CYCLE MODE international 2008 Tokyo, Japan
November 9, 2008 · Print This Article
Thanks to a tip from a student semi-interested in cycling, Aya and I were able to spend a very exciting Saturday afternoon surrounded by all things bikes at CYCLE MODE international 2008 at the expansive Makuhari Messe exhibit space. This even was better than I expected, and I ended up feeling totally stoked after having demo-ridden three very expensive bikes on the road and mountain biking mini-tracks the event organizers had setup.
All major cycling companies and bike makers had very large and expensive looking booths on the floor. Being a Trek loyalist, of course I spent the most time there, and even took out a ¥500,000 Trek Madone 5.5 Pro. I have to admit this was my first time to ride a real road bike since I was a kid, and it’s a whole other world from my Trek 7.3 FX. The Madone is just infinitely lighter and more responsive to the slightest movement. I felt like I could control it just by thinking about it.
I next to out a run of the mill ¥100,000 Jamis mountain bike that had a really poor front fork. Riding over the mountain biking mini-track was a very bumpy experience. Not so when I cruised out on a ¥350,000 Mongoose dual-suspension bike next (see top-most photo). This was also my first time ever to ride a dual-suspension bike, and the verdict? I like it! It was like pedaling a Cadillac, a real, real plush ride. I was just hopping in the pedals the whole time really digging the spongy feel of the ride. I did three laps of the mini-track on this Mongoose, and went for it on the jumps on the last one (see photo gallery below).
Aya and I both had a great time at CYCLE MODE international 2008. The ability to demo ride such expensive and diverse bikes made the ¥1,000 admission cost well worth it.
CYCLE MODE international 2008 PHOTO GALLERY:
(1 votes, average: 3.00 out of 5)
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That looks like it was a great bike show. I’m scared to ride a carbon bike b/c I’ll think mine is such a heavy heap of junk the next time I get on it. If you guys are going to be back by July you should come up to Iowa for RAGBRAI. There’s a great place for trail riding near here too, but I’ve found that in my ten years away from mountain biking I’ve definitely lost my nerve. Did you purchase anything for your bike at the show?
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Jason Collin Reply:
November 9th, 2008 at 2:59 PM
Yeah, that was a concern of mine too, that once I rode one of those sweet carbon 6kg bikes, mine would feel like a tank, but it was only one lap of their short track, so the memory was very short, but sweet only. Plus, I couldn’t even figure out how to shift gears!
Going over the small jumps I felt a little loss of nerve myself. A lot of it was not even having toe clips, so my feet felt like they could fly off the pedals at any time, plus there wasn’t that much space so any slight slippage could result in a collision.
There wasn’t really that much to purchase at the show itself, more just like 2009 models and clothing that you couldn’t buy yet, which was a bit annoying. There were some closeout deals, but for nothing i was in the market for, i.e. a lightweight windbreaker with very high visibility for night riding.
We will most def be back before July, so will keep that in mind!
The show itself was impressive, more than I was expecting even. It just felt good to be around a community, this time cyclists, which is a very rare feeling in this metropolis where I mostly feel anonymous and against most of what is around me.
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Full-suspension bikes are awesome. They take a little bit to get used to if you are used to riding hard tails but once you learn how to ride a full-suspension bike as a full-suspension bike and not like a hardtail, it is amazing.
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Jason Collin Reply:
November 11th, 2008 at 2:20 AM
I’m not exactly sure if the dual-suspension I rode was for mountain biking per se or that kind of rock hopping stuff people do nowadays. It seemed to be a mountain bike type frame, but it was so springy! Can you tell from the photo of me sitting on it what it is?
I loved the disc brakes too!
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