alex Singer fame on the wall behind
Mr I is the one we have to thank for the lovely tyres

 

and now

in no particular order

some highlights

 

Barra's integrated lever front derailleur

the brazing is flawless

and despite my dislike of aluminium as a frame material

probably the single, sexiest bike I've ever seen

sexy in exactly the same way my blue, woolly socks in the mandatory shop slippers

aren't

 

Lefol Le Martele mudguards

they are not fenders

Cyclo rear derailleur

you can see the massive step between the big and small rings

 

the cover star of my blog

not spoke-wire instead of cable for the cantis

 

the cute little streetcar/tram/train/light-rail from Hanazono station 

which is the way to get there

 

this frameset was lying around

dunno if it was newly-made

or more likely

something old 

stripped bare

like the bride by her bachelors, even

 

as soon as I saw it 

I knew

it fitted my inner template for a new bike

brake bosses at centrepull

not canti

height

twin plate fork crown

fillet-brazed

 

bit fuzzy 

sorry

 

internal brake cable

love to know what it was

unfortunately there was some tool in there

who was monopolising Mr I's time with dumb questions 

and I had to dash

 

 

house upstairs

shop below full of steamy bikes

living the dream certainly

 

the ceiling

a Herse with my favourite mudguards:

Lefol Le Paon

and various bits of Italian shit

 

more Italian rubbish in the FG

although there may be some English lightweights down the back

I think I spied a vintage Mercian when I was there

noticeboard with participation medals from the Poly Japon
which I suppose is a randonee
as well as their custom catalogue
and a whole swag of medals from TOMs over the years
TOM = Toei Owners' Meeting

 

the packages by the door are

I would guess

their main business now

 the meilleur of fillet brazing

 

another massive step between small and big ring

proprietary Routens front mech

cable operated from below

 

Barra frame has ovalised top and down tubes

but they start as circular section where they join the head tube

that's some virtuosity in metal-forming

considering where talking 1940s or 50s

 

the whole sexy beast

with price tag visible

10 grand is reasonable I reckon

people pay more for shit like this

 

Jo through the window in the winter light
I's Bicycle is called
Cycles Grand Bois
in the online
go there and buy stuff
not a sponsor of this blog

Dura Ace first gen brake levers... with holes

mmmmmmmm... 

Folding Panaracers

 

cleaned up Victor's wheels and gave him new brake blocks

and new tyres

the folding panaracer 27s that had been sitting waiting for a while

while they look spiffing, it's hard to tell if they're better

they're certainly as good as steel-beaded Panaracers

and when I rode my 650b rando this morning I was not overwhelmed by how much better those tyres rolled

so that probably means they're good.

these babies are waiting for the Sport.

Dura Ace dropouts!

the final, final touch to the supa-sport

finally she will have proper DA dropouts with axle-adjusters

soon... ish

Pacenti Pari-Moto 650 x 38B white gumwalls by Panaracer

just got these from Canada of all places.

Cycles Toussaint get them made

and I suppose Kirk Pacenti gets them made as well

since they've got his name on them

but then they've also got Panaracer's name on them

because they actually made them

pretty much just like they make a slightly wider, white 650B tyre

and another tyre the same width but black

for a different company based in Japan.

So they say 38mm wide but Vern Gauge says they're really 36mm wide.

Nevertheless they fit really well inside Gilles Berthoud's rather dumbly-sized
mudguards, being as they are 40mm wide.

So loving that really.

New randonneur (or randonneuse) bling

recently collected parts
where will they go?
on Jo Routens or something new...?