Azuma, my distributor in Japan, set up this booth with the other brands they distribute; Easton Components, Kore Components and Cervelo bicycles being the biggest... aside from Masi, of course.
The Masi sign stood out really well in the sea of brand banners.
Looked good from a distance too.
Me, hanging out with the bikes- I really liked the way the Coltello race frame was built up as an urban fixie with riser bar and suede Keirin saddle. Hiro, my Keirin racing brother at Azuma built the bike up and was very eager to know what I thought of it. He was very happy that I liked it. It was really great to watch the Japanese consumers flock to it and take pictures with their cameras and camera phones.
One of the coolest things was the Japanese version of the Masi catalog. It's really cool, for me, to see all the Masi stuff written up in Kanji. I'll have to scan a few pages of the catalog this week and post them here- I got a big kick out of it.
Nothing makes a product guy happier than watching people stare at your products. Since I don't speak Japanese, I couldn't really talk to many of the consumers and mostly hovered around, waiting for the chance to answer questions when possible. It was awesome to see the reception the bikes were getting. I spent the two days of the show smiling from ear to ear. (Terai-san is the man in the grey suit waving and Masa Nagoya is standing next to him in the pink shirt.)
There were also test bikes there and they were on the road nearly constantly! Many of the test riders came back with very large smiles after riding the bikes... which in turn had me smiling very broadly too.Needless to say, I was very happy with the experience of the show and I hope to be able to return next year. Today (Sunday) is the last day of the Osaka part of Cycle Mode and I am anxiously waiting to hear from my friends in Japan how the show went there. I am hoping that next year I can attend both shows; travel to Tokyo for the first show there, then travel to Taiwan to get my work there done and then return to Japan for the Osaka show. I think that would be a perfect trip... so if my bosses happen to read this... thanks in advance!
Next up; other cool products from Japan... and there were plenty.
Tim
3 comments:
Alright, the cat is out of the bag. I see a wool Masi jersey, black, laying on the display floor. Isn't it like the Flag and shouldn't be touching the ground?! Dealer avail is when for the wool? Mmmm.
The one pic of the Speciale CX test ride has a Token booth in the background. The team the shop supports, rides their frames, hoops, etc. Small world.
Great looking Masi booth!
What a classy layout for your booth!
That burgundy retro color scheme has my name all over it! Pretty!
hey tim i saw you at the cycle mode show.
very nice work!!
i got a question for you.
im planing to build a coltello size 56 but im not sure if my sugino aero might would fit since the crank arms are 180mm. can you check for me if the crank would hit the front wheel? i know you are very helpful to answer question on many forums so please help
i wanna rock your masi frame all over japan next summer!!
thanks in advance
alain
please mail me at alainlee82@gmail.com
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