BengeBoy 

Am traveling in Japan and realized this morning that I was within range of the home of Grand Bois Bicycles, based at a bike shop outside Kyoto, Japan. (Am assuming some of you rando types know about Grand Bois from reading Bicycle Quarterly, or from purchasing the tires that Grand Bois has made under its lable by Panaracer).

Directions to the store are here -- it's a quick cab ride (or long walk) from the JR Rail Line station Hanazono, about 15 minutes from central Kyoto. (https://www.cyclesgrandbois.com/access/index.html)

Here's the store:



A customer rode up on a beautiful Grand Bois, and there was a Toei already in the rack next to it:





I met the owner/proprietor, Ikuo Tsuchiya, who was quite hospitable, though the shop was busy. We were able to communicate enough to get across the idea that I'd read about Grand Bois in Bicycle Quarterly (the editor, Jan Heine, owns a Grand Bois city bike he reviewed recently). Mr. Tsuchiya also appeared to have almost every issue of Bicycle Quarterly on a shelf in the office; when I mentioned I was from Seattle he recognized Davidson from their regular ads in BQ.

Inside, there were a couple of new Grand Bois bikes, which (after asking permission) I shot from outside:





The shop also does vintage restorations and sell used bikes. There was a spectacular mixte Rene Herse on the floor that Mr. Tsuchiya said he restored for a customer; it had a single chain ring up front and a single derailleur in rear to shift a four-cog rear hub. There was a beautiful vintage cream-colored Bianchi with a "Paris-Roubaix" decal on the downtube. Hanging from the rafters were two Alex Singers and another Rene Herse, along with a Masi Grand Criterium, a Colnago, a Frejus, etc.

Would love to have spent more time there, but I was sort of in the way on a busy Saturday and after paying my respects and thanking the owner again for this time, I was on my way...

spokenword

nice, bengeboy! I also managed to make a stop there a few years ago while visiting Japan. I agree that Mr. Tsuchiya is a quite the nice, hospitable host. It's nice seeing photos again.

I should also say that cab and subway rides aside, there's also a bus stop close to the shop, and the route is such that it's easy to work a visit to Grand Bois in along with a trip to Ryoanji. A walk from Ryoanji, however, is a little long on narrowish sidewalks and is less than scenic.

mattm

Thanks for posting, Benge!

Looks like rando heaven.

Did you get any chances to ride while over there?

BengeBoy 

No, I didn't ride at all. I had researched places to rent bikes while I was there but really didn't find the time...I was waiting for the family to have a "rest day" when I would go out and bike but we were out doing stuff pretty much all the time.

I would love to tour around Japan by bike, btw - I think the way to do it would be on a folder so you can go bike where you want and then jump on a train if you want to skip to the next spot.

visiondr

The Grand Bois and Toei bikes are very nice machines.
Thanks for sharing your story and photos.

~ Ron

illwafer

drool.