Pete's Chari & Soma

So last month we said goodbye to a friend, Nara biking legend and all round good guy big Pete and his lovely lady returned home to America after three years in Tawaramoto, Nara. He very kindly left his prized Bubba with us which meant during his final few weeks he was riding this rather fine example of the ubiquitous Japanese mama-chari...

That #BasketLyfe thing was happening here well before the Californian yuppies and dentists made it trendy and expensive...

No need for #ShutUpLegs style inspirational top tube quotes, just a few sensible rules to keep oneself alive...

Fully enclosed single speed chain guards are the new 1x11...

Security is important too...

A fine steed, a work horse that will still be rolling the streets of southern Nara long after we've all moved onto the next tyre size gravel bike coffee outsiding trend...

He may be gone but he's still riding. And in style too on his new SomaFab 26er looking pretty pretty good in these two shots...

Bonus cool points for the Bob Mould star...

There will be regular updates posted here soon from the man himself and his bike adventures in Minneapolis.

Metro Pedal

We've just received this amazing new prototype cargo bike from our very good friend Chris from True Soul Design. The Metro Pedal is a bike "designed for the modern metropolis" and Chris has spent the past few years refining and perfecting the bike into the ultimate mama-chari do all cargo bike mini velo. You'll be seeing a lot more of this bike over the coming months but for now get following the Metro Pedal Instagram.

Daisy Messenger, Nagoya

Daisy Messenger

A bunch of photos taken at the brilliant Daisy Messenger in Nagoya earlier this month...

Racks.

Daisy Messenger is a bicycle courier service, a bicycle workshop, a screen printing t-shirt shop, a mobile cycle repair service and a very cool place to hang out...

Chari.

Porteur.

Sign.

The mobile cycle repairs are carried out using this very nice Hunter Cycles workbike...

Hunter Cycles 1.

Hunter Cycles 2.

Hunter Cycles 3.

Inside the store is a well equipped and busy workshop...

Tool Board.

A ridiculously cool sound system and record collection...

Sounds.

A gold mine of bikes hang from the rafters...

Frame Porn.

Tyres.

All around there are some super cool frames and bikes...

Kuwahara BMX.

Vicious Cycles.

Kona Humuhumu

A superb shop/workshop/service, well worth a visit. A big thank you to Sal-san for taking time to chat with us and letting us take all these photos. You can follow Daisy Messenger via their Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook and Blog pages.

Pump It Up!

Saitama Cycle Expo 2015

Our good buddy and east Japan correspondent Hiroshi sent over a stack of great photos from last weekend's Saitama Cycle Expo. The event incorporated the Mini Love Festa, a celebration of all things mini-velo and folding related so there were plenty on display...

 

It wasn't all 20 inchers though, the roadies were well catered for. Anchor had a huge display...

And plenty of other carbon speed machines on show too...

 All aspects covered from funky beach cruisers...

To the latest high tech mama-chari bikes...

 Lots opportunities to try things out...

Or get advice from the professionals...

Our personal favorite bike is this carbon Koga Snow Champ drop bar fatbike that just looks like a ton of fun... 

A very big thank you to Hiroshi for sharing these photos.

Smoking Skills

Curious mama-chari spotted out in Osaka yesterday, that's a public ashtray in the child's seat...