Tuesday 2 May 2017

With Bicycles Becoming More Popular By The Day,

I am surprised that there are not more bespoke bicycle manufactures out there,


 but here is one from Japan, when the makers of the live-action remake of Kiki’s DeliveryService needed bicycles for the film they turned to one man: Nobuyuki Tani, after a stint at SONY designing cassette players, telephones, TVs and audio devices, he left his job to take over his father’s small bicycle business, there he made a name for himself designing custom bicycles and is now the proprietor of Cycle Boy, where he claims to be Japan’s only maker of customised casual bikes, above the “Trunk” model 258,000 yen, (at today's rate £1,973 or $2,546),

 in his studio in Chigasaki, a coastal city in Kanagawa an hour Southwest of Tokyo, Tani hand-assembles all his bikes, with careful attention to detail and an emphasis on materials, Tani sculpts his unique creations into functional, ridable works of art, He was commissioned to create all the bicycles for the live-action adaptation of Kiki’s Delivery Service, Tani created the fantastical flying bicycle but also the bread maker’s bicycle and Tombo’s regular bicycle, the “Matiere” model 158,000 yen, (at today's rate £1,281 or $1,653), it is all about materials: wood, leather and iron,

 above the “Apollo” also 158,000 yen, vintage lights, grips and handlebars are combined with original crank chain and cover it’s the perfect mix of old and new, Tani also collaborated with Ishinokura Shoten to create 3 models that are produced at larger quantities, vintage parts are procured from around the world to come together with custom-parts to create 3 distinct rides that are both beautiful to look at, but entirely functional,

and the shop where it all happens, and no I am not on commission, it is just that I would have thought by now we would have seen a lot more of these custom pedal bike shops.


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