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Smooth Operator · Joined: 29 Jan 2003 Posts: 140 Location: Japan

Yeah, good question. I'm 185cms and was wondering if I can even get a bike to fit me in Japan. Of course, mountain bike frames should be around 3 inches smaller than a road bike, so I guess I'm looking at a 20 or 21 inch frame...

abufletcher · Posted: Tue Oct 25, 2005 6:51 am Post subject:

I'm not sure how much weight shocks (rear and front) add to a bike but unless you're doing serious off-road (dirty and rock off-road) stuff I'm not sure they're worth the weight. For the most part your legs and arms should be your primary shocks. My current bike has neither rear or front shocks and a carbon fiber frame so it's LIGHT LIGHT LIGHT and I have no problem hoisting it on my shoulder and carrying it to those temples purched atop mountains. If I rode serious downhill or long distance X-country I'd probably want shocks to reduce the impact.

Mtnkiwi · Joined: 27 Mar 2004 Posts: 67 Location: Osaka

Personally I think front shocks are important, more important than any weight they might add to the rig. I commute in Osaka and try to stick to cycle paths (semi smooth) or the road (where safe), but when you hit the footpaths front shocks are just what you need. The footpaths are like mountain trails around here, steel grates, light poles to dodge, ramps, jumps, drop offs. I have a front shock lock out on one of my bikes, I never use it on my commutes.

Another thing, disc brakes are cool, but cheap ones are not, nor are the wheels they come with on cheap bikes. If you want to get better quality go for v-brakes on a cheaper rig.

If you are buying new ask shops about left over 2005 bikes (they may not have them, but can source them from their reps), should be able to get 30-40% off.

Good luck, and let us know what you end up getting.

parrothead · Joined: 02 Nov 2003 Posts: 342 Location: Japan

This is kind of off the topic of the original post, but do any of you cyclists out there have any favorite cycling routes?

David W · Joined: 17 Jan 2003 Posts: 457 Location: Japan

David W · Joined: 17 Jan 2003 Posts: 457 Location: Japan

Big John Stud · Joined: 07 Oct 2004 Posts: 513

abufletcher wrote:

BTW, I notice that on the site given they list bike sizes as S and M (and sometimes L). What do such sizes mean to the typical western male? Should I be looking for an LL bike even though I wear size M clothes back in the US?

Most bikes comes in CM. I've never been to a bike shope that measured the bikes in S-M-or L size. I wouldn't buy a bike with a letter measurement until I knew how many the letter size in CMs.

Big John Stud · Joined: 07 Oct 2004 Posts: 513

Smooth Operator wrote:

Yeah, good question. I'm 185cms and was wondering if I can even get a bike to fit me in Japan. Of course, mountain bike frames should be around 3 inches smaller than a road bike, so I guess I'm looking at a 20 or 21 inch frame...

You can find!!! No problem. However depending on where you live, you might have to order a bicycle a 20 or 21 inch bike.