new cycle shop

The Kitazawa family, seen in a number of the (photos on Kenny's site) recommended a new bike shop to us. The place specializes in bikes with electric motor assist, bikes for parents who need a baby seat, and—I suspect—bikes that would be a great hit with the burgeoning population of senior citizens in this country. The latter are based on 20" tires with no top bar on the frame and a small electric motor. They are perfect utility bikes in the city: with a short wheel base, wide tires and fat seats they are at once comfortable and maneouverable.

Naturally, I don't have the Japanese ability to talk to them about how they're marketing their bikes but of course it's all beside the point as I was there to talk about a bike for us. And they were very happy to accommodate us in a fashion I quite liked.

Rather than try to sell us one of their bikes, they told us to bring in our existing bikes and they'd evaluate them for modification. Apparently modern child seats are entirely modular: a solid base clamps onto the seat tube—the base has a quick-release button and two holes on top; the next piece is a set of bars that support the seat, these fit into the base; lastly is the one-piece plastic shell for the seat, and the many bits (straps, pads, etc) that confine the child like a miniature Hannibal Lecter.

I'm going back on Monday (weather permitting) to see what they say. They've already told me that the street-bike configuration I've got now isn't going to entirely work, and that I'll need to get wider tyres for improved strength, improved stability, and grossly decreased nimbleness. Wider tyres will mean new wheels. Other than that, the entire seat assembly is less than $200, well under the price of a new bike of course.

Hmmm, if I get new wheels perhaps I can upgrade to disc brakes and an hub-internal gear assembly. I know they won't want me to deploy disc brakes, but I figure the extra braking security can't hurt.