Created: December 25, 2006. Updated: March 26, 2007.
Hello, we are called Tomo & Kaz. We are Japanese and had lived in Germany 2002-2005. Now we are in Saitama, Japan. Our web pages are written about our hobbies -- bike, kayak and travelling. There are a lot of touring report in Japan and Europe.
Sorry to who don't read Japanese. Almost all the pages are written in Japanese.
This page gives you information about Japanese touring bike, Tandeming in Japan, and description on our bikes instead of introducing ourselves.
In Japan, traditional touring bikes which we call randonauer are still produced.
They look like 70's French touring bikes.
They have standard
diameter steel frame with drop bar, fenders, down tube shifters, cantilever brakes, leather saddle and so on.
Several decades ago, such bikes were just copies of French touring bikes.
Japanese cycling enthusiasts have modified and improved them to fit themselves and environments in Japan.
Unfortunately such bikes has been out of mainstream in Japan. But they are still produced.
The very unique feature is a gimmick for RINKOU.
RINKOU means Bike & Rail
.
You know, the combination of public transportation and bike provides you very flexible touring route.
But there is a difficulty to do Bike & Rail
in Japan.
You (almost always) must pack your bicycle as a baggage when you bring it in a public transportation.
The solution in Japan was neither separable nor foldable frame, because they were more fragile and/or heavier.
A touring bike builder developed a special headset. With the headset, you can take off the front fork easily without special tools.
You need only a 6 mm hexagonal wrench to disassemble the whole bike for packing. You take a handlebar and pedals off with the wrench. Then you pull the front fork out without any tool. The rests are to take the rear wheel and fender off(*), and to pack them up. It takes 5-10 min when you are used to.
(*) rear fender is also removable without any tools.
Thanks to this method, we can pack a normal touring bike compactly.
The size is about 650x650x250mm.
Sometimes (I'd like to say often
), it is smaller than some folding bikes.
Perhaps, the words Passhunter
or pass hunting
are only used in Japanese cyclist community.
I guess the words are sort of Japanglish.
Japan is a mountainous country, thus a touring route may contain some passes.
Cyclists know pleasures of riding over a pass.
Some cyclist enjoy riding over passes mainly in their touring route -- We call such touring style pass hunting
.
Some enthusiasts love it even if the route contains unpaved single tracks.
Passhunter
is a kind of randonauer
, designed for pass hunting.
Pass hunter
is designed to have more stability to climb or go down steeper hills, more ground clearance than normal randonauer to ride over obstacles.
Cyclist who enjoys serious pass hunting uses no front bag for good manoeuvring, no bottle cage because sometimes they carry their bike on their shoulder. Sometimes it has flat bar for better controls on rough road.
I think Pass hunter
is another origin of Mountain Bike
.
Don't surprise, some enthusiast enjoyed mountainous cycling in Japan before the Gary Fischer's Clanker
.
In contrast with MTB, Pass hunters are designed for mountainous touring, not for downhill.
Don't ask me where you can get one. Nowadays, it is difficult to find such Japanese randonneurs at bicycle shops.
Mass production models are provided from Panasonic, Maruishi and Fukaya. They are relative inexpensive for it's quality and construction, about 90,000 - 110,000 JPY. You shouldn't expect there are stocks in a bicycle shop.
Minor models which are build by local shops are also available. You can order your special model to some builders or shops. You can get a bicycles like a jewel if you want.
Perhaps, you need a bicycle friend who speaks Japanese, if you want to get a such bike but you don't speak Japanese. Visit builders or shops with him/her. Or you should learn Japanese. There are a lot of web site by Japanese cyclists, builders and shops.
The general traffic law in Japan permits tandem bike on road. The rule: 1 person per 1 seat.
But almost all local traffic laws don't permits tandeming. The rule: 1 person per 1 bike.
What a strange country! There is only one prefecture which doesn't have such a nonsense local law. The exception is Nagano-prefecture.
By the way, who does know such nonsense local law? Even any policemen don't know it.
What's matter the rule which nobody knows? Who will be bothered by Tandeming? Very few pair enjoy tandeming in Japan. Do they affect a lot?
You shouldn't ride tandem in Japan, strictly.
But no one received any traffic citation against tandeming in Japan.
We have 6 bikes. 2 tourings, a recumbent, a tandem, a fixed road and a shopping bike.
We ordered touring bikes to ALPS in the summer 2000. The bikes always make us happy. They are so comfort and beautiful.
Those bikes are based on a passhunter of ALPS original. The bike is so stable where we can climb under 4km/h. We use them as slow-speed-tourers.
Kaz got a recumbent in the autumn 2001. That year was the first year of Kaz in Germany. He found a recumbent Toxy-SR made in Germany. It was designed for smaller person.
Kaz rode (or reclined) the recumbent to his office in Germany everyday. This bike provides very relaxed position and view, and never harms our bottom. Tomo also loves those features.
We got a tandem bike in the summer 2002. When we ride hilly terrain with single bikes, Kaz must wait Tomo always at the top, Tomo always complain to Kaz.
Tandem bike gives us not only a solution but also more fun of bike touring. We can talk during ride, we don't need to wait another or to let another wait.
Kaz got a fixed road bike in Feb. 2004. It's very fun to ride. Spin like a crazy at downhill, Mash at uphill and direct feel at flatland.
All of our bikes have fenders. So also this fixed road has full fenders. Road bike with full fenders without derailer is very unique.
This sort of bike is typical in Japan -- so called mammy bike(MOM CHARI). In Japan, such bikes are made often bad quality and from China. But our bike were made in JAPAN. It rolls very smoothly and stable. It has a large basket in front and a firm carrier in rear. Tomo (and sometimes Kaz) uses this bike to go shopping.