Where to buy a mountain bike?

[Caustic Saint]

Speaking of bicycles, I'm in the market for one. There's a bike shop near me, but all they've got are the granny-style, one-speed jobbies. Not what I'm looking for.

Anybody know where to get a decent (mid-range) mountain bike?

[Taro Toporific]

Anybody know where to get a decent (mid-range) mountain bike?

Get with the program. Appropriate a nice one from the station.


(Otherwise, try Seiyu, Costco, or any discount-not-upscale dept. store. GuyJean is uses mountain bikes all the time and I assume he's got 30,000 yen GIANT brand model because expensive ones just get ripped off.)

[GomiGirl]

What is wrong with granny bikes???

[Caustic Saint]

What is wrong with granny bikes???

Nothing - if you're a granny. :P

[gkanai]

Anybody know where to get a decent (mid-range) mountain bike?

All depends on what you want to spend.

I've had recommendations from these two, which are online:
http://homepage3.nifty.com/askeycycle/top.htm
http://store.yahoo.co.jp/o-trick/index.html

as for real store bike shops - the two called joker in Shinkuku are
pretty good.

I found instructions on how to get there from a quick google:

>You can find this behind the old Kinokuniya, which makes it actually on Yasukuni
>Dori across from the Mr Donuts. It is called Joker Street, there is another
>Joker Street on the corner or Meiji Dori and Yasukuni Dori as well but it is
>much smaller and not quite as nice

[Skankster]

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I suggest Protech

they have one in Roppongi, Ebisu and Shirogane-Takanawa

They are the official Cannondale dealer in Tokyo.

Your other items would be Oshmans or Tokyu Hands.
Don Quixote sells junkers too.

[cstaylor]

They are the official Cannondale dealer in Tokyo.

Otherwise known as the "Please Steal Me" brand.

[Caustic Saint]

Thanks for all the tips. I like this one from O-trick. I'll check out the local stores and see how things compare price-wise.

[Ol Dirty Gaijin]

Joker as mentioned before or Ueno Classic.
Might be worth looking around the million or so sports stores in Jimbocho also.
Get a granny bike and mod it for stealth!

[Captain Japan]

Thanks for all the tips. I like this one from O-trick. I'll check out the local stores and see how things compare price-wise.

I bought a bike five months ago. In looking around, I found nearly all the shops in Tokyo to have idential prices. So I found the bike I wanted and then searched through google to find a lower price through the various online shops (a lot of times a certain brand will use a model name unique to Japan making it easy to find on the web). It wasn't too hard to find a discount of 20%. The takyubin charge is minimal for a bike. You gotta go through the buying procedure in Japanese though.

[Skankster]

-
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They are the official Cannondale dealer in Tokyo.

Otherwise known as the "Please Steal Me" brand.

Cant steal a Cannondale. To try to unharness it from any formidable lock would damage the beautiful aluminum frame.


but some idiot might steal the seat if it is quickrelease
was that you cstaylor?

[cstaylor]

was that you cstaylor?

I didn't know Cannondale made your Mamachari.

[Ol Dirty Gaijin]

was that you cstaylor?

I didn't know Cannondale made your Mamachari.

Cannondale weigh about the same as the average mamachari. Overpriced poser bikes

[emperor]

Get a granny bike and mod it for stealth!

Does that translate as "Smash in the lights so the anti-gaijin police patrol wont see you coming"?

I used a mama-chan-bike for my year in Japan - got it second hand for Y4000 and didnt have to worry about it getting stolen... I constantly got flagged over by the cops to make sure it wasnt stolen though... one night it happened 4 times in a row (at one stage i was surrounded by a koban copper and 3 cops on bikes.. just in case i tried to make a break for it - you know)

[Caustic Saint]

I went by both Joker shops in Shinjuku today. Joker Maniac, the 1F store on Meiji-dori is mostly parts and accessories. Joker, the 3F shop just up the street is incredible. They've got all kinds of bikes, from low-end to insanely high-end. They had the Trek I've got my eye on, plus another one that I'd love to have, but am not going to spend Y140,000 on.

When iit's time to buy I'll probably go through them.

[Taro Toporific]

...Trek I've got my eye on, plus another one that I'd love to have, but am not going to spend Y140,000 on.

Trek is affordable and you won't cry in your beer as much when it gets ripped off. ( Mrs T has had 3 mama-chari-bikes ripped in the past 10 years.)

BTW: I forgot to mention the Odaiba and other Tokyo locations of "Sports Authority" stores.

Also tomorrow 11-2pm, I may go to Costco and while I'm there I'll look at the CHEAP bikes. PM me your keitai number and I'll keitai-cam you pix. The bike prices will be near US level since bikes are "loss-leader" items for Costco Japan. (shipping is only 1,000 yen)

http://www.sportsauthority.co.jp/
http://www.sportsauthority.co.jp/location/shop/pict/map/map_img/j303.jpg

[Caustic Saint]

I went down to Odaiba today and checked out the Sports Authority had. Some decent stuff, but not exactly what I was looking for. I've been writing down all the makes and models I've seen around town and checking out the reviews over at MTB Review.

I'm going to get a Trek 4300 Disc from Joker, but I'd really like the Trek Fuel 70. I saw one when I was in Joker and instantly fell in lust with it. It's a bit more than I'm looking to spend right now, and I can't imagine actually making use of a full-suspension bike in Tokyo.

[Taro Toporific]

. It's a bit more than I'm looking to spend right now, and I can't imagine actually making use of a full-suspension bike in Tokyo.

I never made it CostCo but I found full-suspension Bridgestones for 40-43,000 yen at the local OLYMPIC food/dept. store. Bottom-of-the-line MT bikes were 25,000 yen and ALL were discounted for the end of the season. In Discount Dept. stores you can find some bargans now until Nov.[/b]