First Dispatch from Kinki Cycle Midwest Correspondent

Greetings from Minneapolis, MN a.k.a. BIKE CITY USA!  My name is Pete C. and I am the new Midwest Correspondent for KCDC.  よろしく おねがいします.  I’ve just returned from Nara, Japan and am enjoying the bike life back in Minnesota.  With Bubba left behind in the capable hands of Kinki Cycle, I had to build myself a new ride here in the States.  I put together a beautiful bike built around a Soma Analog frame.  It is a work of art, so I thought it fitting to snap a few shots of it next to another work of art, the Weisman Art Museum at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities...

Soaring through space and time...

Tange/IRD sliding dropouts will make for an easy conversion to single speed should I go that way down the road.  Also pictured are a couple of Bubba components: 8-speed cassette and Very Good space-aged derailleur.  (Please note—I sorted out that fishing line caught up in the derailleur shortly after this shoot.)

Like a 100-watt tube amplifier, I like the gearing “overhead” the triple-crankset provides.  I don’t remember the model, but this is the cheapest one Shimano makes with which you can replace chainrings...

This bike is my entry into the disc brake world, but so far installation and adjustment has been a breeze.  These are BB5s with 160mm rotors.  The rubber pictured is a 2.5” Kenda K-Rad tire.  Note the front rack, KC/DC decal, and Delta Hublox front skewer...

I built the bike with a Nashbar Rigid 26” Mountain Fork.  Advertised as a 26” size with room for up to 3” tires, I want to explore the limits of this fork (and the overall bike geometry)—there’s certainly room for 27.5, 29ers and beefier tires as well...

The opposite of Slam That Stem?  Raise the roof!  With spacers galore.  Beautiful Soma headbadge, mad spacers, and Bubba-sourced handlebars, shifters and brake levers...

It’s not as hot here in MN as it is back in Kansai, but we still have to stay hydrated.  I made a stop at The Hub Bicycle Co-Op for my hydration needs...

Here’s another shot of the Soma looking tough...

Parting shot of the Weisman, sun setting behind us across the Mississippi...

Stay cool in Kansai, and stay tuned for more news from the Twin Cities!

#26aintdead

#26isrisen

Achieve Ride Pt 5

An early start last Sunday, hooking up with F-i-N to catch the train to Kyoto...

Feeling the benefits of evil globalisation with a much needed coffee stop...

The destination was the Achieve shop who had organised a Sunday morning alley cat/orienteering ride...

The group was split into teams of three and we had two hours to hit as many of six checkpoints around the city as we could...

First stop was the art museum...

Where the Makio Yamaguchi "Bird in Crotch: Saddle" was the required find...

Then back out on the road heading for the second checkpoint, F-i-N setting a puke inducing pace...

As F-i-N and Andrew went on ahead, KCDC took a rest stop, did some map checking (smoked a fag) and took a few photos...

A quick combini stop for pisses, smokes and a Red Bull...

And we were back in the game...

The final point we hit was the railway museum...

And then back to Achieve to wait for everyone to return...

There was a fair amount of #bikeporn around...

After leaving Acheive we took a trip to the superb new Crazy Sheep Farm shop...

Then a gentle cruise through town, taking shots as we went...

A stop at the ever wonderful Cycle Garden...

Hanging out down by the river...

Before catching the train back to little Nara...

OK, here come the thank you's; Massive thanks to Brad and Andrew for being such wonderful team mates (we actually won the alley cat, fuck know's how!!) Huge thanks to everyone at Achieve & Cycle Garden & Deeper's Wear for putting on such a cool ride. And cheers (forgive the Instagram names) to Kiilo Bicycle, Hossica, Michiko, BromnLife, NY.City6813, Kohei and all the Grid boys and everyone else who came out and made it such a fun ride. There will be more from the Crazy Sheep shop and more bike photos from the ride posted here just as soon as we can be arsed to edit all the photos. 

Friday Night Lights

Architecture.

A few shots from an Osaka night ride last Friday with Fixed-in-Nara...

Art.

F-i-N always with the bird.

BAAW!

Street.

Traffic.

Lights.

Architecture 2.

#30DaysOfBiking

City Heat

Cityscape.

It was 34C in Nara yesterday. A good time to head out to Osaka where it was only 32C and chill out...

Sky Building

Fuck Tokyo.

City Hall. 

Bridge.

We dropped into Hutte and took a stack of photos. They'll be up here in the week.

Night Ride

Architecture.

Some arty* shots taken whilst riding Osaka with F-i-N last Saturday night...

Al fresco dining.

Lights.

Greetings.

Stopped.

Locked.

Speeding.

Last train.

Home again.

*Arty used here as an excuse for blurry, hurriedly taken out of focus shots!