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Photos by Bob Woods
Shawn from King Kog was over in Japan, visiting the home of Kinfolk frames. After visiting Kusaka San, the builder of Kinfolk, he was joined by the Kinfolk Japan team to partake in a cross race. Bob Woods shot some photos of this race, which you can see at his Flickr.
Looks like a fun race!
Japan’s Blue Lug always has the best accessories in stock. Like these new snapback hats. Check out all the designs at Blue Lug.
These two are one of the raddest couples I know. Stoked to see this video finally coming out. Thanks to Charge Bikes for sharing.
Woah! In 2006, Kozo Sugino invited Mo from Keirin Berlin to check out all that Japan had to offer in terms of NJS framebuilders. He went to Osaka to meet the amazing Nagasawa-San, then the late Doi-San of Ganwell Pro before visiting the Sugino factory to meet with Kozo Sugino.
Finally, he headed up to Shuzenji to see the Keirin school and further up north with the Shinkansen to Tokyo to see MKS, Nitto and meet Tanabe-San at Kalavinka.
This looks like an insane trip!
Here’s a video from Japan – man I miss riding there – featuring Chrome’s new team. There are a few familiar faces in this one!
I always enjoy seeing articles and photos like this, and I’m sure you feel the same. Kinoko Cycles visited the Tokyo School of Cycle Design and the article looks great:
“During my last trip to Japan I was invited by Shin Ichi Konno of Cherubim Cycles to visit the Tokyo School of Cycle Design where he teaches twice weekly. You would assume with something as common as a bicycle, a object which exists in every village and town across the globe and requires very specific skills to design and manufacture, that colleges teaching cycle design would be common. But this is not the case.”
Continue reading at Kinoko’s blog and see more at the Kinoko Flickr.
The Fairweather tires are incredible. Why? Because they’re made by Panaracer in Japan, in a selection of colors and we all know Panaracer is legit. Up until now, you couldn’t buy them Stateside, so head over to Velo Orange to see their new stock!
The 38c Cruising tire is very nice…
I feel like I haven’t had time to do much riding here in Austin this summer, but I did manage to get in a few rides in the new PEdAL ED garments I picked up in the UK while I was visiting during the L’Eroica Britannia.
PEdAL ED makes their wool cycling wear in Japan and their race-fit attire in Italy. Their look is quite unique, with some clever detailing, akin to Japanese clothing design and yet, it’s highly functional.
I’ll be putting some more miles into their Raku bibs before doing a proper review, but so far so good! Don’t miss that Okabe jersey or Kaidu jersey either – I wear my Kaidu on the cross or MTB. It’s one of the nicest jerseys I’ve worn…
At the end of the day, it’s not easy to make products domestically, yet PEdAL ED really nailed it. Check out more products at PEdAL ED!
Fairweather has built their brand around designing new products with Japanese companies such as Nitto, Sugino and Panaracer. Their latest offerings include a whole array of tires in various colors and sizes, for any bike you might own. 28c road, 32c CX, 29’r, tourer, you name it, they’ve got it in both “algae” and “rust” colors. The 700c x 38c touring tires look really nice.
Right now these tires, their bags, components and frames are all in stock at Fairweather’s webshop and yes, they ship worldwide on everything.
My favorite camping / outdoors company, Snow Peak has collaborated with Japanese frame builder Muller on a Reynolds 931 stainless light touring frame.
This S&S coupler frame is currently being offered in three build kits, either with Shimano Dura Ace / Di2 or Campagnolo Veloce and it comes ready to be loaded! This might be one of the most tricked-out light touring / camping bike collaborations to date.
See more details at Snow Peak and more photos below!
This is a great photo and there are many more at Ichicoblog’s Flickr. Also, much love for the White Industries VBC cranks. Those are the best!
Japanese painter Swamp did some incredible work on a Surly Pugsley for Above Bike Store. I love all these custom fatbikes in Japan!
Japan!
When people ask me where I want to go in 2014, the answer is simple: I want to go back to Japan. Why? See above. Animal‘s 2013 trip to Japan looks like one hell of a time!
It’s gotta feel great to work your ass off on a project and have it end splendidly. Or rather, begin splendidly upon completion. The guys at Signal have been in a production crunch zone for the past few weeks, preparing their new Crusade cross frames for a trip to Japan.
There’s a rad write-up on their site, as well as a few production photos and a race report from Osaka. Head over to the Signal blog and see the first and second post for yourself!
Something tells me this is only the beginning for the Signal Crusade…
Geekhouse has really nails the brightly-colored bicycle and while I prefer my Mudville as black as they come, some people love the neon. Take NB from Blue Lug‘s new Team Mudville… Now getting dirty in Japan during this year’s season. See more photos of this bright beast at the Blue Lug Flickr!
Last night, Japanese bike shop, Blue Lug’s Flickr exploded with all kinds of new frame pack bags from local frame builder and bag maker, Fairweather. Bike pack bags are great and all, but I was more pumped on seeing the new side-access bottle cages (made in Japan!). Sure, it solves the problem of how you remove your bottle with your front triangle is filled with bags, but I just like to see a new spin on an everyday object.
See more at the Blue Lug Flickr and ordering information at the Blue Lug website, although, I’m not sure if they ship to the States.
:sadface:
