The weather is getting warmer little by little, and I can feel the footsteps of spring approaching. Recently, we had a delightful visitor.
Matsuoka-kun, who is currently cycling around Japan, starting from Hyogo.
When he used to live in Nagoya, he came to our shop looking for a bike for his trip, and that's when we consulted with him.
For someone like him, who had a clear vision of first traveling around Japan and then heading overseas, I recommended the Surly Disc Trucker without hesitation. Since he was looking for a local shop that could handle the assembly, I introduced him to Ride Works. Once the bike was built, he stopped by Circles during his journey to show off the finished machine.
He equipped his Disc Trucker—undoubtedly a masterpiece for bicycle tourers around the world—with a Chris King headset. When you pack the front and rear panniers full, the weight obviously increases, but even so, the headset resists play, allowing for stress-free riding.
He had a sturdy set of Mavic EX325 (36H) rims hand-spun. For tires, he’s using Schwalbe Marathon Plus to minimize the risk of flats. The SimWorks by Honjo Turtle58 fenders fit it perfectly, too.
For the cockpit, he used the SimWorks Smile and New Rhonda.
Although he brought in his own frame, thank you to Ride Works for kindly accepting the assembly!
He is still young, but after traveling all over Japan, he has plans to cross the ocean and travel the world. It’s all to make his own dreams a reality. It feels as though he has knocked on the door of my heart. I was so happy to have such a wonderful young man visit us, and it made us realize all over again that we want to keep being useful to people who utilize bicycles, so that we don't fall behind him.
Everyone, if you see a nice young man riding a maroon Disc Trucker, please give him your support. He is also updating his travel blog, so please check that out as well.