"Weekly How to Make a Sphere" Vol. 29

2025/11/2 田中慎也

Light of the Unracer: The Final Chapter

RAL Exposure — The Orthodoxy of Folly

Today, November 2nd, is International Single Speed Day. Somewhere in the world, someone is likely riding their favorite single-speed (SS) bike through an unfamiliar place. Whether by riding a dedicated SS rig, jury-rigging a shifter with zip ties, or removing the battery from an electronic derailleur, everyone is running through the city and up the hills with—was it, just one gear?—and coming back with a smile. That’s what I believe this day is all about.

International Single Speed Day (ISSD)—it’s not an officially established or sanctioned holiday, just a global day of small, silly fun. And within that "folly," I have found a certain kind of sincerity.

Reducing your gears is, in a way, reducing your thoughts.

By consciously paring down your options, you allow your body's voice to ring out as clearly as possible. By stepping half a pace away from efficiency, you can realign your breathing with the tempo of your legs. On a day you decide not to touch the shift levers, the familiar scenery often appears a bit softer, I think.

For my part, I wanted to use a day like this as a milestone.

When Surly released their first 1x1 in the late 90s, I remember feeling that, "Surely, the bicycle culture of the future will branch out from here." Time has passed since then, and we have accepted the advancements in multi-speed drivetrains, hydraulic systems, electronics, and material science as truly remarkable progress.

However, at the same time, I felt that the origins clearly demonstrated by that herd—the affordable steel that everyone could reach, the materials and designs that could be repaired, the toughness that could handle being treated a bit roughly, and the openness that allowed you to ride and laugh—had drifted a little too far away.

So, we thought, perhaps we should go and light that flame ourselves.

We want to add realistic fuel to the fire of this bit of "folly" once more.

Coinciding with this "useless holiday" known as ISSD, we wish to quietly place our current proposal from Circles onto the altar.

It is called RAL Exposure.

Back to Analog. Capture the Moment.

Exposure
In a digitalized world, everyone tends to believe that records are stored perfectly. But real life is a bit more awkward, ambiguous, and uniquely a one-time thing. The grain of film, the noise of vinyl, the outline of a distant landscape that only appears on a misty morning. Analog has its limits, its quirks, and often doesn't go quite as you intend. Yet, I believe that this very imperfection is exactly what opens our eyes properly.

Exposure was created as a frame to burn those "one-time" moments into yourself.

Minimal standards, maximum space. No shifting, no suspension. But we believe your imagination should be full-spec. From asphalt to dirt tracks, from the city to the soil. We would be happy if you, the rider, drew that boundary line with your own legs.

The Platform for your Ideas.

"The Platform for your Ideas." — Exposure was not born as a finished complete bike, but as an unfinished foundation. What you stack upon it is not the manufacturer's "correct answer," but your own life and way of playing. We decided it was wise to refrain from offering the "optimal solutions" that many others are already rushing to provide for you.
And here, we leave only three keywords: RAW / TTL / ASA.

RAW: Ride Alternative Way
Let’s occasionally veer off the paths optimized for high efficiency as off-roaders. Dodge the traffic lights for a narrow back alley, or deliberately dip your tires into a puddle and get your shoes muddy. The ruts in the dirt don't run straight, but that’s where we feel the "play" still lingers.

TTL: Time To Low-tech
Now, it is time to return to low-tech. Like dimming the brightness on a screen, let’s lower the intensity of information. The pressure on the pedals, the tension of the chain, the rhythm of your breath. Your body will often gently tell you what feels comfortable and what is excessive. Let’s take the judgment we had been outsourcing to machines back into our own hands.

ASA: Almost Satisfied Analog
The aesthetic of being "almost satisfied" is very important. A morning where you fail slightly at the start because your gear is a bit heavy, or the moment you adjust your brake shoes and the squealing finally stops. When you get your hands dirty, take your time, and finally reach that "close enough," you might find that attachment is born in place of perfection.

The Realism of 26 Inches

Exposure was properly designed as a 26-inch bicycle. I will write it clearly once more: 26 inches. We wanted to restore a sense of realism to a wheel size that is being forgotten by the times.

The wheels are light, the handling is sharp, you can flick through tight corners and dive into unpaved shortcuts without fear. While there is certainly a pleasure in straddling ruts with large-diameter wheels, there is a different kind of joy in a ride that follows the contours of the terrain at a lower trajectory.

To put it more simply, it may be that we still feel a genuine affinity for this size—the one that us "unracers," who don't prioritize competition, have spent the most time with.

Maximum clearance is 26×2.5.
A bit thinner and lighter for weekday commutes; a bit wider with the air let out for weekend detours, carefully picking up the gravel on the road. After all the arguments about wheel sizes, we remember one thing: The "fun size" has always been decided by your own body.

Steel, Cantilevers, and Fully Rigid

The material is the always-sincere 4130 chromoly.
For the paint, we chose something that reveals more of its character the more you use it. We value the ability to fix it and keep riding even if you bash it. More than a superficial sense of luxury, we find a certain charm in how daily scratches and oil stains look on it.

We also deliberately chose cantilever brakes (V-brake compatible).
On a rainy morning, you might find yourself going back to grab a hex wrench to stop a squeal. Adjust the shoe angle just a tiny bit, and if you get it right, the sound will fade into silence. We want Exposure to embrace this extra effort not as a "hassle," but as part of the "joy of ownership."

We believe suspension is unnecessary for this concept.
It is designed as fully rigid / non-corrected.

The fork is 1-1/8″ threadless. Front and rear spacing is 100/135mm, BB is 73mm, and seatpost is 27.2mm. I think these are all unpretentious standards. So that old parts found in a warehouse or components handed down from a friend can work again. With single-speed-specific dropouts, the chainline stays straight and the tension is simple. We want to keep the feeling of the torque from your legs going directly into forward motion as unambiguous as possible.

Life as a Trail Commuter

The RAL Exposure is a bicycle for injecting a small adventure into your daily commute.

On the way to work, dip onto a dirt path along the river for just a moment. Accepting that "detour" not as a waste of time, but as part of your life. Trail Commuter, I think, refers to that kind of gentle, everyday adventurer.

Pricing as a Message

We attempted to offer the RAL Exposure at the most accessible price point possible.

This is not just for business reasons, nor is it a simple appeal of "cheapness." As the herd once showed, culture is hard to spread if it isn't within reach. Being able to buy it, fix it, and find replacements for it. Buying it, scratching it, fixing it again, and playing with it again. We consider price to be part of the design as well.

Unveiling on a Useless Day

Aligning the debut of the RAL Exposure with ISSD is no coincidence.

On this day, when people around the world celebrate "a single gear," Circles wants to legitimately stake our claim as the "Orthodoxy of Folly." Not by following the rules, but by playing earnestly and correctly in places where the rules are thin. Without denying progress, dare to trim, lighten, and simplify your thinking. I would be happy if you could burn the high-resolution "now" that is born from that into your own legs.

Still, There is More to Come

Rivendell guards a solitary light, and the black herd of Surly has increased the number of laughs shared by many.

We thought seriously about how we might write the chapter that follows on our pit workbenches and on the other side of the street. And the "Just Ride" philosophy that we have continued to translate at SimWorks is still very much a living, breathing part of the Japanese language. The newly arriving RAL Exposure might be one of the particles of that grammar, a particle or a small conjunction.

But if the particles change, the scenery of the text changes.
Reduce your gears and thicken the meaning a little.
Return to low-tech and broaden your time a little.
Increase your attachment with "almost satisfied."

Today's exposure is only for today.
I believe the same light almost never comes twice.
If that's the case, I’ll step on the pedals again today.
On a useless day, with useless friends, and a frame that looks a little useless.