Kobe | Osaka | Kansai : Fact me up please

As the title says - I'm hoping the mass of knowledge on here can help me out with all things bicycle/Keirin related in the Kansai region.

I'll be there in July and I'll be spending most of my time in Kobe so any hints and tips on what to see and do and, of course, where to buy would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

pm pete or tomity

pm pete or tomity

I'm already on it!

I just thought I'd ask here too in case anyone else has some gems of wisdom.

Have you been to Japan before?

Was in Osaka earlier in the year, lots of fixed bikes around ame maru ( may have got spelling wrong) and rene a guy from Australia runs a shop out there called gira gira, a bit difficult to locate but upstairs opposite the north face store in ame maru, he also runs njs tracksupermarket so you should be able to contact him through there, he's real cool and got some nice frames reasonably priced. Osaka's pretty flat but make sure you stay in the center of town, and not in shin Osaka like I did. Cyclings pretty easy out there, wide roads, and lots of neon to illuminate the way. There was a chain shop which I found which had some nice otp's and frames and aerospokes and fixed frames and hubs but I'll have to have a look on google maps for you.
Most of the bikes I saw whilst out there were set up as trick bikes, with just a few with drops.
There are some pics on the blog and my impressions as well mrverte.wordpress.com
I second pming pete and tomity, especially pete as he's in Kobe and should be able to point in the right direction, head out on rides.
Enjoy, japan is an amazing experience, especially with a bike...

Cycled a lot on the road in and near Sakai.
Especially the area south from Sakai is very nice and hilly. Streets are okay there.
City can be quite busy, but in the morning it's okay. In the evening (rush hour) and weekend it can be very, very busy.
The hills are very nice and quite (e.g. Mt. Kongo).
I used to pass by a track and cycling centre but never went in.
Same for bike shops.
Remember all those drinks vending machines. I needed it a lot.

2 days bike trip Sakai - Shirahama (?) v.v.

Have you been to Japan before?

I have - mostly Kobe and Nagasaki and a little bit in Yokohama/Tokyo as well as some other out of the way places. I know my way round Kobe okay and I can navigate Osaka reasonably well but I've never been with a bike before. (I'll be borrowing a bike when I get there - it'll be some kind of hybrid but should be okay for getting around on.

Thanks for the other advice so far gentlemen - I already have plans to visit Track Supermarket.

Then I won't have to tell you that you should never ever go into an onsen without checking the Kanji characters that indicate the genders ... even though the day before the door that you want to go through right now was actually the male bath the night before ... It would result into you making the worst twat out of yourself ...

Hi. I am similarly looking for info, as I am going to the region in July as well. Would appreciate any info you may have. I'm new to this forum and joined up when I saw this thread...I'm actually from Canada, so still in the Commonwealth! ;-)