Written by Summer Hanson December 13th, 2024
The other day, Ciara stopped by to oil the chain on her fairly new-to-her bike, and I was excited to finally get to see her with it, since I'd been out with a broken foot when she picked it up. It's always a treat to see an old bike come back to life with a new rider!
The Takara's history
This vintage Takara touring bike, made in Japan, came to our shop about a year prior, from a local Seattle woman in her 90's who had bought it new in the 1970's to go on a bike tour with her boyfriend at the time, and then it sat untouched in her garage for many subsequent decades. We received it with the original paperwork, catalog and all, and it still had the original Evergreen Bicycle Exchange sticker on it. Here's how it looked after a clean and tune up:
I'd personally taken a liking to this bike, with its gold details, elegant steel Suntour components, delicate step-through mixte design, and smaller size (I unsurprisingly have a soft spot for bikes my size).
Unfortunately the original brown rubber brake hoods on the drop bars had dried and started to crack and peel after the first few test rides, and multiple customers had expressed their preference for a more relaxed, upright riding position, so on a sunny afternoon on the back deck of the shop, I busied myself by swapping in a chrome sweptback bar. I chose Zoom Cruiser bars, an affordable and comfy choice that I use on my own commuter. Justin walked by while I was finishing up, and said that's just what the bike needed, and Ed complained that I should've just left it how it was. To each their own!
Here's what it first looked like with htose new bars:
A new home, and a customized build
Despite frequent interest, including from one customer who returned sweaty after an hour and a half of test riding it and losing track of time, the Takara was still in search of its forever home, until Ciara came along in the late summer of this year. She appreciated the history of the bike, and chose a customized build with period-appropriate components to make it more her own, like the Suntour thumb shifters (which I wrapped with brown twine to match the brown coffee-cup shaped bell, and coated with shellac), new tires, and a complete commuter setup, including a basket, bell, fenders, and lights. As an aesthetics-obsessed builder, the Suntour cable stop bracket to perfectly go with the shifters was probably my biggest accomplishment.
I photographed the bike with a Brooks saddle that she was eyeing, before I found a more affordable cushy saddle for her to start off with. Other than that, and an extra bracket Chris added to the basket for reinforced stability, this is the current build of the bike:
Ciara now uses the bike as her primary mode of transport for a short daily commute, and is thinking about making further modifications after riding it for a few months. She said she gets frequent compliments on it, and often sees people eyeing it while it's parked outside the window where she works.
Photo from Ciara of her with her bike!
This was an ideal project for me as a vintage-focused bike mechanic whose priority is getting these bikes back in frequent motion, and it's a privilege to get to work with someone who matches my enthusiasm (Ciara once told me she had a dream about the bike while I was working on it). It was also an honor to put our new shop stickers on the bike when she stopped by - one for Cycle & Coffee, and another with my name - little documents of the bike's history, right below the original sticker from Evergreen Bicycle Exchange. Thank you, Ciara, for trusting me and for giving me the opportunity to customize this special bike for you, and for riding it with such enthusiasm!
-Summer