Keirin shopping in japan

Well I leave this Saturday afternoon!

Got my fixed shop list, I know my preferred frame size and I’m going to go get some plastic axle spacers during my lunch break…

Hopefully there’ll be a nice NJS frame in the “post your ride” in about three week.

Oh yah, I’ve gotta try and get this shirt from Carnival as well.

Oh you really think 96 cases is bad? - Australia managed over 1000 cases by the 5th of June and we have a miniscule population when compared with Japan.

Anyway it’s just the damn flu !! We have all had ‘the flu’ and a slight variation is really nothing to care about in the least.

Yes you have your ‘Fixed shops list’ (Punch Cycles in Asakusa, Carnival/W-Base in Shibuya, Cycle-Recycle Depot in Ichikawa, Protech in Aoyama and Ebisu)

but i would suggest you take some maps as well.

Carnival (was there last week) is not so easy to find - from Shibuya station go up to Meji Dori and walk toward Harajuku.
At the first elevated walkway that you get to the road splits two ways. Take the left side (the side with the small park) keep going straight and you should find it. If you can’t i am sure you can ask a passing fixie rider (like i did).

The other stores are in the suburbs so check some maps before attempting to find them also.

Tokyo hands in Shibuya also has quite a good bike section now, well worth the look.

Good luck finding any frames for a decent price (no sarcasm intended) i did not see any NJS frames that were not equal to or greater in price than getting one landed here by one of the interblogs that specializes in that kind of thing and the italian frames (Bianchi etc.) are also cheaper to buy here.

That being said there are still many fixie related parts and accessories well worth your purchase, and T-shirts seem to be the specialty at Carnival but the prices are rather harsh.

Have a good trip.

Well, back before Australia had any cases of swine flu, 96 seemed like quite a bit. Now, I don’t give a shit. Unless of course I get it and have to be quarantined somewhere.

As for frames, I heard a rumour that a friend of a friend had to pay over $300 in taxes alone to get a frame posted here, then he had to pay for the postage on top of the frame. Surely that alone is incentive enough for me to look!

But thanks for the hints and tips. I’ll print this out and follow your directions. What about Punch? Is that easy-ish to find?

It’s certainly worth a look, you never know what you could find.

Suginami Green Cycle is where the abandoned bikes from train stations etc. end up and is probably your best bet for ‘surprises’. Many bargains to be found including Bianchi’s etc.
They are only open certain days, info here:

  • Punch is in Asakasa, It opens after 7.30pm. To get there, head from the train station, past Sensoji (on the right) and turn left down the side street before you hit the next major road. Head down the side street until you’re one block away from the next major road (which has a blue pedestrian bridge over it). Punch is on the corner of two small streets.

Punch Cycle
Kaminarimon 1-5-10
Taito-Ku Tokyo 111-0034

Blue Lug: Hatsudai station on the keio Shinsen. It is the first station from Shinjuku.
Exit the north (Opera City) side. walk beyond Opera City along its left side till you hit the next large street (that’s suidodouro). take a left, walk a bit, and it’s on your left.

  • Sexon Super Peace: 22-5 Shinsencho Shibuya-ku Tokyo 150-0045
    TEL : 03-3485-5506 Open 12:30 - 20:30
    Sexton–Shinsen station on the Inokashira Line (goes from Shibuya to Kichijoji).

  • Jan: 6-2-1 Horikiri, Katsushika-ku, Tokyo; (03) 3604-1019

There are some maps that you may find useful here:
http://www.fixedr.com/forum/topics/2187464:Topic:4963

Thanks!

how do you bring frames back on your flight? buy a bike bag or get a box from somewhere? i’m going back in july for a week for fuji rock. packing light, just a backpack and skateboard. but want to bring a frame back with me.

$360 return flight woot!! :smiley:

what we did was get a bike box, wrap the frame in a shit load of bubble wrap and seal it up.
if you are flying Jetstar/Qantas you can just include it with your check-in luggage, as long as everything your carrying is under/at 20kg its free.

we both took about 14kg of stuff with us cos we knew we were gonna buy frames and stuff.

are bike boxes readily available and free from bike shops? and bubble wrap? bikeshop too? or tokyu hands or something? thanks.

bike boxes you can get from bike shops and “puchi-puchi”(bubble wrap in japanese) is available at Tokyo-Hands dept store.

can’t remember who it was with, but last time i flew with a bike they counted the bike as ‘sporting equipment’ and raised my luggage limit from about 22 to 28kg

Yeah, if you can spin a killer sporting story you can get away with carrying a dead body.
A freind of mine got away with nearly 15kg, and upgraded to Business Class. Just wear a AUS sporting team jacket. Show that you have somewhat of an injury. And saying your going on a tour and meeting up with the rest of the team over there. haha

When we were coming home from the UK I was freaking cause my luggage was borderline 20kg’s. The lady at the check-in said they’ll allow up to 23-25kg’s, but they don’t tell everyone cause people would start bringing more stuff.

I’m packing lighter this time to Japan though, and not buying as many shoes. Maybe.

But most airlines will count bikes as sporting goods allowance…

ABC Mart everywhere and you are planning on buying less shoes?

heheh, good luck resisting the temptation if you have the cash.

'cause i travel a bit for work i’m up to frequent flyer silver status. gets you fuck all, but i get an extra 10kg of luggage.

Well, I found Sexon Super Peace today and some other random tiny, tiny shop (width of a doorway) around the corner from it, that had a pretty nice Eddy Merckx track frame hanging on the wall, a beautiful dark red with gold flecks Samson in my size, and a pink/purple fade Mega!Pista Makino . It is pretty expensive for frames (Bridgestone’s for about 68,000 yen, Samson’s from about 110,000 yen, Ganwell’s for about 80,000 yen), but other stuff isn’t too bad (3000 yen for MKS Sylvans). Gonna head to Punch tonight. Wou’dve love to try and get a Samson frame, but goddamn they’re expensive. Might have to settle for a Bridgestone or Panasonic.

I’ve tried to take photos of every fixed I’ve seen. Lots of 650c front wheels, Hed3’s and small BMX bars. When I get back, I’ll post em.

Also went to Keirin track in Kyoto. No racing on, just training. Lots of men smoking and gambling, so it was pretty much like being at a TAB.

Punch is Rad.

Thanks for the update. Cant wait to see all your pics.

Kyoto is awesome, if you are in that area again check Osaka out.

Better fixie stores than Tokyo, and you will find far cheaper frames there.

My quick rundown on Tokyo shops…

Punch: Don’t get your hopes up, but it’s worth a look. Nothing seemed to be for sale when I went and the Nagasawa I saw seemed very overpriced.

Carnival: Nice guys, mainly Europaen stuff though. Still some decent stuff there though. The Cinelli tandem track bike is bullshit good.

W-Base: Get your MASH shirts and four gate clips from here. Watch out for the dudes doing wheelies and bunnyhops out the front.

Sexon: It’s worth the train trip out there (the whole 120yen). Biggest range of frames, kinda expensive (to an extent), Make sure you look at the frame closely before falling in love. The Bridgestone I almost bought had a decent ding in the downtube… Lots of parts too. Sugino 75’s are cheaper here than anywhere else (that I saw). The frames were mainly Bridgestone’s, Vivalo’s and lots of Makino’s. Some 3 Rensho’s, Samson’s and Ganwell’s too.

Dreamworks: Around the corner from Sexon. The smallest shop I have ever been into in my life. Lots of vintage Italian stuff and some Keirin frames. The old guy that runs it is awesome.

Tokyo Hands (Shibuya): Great for little random parts, pedals, clips, straps, Kryptonite locks etc. Had brand new Level frames for sale (expensive though) and Chrome Bags. Also stock Pedal Speed magazine, which is a great eye-candy magazine (unless you can read Japanese).

been to the kinfolk bar yet? fuji rock in two weeks. woot!