The Radavist

… speaking of Japan!

When I posted this trailer last week, I got a text from a guy who has worked in the industry for decades. The dude is a legend, in many regards. His text said, “You know, I spend my days telling my company that making cycling look cool isn’t easy, but that Dosnoventa video made riding bikes look cool.”

You know what? I’d agree.

We haven’t seen much street brakeless track bike action from Japan, mostly because it’s supposedly illegal, but Dosnoventa is taking to the streets in their new video. Also, I hope we see more of that Bronco at the :26 mark.

Tokyo’s Fairweather can do no wrong in my book. Their new Handlebar bags look super clean and with a large front pouch, they’ll hold what appears to be a decent-sized camera like a rangefinder or mirrorless system, which piqued my interest.

They’re $128 and in stock (mostly) at Fairweather.

If there was an award each year for the best customized shop bikes, Blue Lug would win it. From Surly to Fairweather and now Rew10 Works, their shop bikes are so beautiful. Check out this blue Mondrian SSCX bike, complete with that disc front and canti rear setup… While we’re at it, check out these photos on the Blue Lug blog from what appears to be a Sim Works bike show / store opening of sorts.

Nitto has been making handlebars for a very long time. To give you some perspective, back in the ’80s, there were dozens of handlebar manufacturers, then Taiwanese factories shut down all but one: Nitto.

Over the past few years, the Japanese handlebar manufacturer has lent American framebuilders a hand. Sycip cycles, being one of the more recent ones.

Now in stock, at Sycip’s online shop are the heat-treated aluminum JJ Bars and the CroMo steel JB bars. Both come in black or silver and are in stock now at Sycip.

Photo by Nobuhiko Tanabe

That’s a great looking cyclocross bike. Nobuhiko has been racing on this beauty over in Japan and finally took some photos of it. Head over to Blue Lug’s Flickr for the full set.

It’s raining cats and dogs in Austin right now, which has me watching all of the Yowamushi Pedal episodes. Surely, I’m not the only one who missed this, right?

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.

… like this Nap Pack. See more at their 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.