It was early 2015 when we started this blog...

 

 

They say you can't keep doing the same thing and expect different results, so we have decided to move our blog onto our Instagram; where we hope to share brief but insightful stories in who we are what are doing at Cartel Bikes.

 

You find our Instagram here:

 

https://www.instagram.com/cartelbikes/

 

We link each post to our Facebook page:

 

https://www.facebook.com/CartelBike/

 

You can always find our latest bikes and other goods via our headshop DINER TOKYO.

 

 

 

 


 

Our first post of 2020; so we should start off by saying Happy New Year!

 

As we move away from the oversaturation of images and information, we haven't forgotten all our riders out there, and have a few hot things lined up in 2020.

 

That said don't forget right now you can get your hands on these lovely 'Avenue Lo' bikes from our friends at Diner Tokyo who have them on special offer right now:

 

Black on Black

 

 

Brown on Black

 

 

Bikes aside I hope like me you had a great winter vacation and feel refreshed and ready to start the new year!

 

 


It's been a while since we've done a post focusing exclusively on our bikes, so here goes:

 

 

Recently our friends at Diner have been kind enough to combine our Chrome and Matte Black 'Avenue Lo' with England's finest saddle maker Brooks; who are renown for making fine leather parts to complement your bicycle, in this post we will take a look at one custom we shared on our Instagram, what they have to offer - that fine piece Chrome you see above.

 

 

What makes this custom outstanding is that on top of adding Brooks B17 saddle and their Microfiber bar tape; they've added our C.B.3 carbon fiber baton wheel to the front, and if that was not enough installed SRAM's Omnium direct crankset!

 

 

The C.B.3 has 50mm wide body and it built in a way that makes its lighter and smarter than other baton wheels, the shape of the wheel allows it to gracefully cut through the wind, with each rotation adding momentum to your cruising speed, which simply means you don't have work as hard to reach your terminal velocity.

 

 

Having a direct crankset as I have mentioned in previous posts, is literally one the most essential parts that make a huge difference in how your bike performs.

 

 

To make it simple lets just for every push and pull (for those of you with pedal straps) you take the Omnium makes sure all that power is transferred "directly" to the wheels, no skips or slips just straight power...perfect if you plan on skidding.

 

Oh, let's not forget that smooth leather by Brooks...starting with their Black B17 saddle:

 

 

That we combined with Brooks' Microfiber bar tape:

 

 

Currently, The Chrome 'Avenue Lo' is currently on special offer at Diner, AVAILABLE NOW for the base price of - ¥100,000

 

 

 


Welcome back to the chronicles of W.A.C.C; where we are proud to announce that our friends at Diner have made our Chrome 'Avenue Lo' available for a test ride. 

 

 

Allowing you to experience the joys of their original 3spoke carbon wheel...which I am still very fond of (especially because of the noise it makes).

 

 

Easy handling comes courtesy of these long riser handlebars... which also look great and give you that extra momentum when climbing hills and extra confidence when descending hills too.

 

 

This is just one of the many ways our bikes can be customized... leaving me to ask you the question; how would you customize your Cartel Bike?

 

 

The above Chrome 'Avenue Lo' is available for a test ride TODAY - just head over to our headshop Diner:

 

 

I want to send a big a shout out all my ladies out there since it seems more and more of you are joining our single-geared club and making each bike your own. I present the latest evidence:

 

 

This young lady opted for our 'Rue' whose frame is suitable for those who find 53 inches a tad big high to mount, she cargo rack she has at the front implies she will be making practical use of her bike:

 

 

In other news, it's that time of year again...

 

 

That time of year when we take to one of Tokyo's biggest block parties... the one and only Ginza GL taking part over 11 different bars and clubs in Ginza:

 

 

Each venue featuring some of Japan finest DJs and artists, just look at this A-Z list:

 

 

Did you notice my name?

 

 

As always, I want to do a ride out there and ALL are welcome... we leave at 20:00 from Diner on Saturday (the 16th)...

 

 

I recommend that you pick up your tickets in advance from one of the following venues:

 

 

Hope to see you there?


It's been a while since we've made an update - always considering the best way to go forward while juggling my other responsibilities...you might have seen me here recently:

 

 

 

Thanks to Atmos for making this one happen!

 

 

You might also be able to catch me in here...under a different name but my writing skills have been once again put to good use!

 

 

Dawn marks the beginning of a new era...and I am so glad I was a part of it!

 

In the next post, I will go into more detail about all my recent runnings as we re-awaken the chronicles of W.A.C.C... and don't forget we will be on our ride moves again soon!

 

 

In the meantime, we are happy to announce the return of our of Beige 'Avenue'

 

 

Don’t forget our bikes make for killer customs... check this one using our Chrome 'Avenue Lo':

 

 

 

Encore Wheels are always a good look...

 

 

And just in case you forgot!

 

 

 

 

 

 


Our Japan Pride model once again featured on our Instagram; a bit like a unicorn we tend to limit the number of times we post this model - but we had to post this custom version of it:

 

 

Before we take more about the bike though, the T-shirt you see me above shot is a sure blast from the past ...

 

 

The Osiris days were legendary in their own right:

 

 

From which I have to give a big shout out to the young man on my right; B.Y.M aka Nature Fresh, and for some reason, one of his unreleased songs dropped on youtube:

 

 

Could there be more to come from Osiris? 

 

Back to the bike?

 

 

This custom proved really popular on our Instagram:

 

 

Maybe it's the C.B.3 wheels?

 

 

Or the Sugino 75 x Factory Five drive action?

 

This summer I think we will keep to the Firework Ride status as last night's ride was a lot of fun... tune into the next update to find out what happened!

 

 

We will also announce the next ride...

 

 

 

 

 


The recent weather has got me thinking about just how important it is to both keep your bike well protected or sheltered but also performing regular maintenance.

 

The small things like keeping your drive parts greased up and tires full of air can make a huge difference to your the way your bike feels and more importantly makes your bike safer to ride.

 

 

It's always nice when riders of our bikes understand the importance of this and drop into one of our many dealers to keep their cartel bikes in good shape...

 

 

Our friend here wanted a change in ride position so and feel to the handling so we suggested starting at the Handlebars and Grips:

 

 

The long silver riser handlebars are from Nitto and can be cut down to the suitable length of your needs; for example, if you plan to be ducking in between traffic you might want to keep their length that bit shorter.

 

The black leather grips came from Brooks and they are most certainly some of the finest handlebar grips money can buy:

 

 

Our discerning friend's bike suffered a bit from recent rain that plus she had also decided to improve the drive on her 'Avenue' with the first step being a new chain, followed by the switch from free to fixed gear (which of course, means pedal straps):

 

 

She opted for Izumi's Jet Black and gold 420g goodness:

 

All of our dealers carry those special parts you need to make your bike that extra bit special just like our headshop Diner:

 

 

There have been some killer tunes coming out of Japan this year and nowhere more than out of the dance music scene; what makes this even more for special for me is that these said artists are also active DJs here in Tokyo, who I have had the pleasure to play alongside... like YO.AN:

 

 

If you didn't know Yo.An and I just finished a small tour in China...

 

 

We had a great time and built a lot of new bridges...

 

 

More importantly, I am mentioning him because of this one tune he dropped recently, seriously it has totally blown me away, and it's hard to explain exactly why other than the fact it's so damn catchy, simple and groovy, and captures the spirit of what we represent having that street/hip-hop backbone but playing out dance music:

 

 

His label Hole and Holland is moving from strength to strength this year with him and his colleague Mamazu also having played in my hometown London where they also got on NTS...

 

 

Check it out here:

 

 

 

 


 

The weather has made it really hard for us to get out on our bikes on a consistent basis, it's been raining almost non-stop but if that was not enough we have not seen a proper day of sunshine since ??? So I thought it's really time to turn the heat up with the next ride...by us making a visit to the:

 

The Sumida River Fireworks Festival

 

This being the 42nd festival and competition, where we can see about 20,000 displays of Japan's best Pyro technicians spread over two sites but are quite visible from the general area...

 

 

My inside sources have let me know the best point of entry for us to avoid all those crowds furthermore we will be leaving at 17:00 and it will take us about 30mins to get there leaving us with plenty of time to seek out the best location...of which I may have some inside sources - I have had some good ones over the past years like where this picture was taken:

 

 

 

Currently, my friend is taking part in a bike race located on a mountain that involves both ascents and descents... as you can see most people are using geared bikes:

 

 

But my friend shows the flexibility of how single speed bikes can be customized and joins...

 

 

 

His bike reminds me that all Cartel bikes can be fitted with wider tires like this custom 'Avenue Lo' we posted some weeks ago on our ever-growing Instagram:

 

 

We fitted this particular one with 28c tires:

 

 

Wider tires will give your bike a more robust and rugged feel with the wider surface area, this should equate to more confident riding but since we are based in the city we have stuck with using slick type tires.

 

 

We added drop handlebars for a change here with some soft cushioned bar tape...

 

 

 

With the saddle following on the cushioned theme by using the San Selle Italia Turbo classic saddle.

 

For all your custom needs or inquiries be sure to contact our friends at Diner

 

 

 

 

 

Here are the full details for the ride in text form...

 

DATE: 07/27/2019

DEPARTURE TIME: 17:00 (Arrive at least15 minutes early)

MEETING PLACE: The Wall (behind); 106-0013, Tokyo, Minato-ku, Nishi-Azabu 4-2-10, 102

ROUTE:  Approx 12km (Return Journey)

 

 

This is the wall...

  • START, The Wall; Nishi Azabu

  • Roppongi 1-chome

  • Toranomon

  • Shimbashi

  • Ginza

  • Yurakucho

  • Nihombashi

  • Higashi-Nihombashi

  • Finish, Sumida Fireworks 

RULES - Which are only here as a rough guideline but you know I am legally obliged to say this:

All riders must have fully working front and rear brakes.

NIGHT RIDE means you have to be using working lights.

 

Obey all traffic regulations.

Riders; ride and carry their own responsibilities for any injuries/damage which occurs before, during and after the ride.

 

All track style fixed and single speed bikes are welcome and I guess any 27" framed BMX that can keep up, but hopefully, you have 700c size wheels!!! 

 

Remember you can also get one of these now ultra long sleeve Tees... with a special discount

¥1000 OFF W.A.C.C original Long sleeve!!!

 

 

If you want to take part or simply are interested then feel free to contact me:

 

mrtikini@gmail.com

Yes, people, It's been a while and currently, the weather here in Tokyo is a bit heavy with all lower pressure that comes with this rainy season.

 

That hasn't stopped you from enjoying our light blue 'Avenue'; one of the two latest colors we recently dropped along with 'flamingo', but the post we will stick with blue since it has been proving to be popular. 

 

 

It has a radiant glow which these photos almost looking like CGI - but these photos are real (I took them myself).

 

 

Even the most simple of customs makes for even more appealing visuals; like adding Encore's 'Arctic white' wheel to the front (or back):

 

 

Adding the carbon composite wheel to the front of the bike gives you the effect of cutting through the wind with the wheel also pulling you along as its build speed and momentum.

 

 

Our friends at Diner put this particular custom together for one discerning customer...

 

 

And you can observe he swapped out the drop handlebars for Diner's original bull horn bars...

 

In other news, we just got back these shots from that ride we had to taste that Pho thanks to Adam...

 

 

I guess it was still a bit chilly...but big the all the crew for making it a special night...

 

 

And on a random...big up man like Ocean for getting his track-stand skills UP!

 

 


It's been a while but rest assured we have been keeping it busy, 

 

We'll start this post off by thanking Loop Magazine ...

 

 

For featuring our latest colorways of both our 'Avenue Lo' and 'Avenue' bikes...

 

 

The latest, of course, being the Flamingo and Light Blue 'Avenue' bikes:

 

 

Thanks to one and all who joined our last ride it was a success...

 

 

With us riding out to Asakusa...

 

 

Well more precisely to Kuramae to visit Mclean Old Burger Stand!

 

 

One of the best burger joints in Tokyo by a long shot...all thanks to this man who ate a burger a day until he found his groove:

 

 

We all went in on our food and believe the hype; those burgers have been researched and perfected! 

Then decided to head back toward the west side of things...but got distracted before we could even get clear of the greater Asakusa-bashi area

 

 

And when I say distracted I mean really distracted!!!

 

 

We will be back again with another update before you can say ...

 

Also, don't forget you can still catch me at Funktion every Thursday!