Kool Guys: January 2008

Here is a cool article on the Tokyo Fixed scene from Cog Magazine
www.cogmag.com

Tokyo Pisto Explosion
by Eli Chessen
photos by Andrew DeCoste

Three years ago, it was rare to see another cyclist riding a fixed-gear bike in the streets of Tokyo. In fact, there weren’t many cyclists in the streets at all. In Japan, most people ride simple, cheap, all purpose bikes called “mama-chari” (mama’s bicycles), which are essentially designed for housewives to do errands with. But, almost everyone in Japan has one. There are hundreds of thousands of them, they only cost around a hundred bucks, and are only ridden on sidewalks. Generally, the only bikes you see in the streets in Tokyo are messengers and serious commuters. But, recently Tokyo has experienced a “pisto boom”, which has swept the city swiftly and controversially.

In Japan, track bikes are called ピスト (pisto, pronounced like “peace-toe”). Not so long ago, a few Tokyo messengers and hard-core bike enthusiasts took up riding pisto bikes, in part, because they could easily buy a used frame from a professional Keirin racer for under a hundred bucks. Other cyclists would stare, ask questions, and generally think the pisto riders where crazy. Now, used Japanese Keirin frames have become ridiculously expensive, while giant chain stores like Tokyu Hands have a pisto section where they sell NJS parts and custom Panasonic track frames. In the streets of Tokyo’s hipper neighborhoods, pisto bikes are more common than road bikes or mountain bikes. Just about every fashion or cycling magazine has included at least one article about pisto bikes and pisto fashion. Japanese messenger bag companies, new frame builders, small bike attire companies, and pisto bike shops have popped up left and right.

Ever since The Bicycle Film Festival came to Tokyo in 2006 and the MASH SF rough cut was premiered, Tokyoites have been going nuts for fixed-gear. Suddenly, skateboards were dropped and pisto bikes were built. In less than a year, Tokyo went from having a few handfuls of pisto bikes on the streets to having maybe thousands. And controversy ensued.

What happens when hundreds of inexperienced young men (and a few women) decide to zip around on the streets of one of the world’s busiest cities on bikes with no brakes? People get hurt. A few young men have been very seriously injured in traffic accidents involving brakeless pisto bikes in Tokyo in the last year.
A few giant billboards went up in various places around Tokyo which depicted small groups of smiling, fashionably clad, young Japanese men holding, riding, and doing tricks on pisto bikes with the words “No Brakes, No Problem” (literal translation) across the center. Members of the infamous 2-channel forums quickly barraged the Tokyo police and Nike with phone calls and letters of complaint and, within a few days, the billboards were taken down. 2-ch is possibly the world’s largest web forum and is used by anonymous Japanese citizens to gripe about anything and everything. It has become so large that it seems to be a political power unto itself. 2-ch “haters” as they’ve been dubbed, have been attacking fixed-gear culture in Japan with unnecessary vengeance. After the billboards, most Tokyo messenger companies received anonymous threats, warning them that their messengers were terrorizing the streets, and soon, all messenger companies started requiring their messengers to use brakes. The “haters” used stolen photos from peoples’ flickr.com accounts as “proof” when attacking individual riders, messenger companies, and bike events (the Mixpression alleycat race in particular). It is now possible for anyone to receive a very hefty fine for riding a bike without brakes in Tokyo, and recent alleycat races usually have the added thrill of a group of polite bicycle police rolling up to ask questions.

Several old-school ex-messengers guys say they have stopped riding their fixed-gear bikes all together as a form of protest against the new trendiness of pisto bikes. They uphold the idea that in the hands of experienced, skilled riders brakeless pisto bikes are perfectly safe and efficient, but in the hands of inexperienced riders they are simply very dangerous machines which happen to look really cool. The idea of pisto bikes as fashion accessories disgusts many.

But, a lot of riders have a “the more the merrier” point of view, welcoming as many new riders as they can. Many started riding pisto bikes after reading blogs and magazines and seeing cool guys riding them around town. They often admit to starting to ride for fashion reasons, but soon found that pisto bikes are more than just fashionable. They’re outright liberating.

Tokyo has a kind of loose-knit bike scene. Alleycats, rides, events, and parties have become a regular occurrence; with new , cool, bike shops popping up all over. A few shops that usually have riders hanging out in front of them at night are Punch Cycle in Asakusa and W-BASE and Carnival in Harajuku.
Friday and Saturday nights in Harajuku and Shibuya are prime for fixed-gear sightings. You may see more fixed-gear bikes roll past you in 20 minutes than exist in your entire hometown. There are dozens of pisto crews, which endlessly ride around their local parks practicing tricks all night. And, kids in Tokyo have some seriously nice rides. Imagine your favorite ten bikes around your hometown. Now imagine hundreds of bikes of that quality and style. Kids pump a grip of cash into their whips.

Pisto riders in Tokyo come from all kinds of backgrounds, but a huge percentage of them used to be skaters. Hip Hop and skater style fashions are the norm, as opposed to America’s hipster esthetic. Baggy pants, fitted caps, and skate sneakers. Not tight pants, ripped t-shirts, and trucker hats. But, one fashion accessory is the same. Messenger bags are everywhere. It’s a welcome feeling to be instantly accepted as a fellow rider in Tokyo. No mad-dogging, no pretentiousness, just a friendly nod when you roll past. If you visit Tokyo, you’ll find yourself welcomed and maybe even somewhat idolized (they may think you’re part of MASH).