Tokyo cyclist etiquette

Cindy Hanson said:

Just came back from a 7 day holiday in Tokyo, and I know that bicycles are a
way of life there, but it was so good to see cars, and pedestrians treat
cyclists with so much respect.

well, come on. dont tease us with just one sentence.
write a tome worthy of such a trip! 😄

PS what's the predominant 'brand' o bike over there?
does it have a mobile built-in or clipless pedals for 24inch platform shoes 😄😄

flyingdutch said:

Cindy Hanson said:

Just came back from a 7 day holiday in Tokyo, and I know that bicycles
are a
way of life there, but it was so good to see cars, and pedestrians
treat
cyclists with so much respect.

well, come on. dont tease us with just one sentence.
write a tome worthy of such a trip! 😄

PS what's the predominant 'brand' o bike over there?
does it have a mobile built-in or clipless pedals for 24inch platform
shoes 😄😄

From what I saw, the predominant brand was "heavy, black, no-name
thing" 🙂 They don't need to build mobiles into bikes coz they are all
permanently attached to user's hands or ears..

hippysan

"flyingdutch" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Cindy Hanson said:

Just came back from a 7 day holiday in Tokyo, and I know that bicycles
are a
way of life there, but it was so good to see cars, and pedestrians
treat
cyclists with so much respect.

well, come on. dont tease us with just one sentence.
write a tome worthy of such a trip! 😄

PS what's the predominant 'brand' o bike over there?
does it have a mobile built-in or clipless pedals for 24inch platform
shoes 😄😄

--
flyingdutch

In Japan, cycles are probably one of the very few items that don't have a
brand name as such.Nor are they stylish.

The Japanese usually use some kind of really heavy steel ladies-bike shaped
frames, fully covered chain guards, a built -in rear wheel lock, heavy duty
mudguards and usually has a basket of some kind hangin' off the front for
the daily shopping after work.
Japanese women are amazing, they ride the bikes on a rainy day, handlebar in
one hand and a big umbrella in the other and seem to dodge all the
pedestrians on footpaths with ease (no helmet or footpath laws there I'm
afraid) Men juggle handlebars and large breifcases.

These bikes are generally all the same colour,(battleship grey) and I have
often wondered, with all the hundreds of bikes I've seen parked in large
dedicated bike parking areas around rail stations, how in the hell do they
know which one is theirs? they all look the bloody same!! These bikes are
generally pretty cheap and dominate most bike shops and department stores
costing around AUS$ 150 and have a life of around 2-3 yrs.I think they buy a
new one when the tyres wear out or when the ash tray is full LOL just
kidding!!

You wouldn't be seen dead on one in Australia. The Japanese don't see
cycling as a recreational pastime (although this is changing a bit now with
more dedicated cycle paths in outlying areas) they only see the cycles as a
cheap way to get from A - B.shopping, commutting only.

Last time I was there, ( 2 yrs ago) I never seen any racing bikes and only a
small amount of MTB's which usually belonged to young teens.

In Tokyo suburbs, the motorists seem to be very tolerant and patient
(surprising really considering the congestion) local speed limits for
suburban streets are supposed to be 40kph but many travel much faster. I
beleive in Osaka, this is entirely different...road rage a plenty!! (hear
say only from an Osakan Friend)

This has only been my observation from my 3 trips to Japan over the past 10
yrs. I'll have a closer look next time.

DJ

DJ said:

Japanese women are amazing, they ride the bikes on a rainy day, handlebar in
one hand and a big umbrella in the other and seem to dodge all the
pedestrians on footpaths with ease (no helmet or footpath laws there I'm
afraid) Men juggle handlebars and large breifcases.

They don't seem to need them because they don't ride fast enough to do
any damage.

Quoted message said:

These bikes are generally all the same colour,(battleship grey) and I have

I thought they were all black?

Quoted message said:

Last time I was there, ( 2 yrs ago) I never seen any racing bikes and only a
small amount of MTB's which usually belonged to young teens.

The ones of these I saw were [censored] too. They were like K-Mart MTBs,
obviously built to appeal to the few riders who've seen Red Bull Rampage
vids 🙂

hippy

DJ said:

a built -in rear wheel lock, heavy duty

Ahh now I understand why I saw so many bikes without bike locks in
Tokyo. I just thought the Japanese must be unbearably honest.

DaveB

DaveB said:

DJ said:

a built -in rear wheel lock, heavy duty

Ahh now I understand why I saw so many bikes without bike locks in
Tokyo. I just thought the Japanese must be unbearably honest.

Actually, they probably don't need them. In the Japan Lonely Planet, it
suggests most crimes in Japan are committed by the tourists!

hippy

"hippy" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

DaveB said:

DJ said:

a built -in rear wheel lock, heavy duty

Ahh now I understand why I saw so many bikes without bike locks in Tokyo.
I just thought the Japanese must be unbearably honest.

Actually, they probably don't need them. In the Japan Lonely Planet, it
suggests most crimes in Japan are committed by the tourists!

hippy

On the contrary, bike theft in Japan is quite high and if you had an unusual
bike like a top of the range MTB with discs and Shimano Deore LX gear, you'd
better have a bloody good lock or maybe more.

I think what happens is, most of the bikes at station car parks look the
same and if you didn't have at least the rear wheel locked, yours may go
missing if some other person knew his bike was on the way out.Due to the low
cost of these contraptions, I don't think many care too much if it goes
missing, only for the inconvenience.Everything in Japan is convenience!!

Hippy, the majority of bikes that I've seen are either a battle gray or a
bit darker but not many black ones.Some are a dark blue/gray color as well.

As I wrote before, I never seen any brand name bikes there and those that
were branded, were like the huffy quality stuff.

DJ

Quoted message said:

On the contrary, bike theft in Japan is quite high and if you had an unusual
bike like a top of the range MTB with discs and Shimano Deore LX gear, you'd
better have a bloody good lock or maybe more.

A girlfriend of mine works in Osaka and she tells me bike theft is rife, however, not a huge problem. Apparently if you go to a shopping mall and come out to discover that your bike has been stolen, you simply take someone else's bike. It's a domino effect...

A strange, yet somewhat cooperative way to live isn't it?

Lotte who noticed a serious decline in the number of people riding bikes on this first cool morning....

"LotteBum" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

On the contrary, bike theft in Japan is quite high and if you had an

unusual

Quoted message said:

bike like a top of the range MTB with discs and Shimano Deore LX gear,

you'd

Quoted message said:

better have a bloody good lock or maybe more.

A girlfriend of mine works in Osaka and she tells me bike theft is
rife, however, not a huge problem. Apparently if you go to a shopping
mall and come out to discover that your bike has been stolen, you
simply take someone else's bike. It's a domino effect...

A strange, yet somewhat cooperative way to live isn't it?

Lotte who noticed a serious decline in the number of people riding
bikes on this first cool morning....

--
LotteBum

Even better is if you got one better than the one you had stolen lol

Due to most of the bikes looking the same, it's probably confusion rather
than deliberate.

DJ