Bicycles should be more free! Enjoy customization!

I ride a customized hybrid bike.

My bike has already had all original parts replaced except the frame.

I feel that the image and values of customized hybrid bikes have changed from the past.

I’ve been thinking about those changes.

Former image of customized hybrid bikes

Customizing a hybrid bike is a longing for a road bike

I started customizing my hybrid bike when I realized that what I really wanted was a road bike, not a hybrid bike, when I started to understand the fun of sports bikes.

It is what is commonly referred to as “I want a road bike” syndrome.

The disease of wanting a road bike is a disease (laugh) that affects many people who buy a hybrid bike.

But things are not so simple, and it is not something that our wallets or family circumstances will easily allow us to do.

At the time, I thought a bicycle could be bought for $100, so buying a hybrid bike that cost $600 was a very bold move.

Since I bought my hybrid bike with this in mind, there is no way I can switch to a road bike so easily just because I want a road bike.

So, while doing some research, I found out that hybrid bikes can be upgraded in performance by replacing parts.

If you can customize it, there is no need to give up your hybrid bike by force.

I figured that since I could bring my hybrid bike closer to the performance of a road bike, there would be no waste and I would be happy with it.

In fact, many people who customize their hybrid bikes seem to be doing so out of admiration for road bikes.

And finally, they will follow the standard trend of “drop handlebars on a hybrid bike, then go to a road bike when they feel the limitations.

Being more than a hybrid bike and less than a road bike

Many people who customize their hybrid bikes have a desire to ride road bikes, as described above.

The image of “fun for people who want to ride a road bike but cannot ride a road bike” was inevitably attached to them.

Also, road bike riders often looked at me as if I was the best person to buy a road bike if you want to ride a road bike, or that customizing a hybrid bike is a waste of time and money.

That is because road bikes and hybrid bikes are clearly distinguished, and no matter how much you customize a hybrid bike, you cannot make it a road bike, so no matter how much money you spend customizing it, it will never become a road bike, and you will end up with something halfway like a road bike I think it was because of the way they thought.

As you know, hybrid bikes and road bikes have completely different frame design philosophies, so no matter how much money you spend on a hybrid bike and install high-end road bike parts such as DURA-ACE, a hybrid bike will never become a road bike.

It is a hybrid bike with road bike specifications.

Therefore, it is very natural that a customized hybrid bike is seen as “more hybrid bike and less road bike.

Customizing a hybrid bike is fine, but if you are going to spend a lot of money on customizing it, you might as well use that money to buy a road bike.

At best, orthodoxy was valued, and at worst, there was a closed-minded attitude that “road bikes are supreme” and “hybrid bikes are a halfway house,” and that customizing hybrid bikes, which were a halfway house, was “a slightly unusual hobby for a few customizers.

Therefore, the prevailing view was that hybrid bike customization should be done in moderation.

In fact, many people gave up halfway through and ended up customizing their hybrid bikes by purchasing road bikes.

Of course, those who customize their hybrid bikes to the point of modifying them to drop handlebars know that there are many negative opinions about them.

They were enjoying their customization, self-deprecatingly referring to it as “devil-modification.

I used to think that customizing my hybrid bike was fine because I was just playing around with it because I liked it.

I had no right to be criticized by others.” However, at heart, I had a longing for road bikes, and it is true that I had a feeling of inferiority toward those who rode road bikes (laughs).

Customization of hybrid bikes is wicked and heretical

When I first started customizing hybrid bikes, the opinion in the bicycle community about customizing hybrid bikes was that it was an evil way to enjoy sport bikes.

Many people who customized their hybrid bikes preferred to customize them to road bike specifications, and many of the hardcore road bikers said, “If you want it to look like a road bike, you should buy a road bike,” and “Spending money on customizing a hybrid bike is a waste of money.

In fact, many people who customize hybrid bikes buy a hybrid bike but then want a road bike, so they start customizing their hybrid bike by upgrading its specifications to ride like a road bike.

It was not a misunderstanding to hear people say, “It is better to buy a road bike than to customize it for road bike-like performance.

In particular, the customization of hybrid bikes to drop handlebars was often derided as a “symbol of meaningless customization.

Changing attitudes due to diversification of bicycles

Increasingly tolerant of bicycle customization

Diversification of bicycles has changed the way people choose bicycles.

Bicycle genres have become increasingly segmented.

Hybrid bicycles, such as cyclocross and gravel road bicycles, which are oriented toward road racing but can also be used for off-road riding, have come into the spotlight, and bicycle genres and parts have diversified, including e-bikes and disc brakes.

As bicycle genres become more diverse, when choosing a bicycle, people are no longer choosing their favorite genre of bicycle from the broad categories of road bikes, hybrid bikes, and mountain bikes, as in the past, but rather how they want to ride their bicycles and for what purpose they want to ride their bicycles, I believe that people are now choosing bicycles with the purpose of riding a bicycle in mind.

Historic milestone with the introduction of drop handlebar hybrid bikes from the largest bicycle manufacturer.

The culmination of the diversification of the sport bike genre was the introduction of the ESCAPE R DROP, a drop handlebar mounted on Giant’s ESCAPE R3 hybrid bike, which was released in 2019.

Until the ESCAPE R DROP was introduced, customizing a hybrid bike with drop handlebars was a practice that was laughed at by some road bike enthusiasts.

Even among hybrid bike customizers, it was a customization that divided opinion.

For those who rode road bikes, drop handlebars were considered to be the handlebars for road bikes, and drop handlebars were sometimes treated as a symbol of the futility of hybrid bike customization.

However, with the advent of ESCAPE R DROP, values have changed dramatically.

The world’s number one bicycle manufacturer officially began selling drop handlebar hybrid bikes, which until then had been a symbol of futility.

Now, those who had refused to accept drop handlebars on hybrid bikes as a bad idea have no choice but to shut up.

No matter how much you shout “Drop handlebars on a hybrid bike is wrong!”

“Giant is officially selling drop handlebars on hybrid bikes!”
“What’s wrong with bicycles in the first place?”
“Who decided that drop handlebars should not be installed on hybrid bikes?”

So, the position has been reversed.

I think that the announcement of ESCAPE R DROP triggered the idea that “bicycles should be more free”.

Reference ESCAPE R DROP|GIANT

Electric-assist road bikes, once a source of condemnation, are also gaining popularity

There used to be a hard-headed attitude toward road bikes.

So when Yamaha announced the YPJ-R electric-assist road bike, there was an outpouring of critical opinions from many road bike riders.

Most of them said, “Electric-assist road bicycles are evil.

At the time, YAMAHA also seemed to have anticipated that it would be the target of such criticism, and from the very beginning they sent out a message saying, “This is not for serious road bike riders.

Nevertheless, there were many critical opinions about it, and it even became like a firestorm in the bicycle community.

In the blogs of road bike riders that I saw at the time, there were harsh opinions such as “In Europe, road bikes are strictly defined, and YAMAHA’s action was an insult to road bikes. Some people had harsh opinions.

At the time, I agreed with his opinion, saying, “I see, road bikes are so strict.” I had no idea that many of the major European and American bicycle manufacturers would later introduce electric-assist road bikes one after another.

Nowadays, the initial criticism of electrically assisted road bikes is not heard at all.

European bicycle shops have a larger selection of electrically assisted sports bikes than regular road bikes.

There are even stores specializing in electrically power assisted bicycles, giving the impression that electrically power assisted bicycles have completely established themselves as the next generation of bicycles.

In fact, when you ride an electrically power assisted bicycle, the parts that used to feel “hard” or “painful” are reduced, while the exhilaration and fun of riding a bicycle are maintained.

This is not to say that they are lazy, but rather that they are bicycles that allow people to enjoy cycling more purely.

Once these values were communicated, electric bicycles started to become popular in the road bike community, and I no longer see the harsh opinions that I used to see.

Reference YAMAHA YPJ-R|YAMAHA

Bicycles should be more free

Many customized and unique bicycles in the U.S. and Europe

Bicycles are customizable.

One year, I had the opportunity to visit Germany, a European country known for its advanced bicycle technology.

I had in my mind the phrase, “In Europe, road bikes are strictly defined,” so I imagined a scene of only stiff, orthodox road bikes riding around, but most of the bicycles I saw on the streets were all unique, customized bicycles.

Also, when we stopped by Stadler, the largest bicycle store in Germany, we saw many people buying parts to customize their bicycles.

These were not common sights in Japanese bicycle shops, so I was in for a culture shock.

Customization is a way to make it comfortable for you to ride.

Seeing many people buying parts for customization, I had the following thought.

Road bikes for racing are strictly regulated, and there is a rule that only bicycles with specifications that meet those regulations can participate in races.

Of course, that is the same in Europe and Japan.

However, the Germany I saw had a big difference from Japan. Where does this difference come from?

With a race-spec road bike, there are many aspects that make it inconvenient to ride on public roads in general on a daily basis.

In Japan, I wonder if the Japanese have pushed the idea that one should put up with such inconvenience and customize the bike to the extent that it conforms to regulations even for daily use.

If it doesn’t meet the regulations, it’s not a road bike, even if it is ridden on a daily basis. It’s wrong! That’s the way of thinking.

There was a part of me that thought “road bikes are supreme” and “hybrid bike customization is for self-satisfaction,” but the scenery I saw when I went to Germany changed my thinking drastically.

I had always had an image of Europe as an advanced bicycle country, and I thought that Europe had a more rigidly-conventional approach to bicycles than Japan.

However, the exact opposite was true, and the streets were filled with a wide variety of customized bicycles.

For example, they have road bikes with cargo beds, butterfly handlebars, or pull rear cars (stylish and fashionable, of course), and each has various customizations for their own purposes.

When I stopped by a major bicycle chain store, I saw many people shopping for custom bicycle parts.

I learned that the hurdles for customizing bicycles are much lower than in Japan, which explains why there are so many customized bicycles on the streets.

You don’t have to get caught up in form.

In short, if a bicycle is used for racing, it should be designed to strictly conform to the rules.

However, for bicycles used in daily life, there is no need to be particular about the shape of the bicycle, as it is irrelevant.

I think the basic idea is that it is right to customize the bicycle according to each rider’s riding style and purpose to make it more comfortable.

Since each person has a different fitness level, body type, place to ride, way of riding, and purpose, it makes more sense to customize a bicycle to suit each person’s needs than to ride the exact same bicycle with the same specifications.

Since then, I have come to believe that my approach to bicycle customization should be “more free.

In the past, I was hesitant to try something because I thought, “This is for a road bike, so I shouldn’t try it,” or “This is out of theory, so maybe not,” or “I’ll mix parts for a road bike with those for a mountain bike.

Now I am able to think, “If I am interested, I should just try it out.

Whatever the part is for, if installing it makes me more comfortable, at least it’s the right thing for me to do.
If it is not, I just have to redo it again.

In Europe and the U.S., I think the idea is “why don’t you just customize it the way you like it” according to your riding style and the conditions of the road you drive on, without putting up with that.

If it is inconvenient to have no mudguards or stand, you can install them, and if you want bigger tires, you can make them bigger.

If you are not bound by specific rules, customizing your bicycle according to your riding style will make it more enjoyable and comfortable.

Customizing a hybrid bike is a natural part of the pursuit of the bike you want to ride.

Hybrid bikes with drop handlebars and electric-assist road bikes, which were often criticized when they were first released, naturally became less critical and more acceptable to many people as major bicycle manufacturers began to introduce such bikes.

We are not racing, so there is no need to be bound by rules set for racing.

It is actually natural for each of us to customize it as we like.

Since each person has a different ideal way of riding and a different place to ride, it is more likely that a ready-made bicycle will not fit easily.

After purchasing a bicycle, it is rather normal to customize it to suit each individual’s needs.

This is also the reason why various parts are sold, and the fact that there was a tendency to deny the customization of htbrid bikes seems more like an amateur cyclist’s way of thinking.

However, at the time, I was also very rigid in my thinking, and the purpose of customization was to make the bike more like a road bike, not to “make it easier to ride” as it should have been.

In an era of free thinking in customization

In the past, the only choices when it came to sports bike genres were road bikes, hybrid bikes, and mountain bikes.
There was a feeling that if you wanted to ride a bike seriously, you had to “choose a road bike.

It is true that road bikes are fast and comfortable bikes for riding on paved roads.

However, when it comes to everyday riding, there are many stressful situations.

No matter how paved the road is, there are many places where the pavement is rough or uneven.

Compared to road bikes, hybrid bikes are less stressful.

However, hybrid bikes are also not the best choice in terms of specifications.

Understanding these factors, I had no choice but to continue riding my road bike despite the stress, or to compromise and ride a hybrid bike.

However, the genre has diversified as gravel roads and other bicycles that can be ridden on rough roads have become standard.

You can now choose a bicycle that is more suitable for your use.

In the midst of this trend, there are fewer and fewer people who have a rigid idea that “road bikes are supreme,” and there is a sense that the thinking has changed to “it is best to ride a bike with the right specs for the right purpose.

At the same time, I believe that attitudes toward hybrid bike customization have changed.

In the end, it’s best to optimize the bicycle to make it suitable for the way you ride and the purpose for which you use it.

So, I think I have a more flexible way of thinking about bicycles than before, and my attitude toward customized hybrid bikes has changed.

I would like to continue to enjoy customizing hybrid bikes.