Buying a bicycle in Japan

[Joey]

How much does it cost for a pretty decent road bike? New and Used?
I will * hopefully* be over there next year for college and am planing on going bike/train. so, being a little bit of a biker, will want to have a decent road bike to ride.
Thanks in advance!

[josiah]

ahh...
you wanna decent, yet cheap bike?
the bikes in japan,
well,
they look like the bikes our parents would've ridden.

i mean,
you can buy a bike with suspension
but it'll cost a lot.

you can buy bikes from
department stores
and shops like that

average cost is probably around $300 for a decent bike
also the more gears you have
the more the cost

you can get folding bikes and similar bikes

but will be expensive

if you can
bring your own

but i think japanese bikes are cool

[Joey]

so road bikes aren't so common over there?...
hmmm, wonder how much it would cost to bring my bike over...
thanks for the tips josiah-san!

[josiah]

i found a useful link that may be helpful for you.

however i don't know how you would go about looking for a secondhand bicycle
unless you had some friends over there to help you out

[josiah]

http://www.roarfish.com/2005/12/the_bicycle_in_.html

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2210.html

[Joey]

thanks for the links josiah-san!

Ouch! looking at those old people bikes was painful
Looks like i'm gonna have to find a specialty shop to get a good road bike lol.

[josiah]

joey,
unless you're really
hardcore

i reccomend just riding the normal bikes

i know i felt
strange at
first

but everyone
rides them

then it feels almost
cool
to ride a pink bike with a
basket

[Joey]

I guess i'll try those bikes once i'm there, but let me just tell you i'm not one to easily give into peer pressure

[JonB]

and if you are in tokyo it is generally pretty flat. If you are just after something from your apartment to the station then that is your best bet. Only problem is remembering where you left as there will be hundreds of identical bikes in the bike park...

[josiah]

reminds me of the first time
i was in
chiba

my friend and
i had taken
a pair of bikes for
a spin into
ichikawa

we parked
nearby the station
amongst a stack of
other bikes

and we forgot what colour one
of the bikes were

so we convinced ourselves
that it was black
and tried to take it
back with us

on the way we
asked some young guys
for help

they made motions and said;
"smash! smash!"

we decided not
to smash the lock
and dragged the bike
back to
the apartment

the next day
we discovered we had
taken the
wrong bike
so we wrote a note
「ごめんなさい」
and returned it

true story
very funny

[Joey]

i have a new question about biking in Japan.
Is Tokyo and surroundings pretty much flat or are there some hills?
Particularly towards the west of Tokyo since I'll be in Mitaka for college this fall.
thanks in advance!

[JonB]

Mitaka and the surrounding area is pretty flat. There are many pathways running alongside streams (but they will call them rivers!) connecting various parks. And if you get down to tamagawa you can go for miles in either direction

[Joey]

JonB-san, thank you! that is what i wanted to hear!

[josiah]

Mitaka and the surrounding area is pretty flat. There are many pathways running alongside streams (but they will call them rivers!) connecting various parks. And if you get down to tamagawa you can go for miles in either direction

streams is such an american word!

[Joey]

Don't know how many of you guys are into biking but this appears to be a pretty good place to discuss biking in Japan: Tokyo Cycling Club.

http://www.tokyocycle.com/index.php