Japan Tour 2023

Having a nice holiday and not worrying is the most important thing. Bar none. What you believe it more important that some technical thing too, otherwise you will worry the whole way.

So the 6603 has a 74bcd inner and 130 outer so could do 26/ 38 I think. An option if you want.

You also actually said to me on here how 650 helps with ratios, but now I have my CAAD I could spare my 700 wheelset if you needed.

I just really want you to take a Faran on such a cool trip

I was tossing and turning thinking about this, you nearly got me.

To convert the Faran to "touring mode" I would need: new cranks, 700c wheelset, guards

To convert the CDF to "touring mode" I would need: new cranks (I already own the steel fork so it's not more outlay)

I could just swap the 700c CDF wheelset onto the Faran, I have another spare 700c wheelset "in the shed" but neither have a dyno hub, so what I would end up doing would be making two 700x35 disc brake non dynamo bikes.

Hopefully if I keep the focus on making the CDF more of a touring bike, then I can still have the Faran for summer off road stuff that it was built for, though this current summer isn't being very conducive to that end.

(one day I would like to get a son 6 bolt 12x100 + qr adaptor which I could build into my CDF wheelset to make it the Faran's 700c wheelset [they already share matching rear hubs], but I'm waiting for one to pop up second hand for a "bargain" price)

It often feels that buying the Faran just allowed me to keep the CDF in guards + slicks year round for chill road riding but well, that's not so terrible is it.

Having a think about what clothes I'll need. I've got a reasonable outdoors wardrobe but mostly tuned towards being out for 1-4 days, so basically one of everything except underwear + socks.

I guess it's a pretty straight trade off between how much time you want to spend washing and how much time you want to spend riding. I do feel like if you have 2 merino wool items you can basically swap between them for a week without having to do any washing, so I might try and double up some of my base layers. Not sure if I should bring an extra pair of shorts or if one pair + one pair of trousers will be sufficient.

Fortunately I am not a bib shorts wearer so there's considerable weight savings to be made there and I am therefore considering taking as many as four (4) pairs of underwear.

Also I need to figure out how to get files from my phone onto my etrex. I've got an OTG adaptor but for whatever reason I can only transfer one way.

Also need to remember to buy the talkytoaster Japan maps for the etrex

Subbed, planning to do a similar trip in a year time with my wife, so I am very looking forward yours :))

plan route on computer
put gpx file on etrex, manually
download map tiles from OSM, never pay for them

I normally just load stuff from my computer, but I'm hoping I can be a little flexible on the ground and reroute a day here and there if I hear about something interesting. It would be handy to be able to reroute on phone and dump the files over without trying to borrow someone's computer.

It turned out I just needed to get a different file manager (mix file explorer) and now it works, so that's one less issue.

I always use the talkytoaster maps. They mark gates and have contour lines. Only cost a tenner or so, well worth it in my opinion but I'll check out what the raw osm dl is like

Couple of thoughts,

Good choice of time of year to cycle there, generally warm in the day and not humid - there are much tougher times to be touring there!

Food's pretty cheap in Japan when eating out at casual restaurants like izakaya, ramen etc so unless you're really out in the wild or keeping a tight budget then don't forget to look around and eat out.

Otherwise, what type of food would you be cooking on a camping stove generally? Konbini are everywhere and have a pretty good selection of ready and almost-ready to eat meals but you might have to find larger supermarkets if you're looking for a selection of raw ingredients to cook with and these places can be a bit harder to navigate.

Beer - if you like beer then not all beer is equal in Japan - you've got proper beer - bīru (I'm a fan of Yebisu personally), and then 'beer-taste' alchohol - happoshu, and shin janru.

You can tell by the price which ones are 'real' and which are less-real. There's a number of alchohol-free beers around now too you can often find a few in the shops (I think Kirin Free is pretty decent).

I guess you're gonna get all your equipment before heading off (that would make sense!), but Montbell in Japan is a great shop should you need anything extra. And Soto make great stoves (much cheaper in Japan).

If it's flat in Japan then generally it's also super built-up, intersections, traffic lights, traffic. I'm not a huge fan but I can also see it would be fun at first to see it all.. but personally I'd plan the route to stay near waterways, canals, rivers there. There's generally some embankment with cycle paths or roads with fewer/no traffic lights that follow these.

The countryside and hills are fantastic, really beautiful, just be careful again with the route as the hills can be super steep if you venture off the main routes. Still, if you do then there's lots of lovely stuff in the hills, temples, shrines and all that. If you do start to head deeper into mountains or backroads just make sure you can navigate out again in case of road closures - earthquakes, rock slides and collapsed roads are all things I've had to route out of (or walk through).

If you find yourself in enough trouble that you need to hop on a train to get somewhere then be aware you need to pack your bike away in a bag (essentially covering up the wheels/cranks/dirty bits. This could be something like the Montbell Rinko Bag which packs down tight, or at worst just lots of bin bags.

Cash - keep cash on you. You won't be able to get out from every cash machine either, but at the airport and certain banks and larger post-offices. Cash is used everywhere and you'll need it on the road too for the drink machines.

I'd get a SIM card at the airport. Much easier to deal with than a separate hub (did that one time and it's just a pain to keep one other thing on you and charged up). You can also get them on Amazon.co.jp which could be cheaper but you'd need to get it delivered somewhere.

Very useful advice thank you. I think I need to do a bit of route planning tbh, to avoid these very busy roads. Should be a fun couple of evenings... I am also planning to do a bunch of shopping in jp, might definitely get the montbell rinko bag + soto stove...

Reassuringly weighty reassuringly cheap when purchased 2nd hand. This completes the set for me (front, rear + saddle bag if necessary) and hopefully means no more luggage to purchase.

Things still to purchase:

• Cooking set up
  
• Maybe a few clothes
  

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What I need to get started on is swapping some parts on the bike. New pedals, new forks, attach the racks, work out any teething problems...Hoping the new fork position doesn't result in me needing to re do the cabling/hydro lines.

Oh and still the low gearing bullshit shenanigan. Surely I will soon just buy the spa chainset...

Also need to attach some depressed patches onto these carradice bags. Good activity to do atm seeing as it's raining and it's never going to stop.

Potential Norfolk overnighter this weekend which I'm trying to use as an opportunity to dial in a few things. Firstly swapping out the pedals to these big lambda ones. Initial impression is that they have way less grip than the MKS Sylvan Touring pedals I used to have on. Also I threaded the crank arm so it's just as well I'm planning on replacing it.

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visa condition for Japan to have MKS pedals no?

Ever watched Cycle Around Japan on NHK for inspiration?

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/tv/cycle/

Next I spent some time with two racks I have "in the shed"; a Tubus Vega and Tortec Ultralight. They both fit a lot higher than I like but the Tubus was slightly lower. The problem was that somehow one of das tubus roundstays had seized in the mounting thingie. This was a classic situation that could be easily resolved using a Proper Bench Mounted Vice which all men on the internet have access to, but I don't have one of those at home so I attached my tiny hobby vice to my patio table and got to work with the Universal Problem Solver.

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The UPS worked as expected. There was some gross looking corrosion inside the stay thing so I had a bit of a go at it with my needle file and greased it up a bit.

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The next problem was that the Tubus interfered with the seat stays when I fit it horizontally so I thought I would try the tortec, but it sits untenably high. It's disgusting. Genesis should be arrested for having their eyelets so high.

At this point I became disheartened and sat in my garden looking at the height of the tortec whilst the light faded.

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Eventually I refitted the Tubus. I'll try some spacers even though it's already spaced out a bit by my mudguard stays.

I could try to get a tubus grand tour or Cosmo but the extra 200g for the lowered bars doesn't seem worth it, especially considering I'm not planning on using the top platform for anything. I could get the titanium tubus with the lower rails but I might lose my job in a months time so I'm not looking to get a second mortgage.

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Couple of things I would second from previous recommendations, take a shuttle to Yokohama and ride down either to Miura or cut across to Kamakura (a savage climb but only around 10 minutes- PM me if you want the route)... also I would pick up a SIM from the airport. If I was doing the trip I would live on conbini food. I lived up in the Japan Alps for 8 years, so I know the high stuff, but also did 9 months in Yokohama from Sept 2015, so I also know the urban cycling feel. Going through towns you will stop every 50 meters for a stop light, but in the country riding is lush. Do check out Cycling through Japan on NHK World, that could give you some great tips for local routes. Good luck! October weather is great...

I "need" to get the eazy rinko ones I think. Otherwise I won't be able to rinko the bike. It'll literally be impossible to remove the pedals without the mks Eazy system.

I've been watching Neon Genesis Evangelion instead. I guess this might be a slightly closer to my actual experience.

you should take the VO! You'd be HUGE in Japan.

Conbini Food

You think I could get away with this as a vegan / vegetarian? It is something I considered and obviously doing so would save a lot of time + weight... But I am a Worrier so I like the idea of having some self sufficiency...

It's a good idea, but the Japanese seem to love British tat so I'm sure they'll consider my genesis with carradices "meccha kakkoii"

I'm still yet to take the minivelo on a plane. But the time is coming surely.