Peter is correct in saying that in Japan there is nowhere near the expression of classic lightweight enthusiasm through a social forum, the way there is in the US (Waiting for them to clone Dale B so we can have an eastern cirque as well). There are also social differences that contribute to this. I know a few homeboys who get together with their friends for group rides, and don't forget that the high fees Japanese collectors are willing to pay is also a reflection of the substantially greater rarity with which the items can be found by other means within their own country. If Carsbad Masis had been made in Ireland and few exported to the US, how much more would US bidders be willing to pay? Yes, there are occasionally magazines on lightweights. I believe that Ken Denny has had experience in Japan in conference with collectors. There was something organized a few years back that he told me about. An annual relatively small forum is held in my area, that a few CR members have attended as well.
Dennis Young Hotaka, Japan
> Here's an open-ended question with no agenda or presumed answer:
>
> We all know many of the keenest classic lightweight enthusiasts are from
> Japan=2E Or at least we think so because of their, shall we say, enthusias=
> tic
> eBay bidding tendencies=2E If there's a Simplex skewer with the little
> plastic wing-nut intact that hasn't gone to Japan via eBay, I'll put it up=
>
> my left nostral=2E=20
>
> But having said that, where is the evidence of this enthusiasm beyond the
> acquisition of the bikes and the bits? Are there Japanese websites devoted=
>
> to all this primo stuff in the hands of Japanese collectors? Do the
> Japanese organise veteran cycle rides? Or does all this stuff just get hun=
> g
> on walls and squirreled away? Are there Japanese books or magazines on
> classic lightweights?
>
> I know of one of two PX-10 websites from Japan, one on Campagnolo
> components but that's about it=2E Is there is Japanese version of the CR L=
> ist?
>
> My own and rewarding experience with Japanese enthusiasts is with ocean
> liners where they are active historians, writers and publishers=2E I just
> wonder if I am missing something here with bicycles=2E I conjure up this
> image of 200 PX-10s all with Simplex skewers with the plastic wingnuts
> being ridden in some epic mass ride=2E=2E=2E if it's happened, I've missed=
> it=2E
>
> Peter Kohler
> Washington DC USA