Fixed gear bikes in Tokyo

It's been awhile since I loaded up some pics of bikes spotted on the streets of Tokyo. Enjoy...


This is one of the best looking Level's I've ever seen. The Tokyo-based atelier run by Shiko Matsuda has been building frames since 1975 and has been an NJS-approved frame-builder since 1980. He's a nice guy too.



This frame is a smoked grey over chrome, finished off with Sugino 75 cranks, a pretty nazzy Shimano 1/8th inch oval plate chain and, of course, Matsuda-san's signature.

The bars are Nitto RB-021 matched to the very rare Nitto badged stem from 1983 (?)


The Level had an Araya ADX-1 rim on the front. A great rim. Very narrow - just 19mm wide, it weighs 330 grams. This was the rim used by Koichi Nakano for some of his world championship wins.






And on the rear, a Wolber Profil 20. A rare rim in that it's made of a magnesium alloy. These weigh somewhere around the 300 gram mark. They were released in 1985.




This bike is a bit of a mess, but the frame is a killer - a Katakura Silk, handbuilt by Tadashi Arai, one of the gods of the frame-building world.


Sugino Super Mighty cranks - nothing wrong with them.



An old Bridgestone frame, obviously an ex-racer's bike, it's sporting Araya 16B rims laced to Dura-Ace hubs, a drop stem and tubs, but...




It's got a pair of mad Nitto B617AA "moustache" handlebars on it.



Don't know much about this bike - I just liked the chainring


What's this frame? An old San Rensho? A lugged Makino?




Nice chain too - hollow pins?

Running again part 2

I've done two runs in three days, including a 30-minute run with no knee pain.