Shopping from Japan - Cyclo Tourist Bags

 

Thanks to Bill Lane at Wall Bike for reprinting this pictographic feature on front handlebar bags from the Japanese magazine Cyclo Tourist.  Apart from Guu-Watanabe, Ostrich and Berthoud, many of the brands are new to me.

 

For reference, here is my post from 2008 showing the of the range of French, US and Japanese made handlebar bags in use by my randonneuring friends.  

Shopping from the Future: Vanilla Custom Bicycle

In April, I'll be pre-registering for Paris-Brest-Paris. Although the Pencil was an early front runner, I'll be riding my custom Vanilla lugged randonnee on the August 2011 ride. Acquiring the Vanilla was a bit like mail ordering from the future. I submitted a deposit in 2006 and took delivery in September 2010. The bike is a bit of a Rivendell remake (more Herzog's Nosferatu, less Van Sant's Psycho). I switched over from 650b to 700c tires, requested lighter weight tubing and integrated lights, rack and fenders. Sacha White, the bike's builder, was kind enough to borrow a mandrel to give my front fork a nice, low radius bend (à la française).

Here's an out-of-the-past preview courtesy of the Vanilla Workshop's flickr photostream:

Photographed outside the Vanilla Workshop in Portland, Oregon.

Austere decaling. Only one panel on the seat tube.

Trusty Acorn Rando Boxy bag transplanted to the Vanilla.

Generator driven, Schmidt Edelux Headlight.

Son 20 front 32 hub. Lightweight for year round use.

Leather chain slap guard.

Updated views from an unusually balmy MLK Day ride:

January edition. Bar wrap and saddle have been updated.

Detail shot of simple lugs and Pacenti Paris-Brest crown.

Sacha special: custom handlebar bag rack with decaleur (not pictured).

For interested parties, here's a short instructional film on PBP.

Archival Bicycles: Brevet Bikes

Chromed Canadian custom by rider/builder Nigel Press

On Friday, I head up to The Dalles, Oregon, to participate in the Oregon Randonneur's Oregon Blue Mountains 1000k brevet. If all goes well, this will be my last brevet on The Pencil, my trusty Rivendell road bike. In September--or so--I'll be taking delivery of a custom randonnee frame by Sacha White of Vanilla Bicycles (details to follow).

Since I'm a slow randonneuse, I rarely spend time with other riders or their bikes (save for Pal Peg and her newly built Tony Pereira). I try to grab reference shots at the beginning of brevets or during rest controls. As I've already documented, I adore randonneuring bikes for their visual elegance, purpose built design, uber-durability and post-apocalyptic use value. I also love that a brevet bike is visually incomplete without a well made, canvas duck front handlebar bag.

Here are a few of my sample brevet bike snaps.

PBP Ancien, Duane Wright, and his vintage Peugeot

Beautiful custom bike by rider/builder Corey Thomspon

Steve Rex custom at start of SIR 4 Passes 600k

Steve Rex custom front rack

Peg's Pereira (rare flat repair)

Tournesol after SIR Bremerton 400k

Jack's vintage 650b Grand Jubile Motobecane

Amy P's Rivendell Rambouillet (in ghoulish a.m. hotel light)

Tom's custom Coho

Robin P's Waterford custom (mark down for minimalist baggage)

Sara's Velo-Orange Randonneuse (early Johnny Coast prototype)

Trusty Pencil on 3 Capes 300k

Via Pillpat

Archival Review: Handlebar Bags

Ostrich Bag (Velo-Orange)

Custom jobber, Dan Boxer Bicycles (not for sale)

Lynne F's Acorn (the new champ)

Rivendell Boxy Baggins Bag (no longer available)

Gilles Berthoud GB 2086 Handlebar Bag (Wallingford Bicycles)

Ruth's Tough Traveler

Inujirushi Handlebar Bag (Jitensha Studio or Japan)

Co-Ltd. Guu-Watanabe (Japan)

Another clutter catching Rivendell Baggins (available model)

Cecil's olive tweed Nigel Smythe bag (availability?)

Gilles Berthoud Mini 86 (mine, sewn by Veronique!)

Vertical stacking load

In situ

Pencil Vs. Berthoud