It's been a busy week for us here at Cartel Bikes...

 

On Monday we ended the day by doing both a video

and photo shoot for a new line-up or products we have 

coming up....

 

 

As you can see from above we used our in house skater

from the Hellrazor crew, who has been shooting and editing

videos for his team for a while now, and knew he expertise

would come in handy, especially in capturing movement...

 

"What is your vehicle" - Hellrazor 2016 Spring / Summer

from Hellrazor on Vimeo.

 

After completing the video shoot, we took a short break 

while waiting for the photographer to arrive... actually he

also is no stranger to Cartel Bikes and has taken shots like

this...

 

He goes by the name DISK but you'll know him as 

Daisuke Urano.

 

As always he did a wonderful job...if you look carefully 

you will also notice that the model is not me and is not 

a man either. 

 

 

Under Tsumi's direction and Daisuke's photography I am 

very sure you will also be satisfied we the results. 

 

 

Since Monday night I have been coping with a slight cold

which I think due to the humid weather and my lifestyle.

 

The feeling has me feeling like my bike when it's locked 

up...restricted to say the least:

 

 

You may have been seeing my bike and adventures a lot 

more on the Cartelgram:

 

 

The reason being is that I have been throwing the word 

adventure about quite a lot recently, and want to show you

all as unfiltered as possible just what that means for *me*.

 

Actually enduring sickness as much as possible I have been

getting around...

 

 

On my adventures I have been meeting a variety of people

including Chusei, who recently picked up one our bikes:

 

 

Great to see him putting his bike to use and creating

adventures of his own...what adventures would you create? 

 

Actually this week I have been very blessed to meet with

some of my oldest and best friends... who also appear

at the right time like spirit guides: 

 

 

Always there to build you up and remind of you of the 

important things in your life...

 

 

Sort of like this...

 

 

But much more real!

 

Moving onto tonight... you may remember I posted this 

video up:

 

Hadies Night from Hellrazor on Vimeo.

 

Presented by...

 

 

 

 

And 

 

 

We came together as we wanted to create a party for the 

sake of having a a god damn good time LITERALLY,

and actually inspired by this mix:

 

 

UgQwamoto - will also be on the set tonight alongside 

some other heavy weight DJ's and rappers... a rare

meeting that happens once every lifetime and we call it:

 

'HADIES NIGHT' 

 

 

Hadies night 
7/28 23:00〜5:00
At Organ Bar

 

HOST: BLACKTALIBAN

 

Cast: ANDRE MCLEOD (UPPER GHETTO RECORDINGS)
LIL K
NATUREFRESH
YO.AN
TAIKI (BIV)
TIKINI
TAKU YAMAMOTO
UgQwamoto

 

Hellrazor and Osiris DCLXVI present:
Not for The Tame or Lame

We'll make a hellish god damned party, so hadies and

gentlemen come and join us TONIGHT!

 

 

 

Yes our Mat white bikes are back in stock and in this blog

update, I aim to wet your appetite....

 

Both 'Avenue Lo':

 

 

And 'Avenue':

 

 

 

Both models come in Mat white but as of now it the seems

that most people have been customising the 'Avenue'...

 

Starting with this one...

 

 

A lovely mix of White, Black and Brown with the most 

noteable feature being it's white riser handle bars:

 

 

The handles bars and frame contrast nicely againist the 

Tanned Leather grips and saddle by Brooks:

 

 

B17 Saddle

 

 

Brushed leather grips

 

 

Another custom white cartel I like that also used the above 

grips is the following...

 

 

The color scheme is much like the bike above but with a 

few subtle differences..

 

 

Yes the black riser bars are the first...

Also this Brown Salle San Marco Concor Supercorsa saddle:

 

 

The beige strip sandwiched between the black of Michelin's

Dynamic Classic Tire set:

 

 

 

 

That actually sit on top of Diner's original Aluminium wheel

set

 

 

 

Lovely pieces of work however you will find that our 

'Avenue Lo' bikes are the most easy to customize, but as

of yet no one has created a custom white one....

 

Are you up for the challenge?

 

Well the summer adventures have definitely begun, some

have been with planning and others without, a bit like last

night:

 

 

What was supposed to be a dinner between myself and

Diner's mechanic but then turned into a small rescue 

mission for this guy's bike...

 

 

His left crank arm had come to loose and this rider who

is actually a messenger visiting from Canada did not 

have his tools with him.

 

So after Dinner we set off to repair it, with time working

againist us, actually he was only pedalling with his right 

foot, so stop the arm from the falling off. 

 

 

Luckily we managed to tighten the arm and our rider was

back on the road.

 

Using the rider partners handle bar iphone mount we were 

able to capture some parts of our ride...we would probably

have been able to get more on the go but someone was 

too busy with the GO....

 

 

More Adventures coming to you this Thursday!

And...it's Friday!

 

How was your week? 

 

Minus the rain I've been on my bike a lot more since 

performing the maintenance I performed last Monday

and blogged about yesterday...

 

In that blog I also mentioned that I spoke with my

good ole riding partner...

 

Who is back on the road again after being LOCKED

down for a minute.... 

 

 

Welcome back to the roads.... 

 

 

We had a brief meeting that day but discussed some 

ideas about how we're going to be hitting the roads 

this summer and more...watch this space and also 

our instagram as we start to shake things up a bit.

 

In the first place though I am not a messenger I do spend

a great deal of time on the road, some streets I frequent 

a lot more than others usually by choice or by obligation.

 

Either way, you soon get to know which roads are more 

suited to riding... like this one I mentioned before...

 

 

Which is Gaien-nishidori; starting where route 246 Aoyama

Dori meets and continuing straight down through Nishi Azabu

and Hiro until you get to Tengenjibashi. 

 

The below video (thank you to whoever you are) shows the 

route if you start it from 16:55:

 

 

Alas most of you reading this have the joy of being 

weekend warriors, and if that is the case I thank you, as

you all keep me working doing what I love best which is 

playing music out.

 

This weekend the selections start with this special event 

at Marunouchi House:

 

 

I was asked to make a comment about how I would play

at this event and my answer was..."feel my groove"...

 

 

It's all in the groove as I demonstrated in this mix: 

 

 

I will also be playing along side Mortsafe who is part of

the Dublab radio team:

 

 

I like the fact that he is always working quietly behind the 

scenes but has an original style...ninja type ish:

 

 

After that I will be playing for this event:

 

 

What I look forward is the ride between firstly toward 

Marunouchi and then after that back to Ebisu... 

 

 

 

A total of average of about 12Km find out how I get on via 

the Monday blog post!

 

Oh and in case you are about tomorrow you can catch me 

playing here...

 

 

I will get to play along the likes of FITZ AMBRO$E

 

 

And Diskotopia's BD1982

 

 

Dope vibes guaranteed all night!

 

Also be on the look out for...

 

Hadies Night from Hellrazor on Vimeo.

 

So I guess we can call it Summer now? 

 

Have you ever ridden a bike during July and August in Tokyo?

If you have you'll know it's not the best of seasons for riding 

(apart from at night)...so I got to thinking about the types of 

preparation we might need before hitting the streets...

 

I asked my riding partner what he felt he needed when 

hitting the Tokyo streets in the heat.

 

 

He put together a rather unconventional list which is the

exact reason I asked him, the list goes:

 

Camel back - For serious riding...

 

 

Thank you google... but I think he means this:

 

 

Gatsby Paper - This one is Japan specific, but depending on how 
sensitive you skin is...
Fishing vest - To keep all those gadgets and stuff in place...
Sun screen - I guess this does not apply to me but a no
brainer really...
We both agreed that a towel is the ONE essential item
that everyone needs though...
Especially if you have a lot of sweat glands!
Other preparations are making sure you carry out
your bike's maintenance more regularly... as I did last
Monday.
I started with my tires; since one of the worst things I
can imagine is having a puncture in the blazing summer 
heat...then having to push or carry my bike to my
bike to my destination... 
NO way... keep that PSI up there and tires like rocks
I keep mine at around 11psi, so whenever I hit ride
over stones or debris they simple get pushed away.
Ensuring that most of the moving parts are in working
order by first removing my rear wheel:
The main purpose was to actually check the function 
of my cog AND to give it a clean...
And to also grease it...
I also removed the nuts that keep the wheel attached to
the frame, as I felt the nuts closer to the hub (black thing)
were too loose....
After tightening them I gave the wheel a good spin to 
check for any strange noises and make sure the wheels
spin smoothly...
They did!
Re-fitting my rear wheel to my bike I wanted to make
sure that I put it back in center...
Notice the space to the left and right side of the wheel...
I use that space to identify if my bike's wheel is in the 
center or not... at the same time as doing this I make 
sure the chain has the right amount of tension....
You could do all the above steps by yourself, but if this is 
all sounds foreign to you, then take your bike to your local
mechanic for a service and check up...you won't regret it.
I also gave my bike a good clean so that I could do this ...
You would too knowing that your bike is in top condition 
and ready for the road.
That said I'll leave you know with the latest NCA show by
our distant friend Brassfoot:

See you on Friday!

 

Welcome to the Monday update coming to you live from an

'Marine Day' here in Japan, meaning that most people are

enjoying an extra day off.

 

The weekend was long an action packed, with a large 

number of events that took place across the city.

 

Friday night it kicked off with 'The Gateway' event 

which saw large numbers of people stand in line 

just to get a pick at Lqqk's and LIES T-shirts:

 

 

it's good to see more and more independant type

brands and labels surfacing to the top...

 

 

 

I was accompanied by another Waterwork resident 

JR who was accompanied by a gas cylinder thing.

 

 

There were good vibes to be had that night Contact,

but alas myself and Koko Miyagi had to DJ else where,

Friday night was busy indeed..

 

Which made it harder to wake up on the Saturday, but 

I managed and hurled myself over to the Cult Club

office to catch this young man:

 

 

He goes by the name Young Lenox... 

 

 

 

I asked him what made him start drawing rappers and such

and he told me, when he was younger he always used to 

draw pictures of super heroes, and then one day he asked 

his Dad who his favorite super hero was to which he replied

"GUCCI" and so started his journey.. much like the guy 

standing next to him in the above picture Mark Drew.

 

That night I was also invited to play music for the new event

'Sound Pool Saturdays' at Ginza Music Bar:

 

 

A great time was had by all and it really such a pleasure 

playing on such a well made sound system!

 

From there it was back to Harajuku which I did on bike and 

it took me 15 minutes...

 

I once again had to play another set at that night this time 

for the 'NEWS STAND' 1st aniversary, and by the time  I 

arrived the party was in full motion:

 

 

 A big congratulations to all the Newsstand family...

wishing you many more years of success!

 

 

Finally I want to give a special thanks to all the people who

have been supporting Cartel Bikes by either grabbing snaps 

of their own bike or by taking time out to grab a snap 

each time they notice one of our posters here and there.

 

This shout out goes to K-Eye:

 

 

Keep your pictures coming and feel free to tag us too if 

you are using Instagram