Some things take awhile, Some things are supposed to. We like Kinfolk Bicycles because we saw Kusakas hands. Kusaka has spent his life building bicycles by hand for Keirin racers. In the boom of fixed gears craziness,it is easy to dismiss these things as just another fad, it is easy to throw their names around, talk about which is better, a Kalavinka, or a Nagasawa, A RAP by Nemoto or a Kusaka built Vivalo. It is also easy to forget that these men, not only never asked for any of this hype, they for the most part want little to do with it. They are all for the most part our seniors by many generations, and seem to be the last of a dying breed of men that are fully dedicated to their craft.
When we first went to Akashi to meet Kusaka, we took one look at the shop, and one look at his hands and knew he was our man. His shop is huge, worked in, a shop built for building bicycles, there is nothing out of place and nothing that isn’t necessary. No showroom, or secretaries. His hands are hard, leathery, used, and sturdy.
Even if you never thought about buying a bike before, know that for a while , it is possible for you to own something that a man has spent his whole life working with, not for commercial success, but for functional superiority, something that is not simply for hanging on a wall, but a useful, healthy, enjoyable way to get from A all the way to B and back again.
Beautiful in its simplicity, a simplicity that has taken a lifetime to perfect.