This post is in english to make it easier for Susan, who is kind of responsible for this post ;-)
Transportation was an open point from the beginning. The only drawback of my new appartment was, that there was no bike parking available for rental and it did not look like this would change soon. Walking all the time is not very convenient and limits my options to get arround a bit more. The bus schedule is still a mirakle to me (I know, which buses I need to take to get to the Kawagoe station and back but that's it).
I have enough space on my balcony to store a bike but how to get it from the entrance to the balcony? I'm not even wearing shoes in the appartement, how could I roll a dirty bike through it??
Being that far with my thoughts, Susan posted something about Brompton bikes and I was hooked. I was doing reasearch in the internet and after a while I knew: This would be the ideal solution for my problem. A foldable bike, light enough to be carried through the living room to the balcony. Small enough to get it into the elevator to bring it up to my floor. Riding comfort must be OK, when some people even do big tours with this little bike (http://pathlesspedaled.com/)
Are there any dealers available in Japan? Yes there are. Mhhmm, it's a custom made bike. How long will it take to get one? Let's see.
The next weekend came. On Saturday I was busy with furniture stuff in the morning (see previous post), so I only went out into the city to check out a bike store around the corner to see, what they have. They had some foldable bikes for a reasonable price but the folding concept did not really convice me. I was already spoiled by the Brompton.
I continued my research in the evening and identified two dealers, that seemed to have a good selection of Bromptons on stock. I loaded my iPhone to 100% (to be able to use the map function and take some pictures), sent some mails with links to directions and adresses to my iPhone, checked the train connections and decided: I would start with the Y's Road shop in Omiya. There is a direct connection from Kawagoe to Omiya station. The ride takes about 25 Minutes.
The shop was a bit hidden but I found it (by the way: the cyclist on the first picture shows a typical position of the saddle. It's almost a bit high)
The Bromptons were lined up inside, showing different configurations and different colours. So I approached somebody from the staff: 'do you speak english'. A scared face answered 'no, only a bit'... But we worked it out. He had a little translation computer, that did a good job in filling the gaps.
I told him, I'm lookig for a Brompton. I would like to see the folding. He demonstrated. Really easy!!
I would like to do a testride to check on the gears. Let's start with 3 geards. The test proving ground was the hallway next to the store. It had a little 'hill' and I could feel: 3 gears are not enough. Let's try the 6 gear version. That's it!
So what colour and what handle do I want? With the M-Handlebar, that I wanted (they do not yet offer the H-type in Japan) the best colour was cobalt blue. So this is it:
To make a complete package, I added a rack (which makes my bike a model M6R), a rain cover and a C-Bag.
As they needed to assemble the rack, they sent me away after filling out some paperwork and told me, they would call me in about two hours. So I went to the next Starbucks, having my standard, a cafe latte (hot of course) and a scone.
After two hours the call came and my bike was ready. After some more paperwork I could take it with me. I was riding to the station (it already was starting to get dark), folded it and put the cover. Just the C-bag was visible on top. This way I wheeled it into the station. Sitting in the station, waiting for the train:
Only the handlebar unfolded.
Arriving in Kawagoe it was pitch dark so I could check out the light, which worked fine. At home I put it into the parking position (just the back wheel folded) and wheeled it to my front door
Finally I did a complete fold
For the first night the little guy was allowed to come inside. I had to fix an issue with the back light, which was mounted too high, so it was scratching, when wheeling the folded bike.
Next task will be: figuring out, how the bicycle parking at the train station works:
As far as I understood, it is 100 yen for 10 hours and no reserved
spots. So I will have to find a place, that I can rent for the month or
so.
But first I will start into my paragliding vacation :-))
Transportation was an open point from the beginning. The only drawback of my new appartment was, that there was no bike parking available for rental and it did not look like this would change soon. Walking all the time is not very convenient and limits my options to get arround a bit more. The bus schedule is still a mirakle to me (I know, which buses I need to take to get to the Kawagoe station and back but that's it).
I have enough space on my balcony to store a bike but how to get it from the entrance to the balcony? I'm not even wearing shoes in the appartement, how could I roll a dirty bike through it??
Being that far with my thoughts, Susan posted something about Brompton bikes and I was hooked. I was doing reasearch in the internet and after a while I knew: This would be the ideal solution for my problem. A foldable bike, light enough to be carried through the living room to the balcony. Small enough to get it into the elevator to bring it up to my floor. Riding comfort must be OK, when some people even do big tours with this little bike (http://pathlesspedaled.com/)
Are there any dealers available in Japan? Yes there are. Mhhmm, it's a custom made bike. How long will it take to get one? Let's see.
The next weekend came. On Saturday I was busy with furniture stuff in the morning (see previous post), so I only went out into the city to check out a bike store around the corner to see, what they have. They had some foldable bikes for a reasonable price but the folding concept did not really convice me. I was already spoiled by the Brompton.
I continued my research in the evening and identified two dealers, that seemed to have a good selection of Bromptons on stock. I loaded my iPhone to 100% (to be able to use the map function and take some pictures), sent some mails with links to directions and adresses to my iPhone, checked the train connections and decided: I would start with the Y's Road shop in Omiya. There is a direct connection from Kawagoe to Omiya station. The ride takes about 25 Minutes.
The shop was a bit hidden but I found it (by the way: the cyclist on the first picture shows a typical position of the saddle. It's almost a bit high)
The Bromptons were lined up inside, showing different configurations and different colours. So I approached somebody from the staff: 'do you speak english'. A scared face answered 'no, only a bit'... But we worked it out. He had a little translation computer, that did a good job in filling the gaps.
I told him, I'm lookig for a Brompton. I would like to see the folding. He demonstrated. Really easy!!
I would like to do a testride to check on the gears. Let's start with 3 geards. The test proving ground was the hallway next to the store. It had a little 'hill' and I could feel: 3 gears are not enough. Let's try the 6 gear version. That's it!
So what colour and what handle do I want? With the M-Handlebar, that I wanted (they do not yet offer the H-type in Japan) the best colour was cobalt blue. So this is it:
To make a complete package, I added a rack (which makes my bike a model M6R), a rain cover and a C-Bag.
As they needed to assemble the rack, they sent me away after filling out some paperwork and told me, they would call me in about two hours. So I went to the next Starbucks, having my standard, a cafe latte (hot of course) and a scone.
After two hours the call came and my bike was ready. After some more paperwork I could take it with me. I was riding to the station (it already was starting to get dark), folded it and put the cover. Just the C-bag was visible on top. This way I wheeled it into the station. Sitting in the station, waiting for the train:
Only the handlebar unfolded.
Arriving in Kawagoe it was pitch dark so I could check out the light, which worked fine. At home I put it into the parking position (just the back wheel folded) and wheeled it to my front door
Finally I did a complete fold
For the first night the little guy was allowed to come inside. I had to fix an issue with the back light, which was mounted too high, so it was scratching, when wheeling the folded bike.
Next task will be: figuring out, how the bicycle parking at the train station works:
But first I will start into my paragliding vacation :-))
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