Every so often I come across a bike that makes me say, “Ah, that’s nice.” Recently I had the privilege of seeing a bike that completely struck me with cycle envy.
For the second weekend in a row, I passed a young lady on a shiny, all steel, fully lugged, yellow stallion. Discreetly emblazoned on the down tube was the name Ebisu. The first time I saw the bike I enthusiastically yelled to her, “Nice bike” as I rode past. This past weekend a simple nod and thumbs up did the trick. Each time, riders with bikes costing thousands of dollars and color schemse that can cause seizures would scoff. Quietly this woman - and I - knew that she had something more special than they could imagine.
Ebisu bikes are the loving creations of Hiroshi Iimura. Originally an industrial designer who helped develop the first general Honda Civic, Mr. Iimura soon transfered that talent to bicycle frame building.
The slap in the face to the “lycra jockies” is that while their bikes have blades, wings, carbon fiber and colors taken from episodes of Rainbow Brite, each of Mr. Iimura’s bikes are handbuilt. His frames represent timeless, classic builds using traditional methods for assembling frames (instead of welding, he uses lugs and brazes the tubes together). This labor of love means that each Ebisu bike has the glorious tag “hand made”, rather than grossly manufactured. And, if you are so inclined, Mr. Iimura will build you a fully custom, uber exclusive frame that is suited to only you.
The young woman and I are not the only ones that “get it” either. The NYTimes ran a short article detailing Mr. Iimura’s shop and his philosophy on bike building.
If you are in the California area or plan to visit, make sure one of your stops is to Berkley to check out Jitensha Studio.
