Showing posts with label Ibis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ibis. Show all posts

Friday, 17 February 2017

Gyro Bike, Osaka

A little bit of a backstory to this. Last summer whilst cycling around Osaka we chanced by this little bike shop in the Nakazaki neighbourhood, unfortunately at that time the shop was closed as it was the next few times we tried. Last week it was open and we ventured inside...


Gyro Bike is an Aladin's cave of old and mid-school mountain biking. Crammed full of mint condition bikes, frames, parts and memorabilia. The shop owner is very friendly and talkative man who spent an hour telling us about his past travels and adventures in the MTB world, he's met such legendary figures as Gary Fisher, Tom Ritchey, John Tomac, Tinker Juarez and Missy Giove...


The assortment of bikes on display is mind blowing for any MTB nerd, limited edition Cannondale's sit alongside custom GT full bouncer's...






And then you look up. The amount of vintage frame porn, all mint condition, hanging from the rafters is stunning. Tomac full susser's, Rocky Mountain's, Sintesi's...


A couple of Klein's for good measure...


Tucked away in the corner are a couple of Ibis hardtail's...


Including a beautiful titanium Mojo...



And all around the shop there are perfect condition parts...




The cabinets that line the wall are also filled with so much vintage WANT...









The owner told us that he no longer runs a website so there is nothing we can link to here. We have marked the location on Google Maps so if you're in Osaka it's fairly easy to find. We'll be back there soon to take tons more photos and buy lots of parts.


Wednesday, 11 November 2015

Classic Ibis MTB

About time we had a bit of vintage MTB action around here and this classic Ibis spotted out in Osaka last night ticks every box...


Check that cockpit, Sun Ringle, Syncros and Gripshift...


For riders of a certain age those straddle bridges will bring back some very happy memories...


This bike is the whole original package, Manitou forks, Middleburn cranks and naturally a Chris King headset...


Classic MTB heaven. 26 ain't ever dying.

Wednesday, 22 January 2014

Kuwahara, Osaka


Whilst out in Osaka yesterday with Toshio-san from Guell, we dropped in to see our good friend Yamamoto-san who works at the legendary Kuwahara Bike Company. He was kind enough to let us look around the office and take a few photos. As you would expect there are some extremely nice bikes just laying around the office, both new products and old classics...

A Goblin and a GAAP tourer.

KZ-1
"Vintage" C-Pacer frame.
They also import international brands into Japan and just happened to have this gorgeous demo Ibis Hakalugi cross bike sitting around. Sadly it was not our size!

 ...And just leaning up against the wall was this rare FUNN single speed funny bike...


Along with the bikes the office walls are decorated with some very cool Kuwahara memorabilia including graffiti artwork...


...Old promotional posters...


 And of course a few references to "that" film...




A big thank you to Yamamoto-san for allowing us to look around his seriously cool workspace!