Our language school is in what I would call the suburbs of Osaka. There's a fancy premium outlet mall here as well as tons of new apartments and housing. We're one stop short of the airport, which is across the bay on a man-made island. The train system here is fantastic and from the looks of it, hundreds of people ride their bikes to the station as the first and last part of their commute.
We don't have a need for bike security on Zamami so I was impressed this week when I saw this clever bike lock. You insert the key and turn it, which releases that spring-loaded bar that is through the spokes. The key can only be removed when you push the black knob down to insert the metal bar through the spokes and lock the bike again. The lock could easily be removed from the frame, but you'd still be stuck with the lock secured around the rim. Not the hardest lock to overcome, but these bikes - seen en masse in Japan - are not worth the effort to overcome the lock.
4 comments:
Ha ha ha. I was riding around Portland with a friend yesterday. He's a real bike hound. I was telling him about just these very things.
It's amazing how different the bike culture is in Japan. Where could you see scenes like these in America? Nowhere that I know of. And you'll see huge parking lots filled up like that near every major suburban station.
I miss Japan! I miss Osaka! Please go downtown to Namba and have some takoyaki for me while walking down the Dotonbori!
-Jess
Saxtor,
The bike culture in the metro-areas was one of the most impressive things I took away from my visit to Japan. I constantly marveled at the simplicity and effectiveness of those very locks. In our absurdly misguided foot adventures in Kyoto, I stumbled across a number of bike-centric parking garages. Some you would ride onto the second or third floor. Others would lift your bike to above-head-level and tuck it closely above-and-between the two below it. It was brilliant. I also liked the motorcycle-style kickstands that accompany many of the bikes.
(did I just address my own comment to myself on someone else's blog? It appears so...)
Jess, I did stay in Namba this past weekend and insisted on getting to Dotonbori, but failed at takoyaki - sorry!
Saxtor, nice work using my blog to write yourself a message. I did pass through Kyoto a little on Saturday and see those 'bike garages' you talked of. So much more efficient than car garages. I even had to go in and investigate how the head-level bike racks worked. They're brilliant! One of many things this country has going for it.
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