Citizen Chain Cyclery

Cycle Shop Hirose

Cycle Store Hirose

Not too long ago we took a trip to Japan for some family event but got to have a little bike fun too! A highlight of the trip was definitely visiting Cycle Store Hirose. Hirose-san has been building bikes for over 30 years and custom builds the range - from race bikes to touring, shopping bikes and tandems. He has a beautiful little shop that I would have never found if it wasn’t for my cousin Yoichi. Domo Arigato! Hirose was also really into building custom racks and small parts like this and this pulley. The guy was so cool he was even building his own shifters and derailleurs. Pretty outstanding. Check out his website here (if you can read Japanese).

On another note, you may have noticed our facebook status of “Mini Velos will abound in Japan.” If you were really on top of things, you would have realized that was a bastardized version of an HG Welles’ quote “Cycle tracks will about in utopia.” So give yourself some kudos. But in any case, the former statement is definitely true. There were so many mini velos there! There were also other bikes, but the Japanese love cute little wheels. Check out the nice leather bar tape and Brooks on this Bianchi. Or this one with a special stem painted to match. Also quite a few NJS bikes like this super under cover 3Rensho! around town. Other obvious things I noticed: their ability to carry their children on their bikes is way superior to ours, and it seems as though skirt guards were everywhere! I’m yet to find them in the US, but theyre everywhere in Japan! Ultimately though, I think the grand prize went to this bike. Mini wheeled, full suspension, fendered folding bike by Lamborghini. Too much to compute.

Tags: custom bikes, HS Hirose, Japan, Mini Velos, NJS, Track bikes