Self Bike Check: The Parakino (Year 0)
As fixed gear riders, the usual joke around is: “I’m one with the bike! It’s like there is a connection between us!”. And as corny as it may seem, it’s a genuine feeling that I hope you’ve encountered. For some reason, this sentiment of bond between you and a particular bike might even grow stronger with time and distances traveled together.
At some point, you’ll know all about it. From a subconscious understanding of this particular geometry to every sticker and visible paint chip. It’s literally an extension of your body and you can’t even imagine not having it by your side.
A lot of us might make the responsible decision to hang it on a wall after some hard times in the streets.
It’s probably a beat-up old bike to the eyes of everyone else, but it’s your treasure, and you just want to be able to look at it a little bit longer.
Another part of us might never have that opportunity, because stuff breaks, rusts, bends, crashes, and tragically becomes unrideable.
That’s kind of what happened to my old Makino. I absolutely loved that bike with every single cell of my body. When my fascination with NJS bikes started, I asked around how I could get my hands on one. One of my new friends at the time was selling his Makino and the deal was so good I just couldn’t pass on it. There was a catch though! It had flames all over it and repainting it was out of the question. I spent days debating with myself if I was ever gonna be able to ride on a thing straight out of a HotWheels surprise box.
Guess I won the debate after all because next thing you know, I had it for several years and absolutely loved it. I ended up liking the shitty graphics, and everyone around me did too. It just became a small part of me as a guy that rides a pretty cartoonish “Fire Makino”.
Unfortunately, It got completely bent while locked to a fence and rebuilding it was not a viable option. You’re wondering where it ended up?
Part of it is now a stool at Tempra Cycle in Tokyo, and I personally kept the top tube as a souvenir. A sad story, yes, but I kinda never let the idea of owning another “fire frame” one day go.
That day is today! Almost seven years later, it’s (kinda) back! More flamboyant than ever! Riding through the flames of hell which I probably deserve to go to after stripping a perfectly fine Parallax. Yeah, you read that right, an old optical had to go through chemical treatment and sanding for this project. Yet, I don’t regret it for one second. Just look at it!
Even if it looks cool, custom paint jobs are an absolute pain in the backside and if you’re not a patient person, I would recommend not even thinking about it. Removing the paint; long and painful. Sanding down stuff; long and painful. Waiting between coats; long and ….painful.
It took me three weeks from start to finish and the learning curve was steep! I guess the positive part is the experience and knowledge that you’ll acquire along the way. And you’ll be able to say:
“Yeah dude I painted that myself, it wasn't a big deal you know…”
There is a twist though! A DIY spray can paint job (at my level at least) is so easy to chip and scratch that I don’t see it lasting very long. But! I have to admit that I also got inspired by @cskrill’s Parallax and the way it evolved during his 6 years riding it. From clean white to absolute beater, I’d love to cover the evolution of mine in a similar way.
Now you’ve probably guessed why there is also “year 0” in the title as I plan to make a small article every year or so to update you about the condition of the bike and where it traveled. But enough reading, for now, let's get to the parts list.
Detailed Parts List
Frameset
Custom Painted Parallax (L)
Chainring and Cog 49T AArn X KingKog, 17T Cog
Crank Sugino 75 165mm
Seatpost and Saddle
Thomson Elite, San Marco Aspide
Stem and Handlebar
No name stem (110mm), Enve SWP
Wheels Zipp 30 laced to Phil Wood hubs
Tires 25c Continental Gatorskin
As you can see, there is almost nothing that you wouldn't already know on this bike. Maybe these Phil hubs, custom anodized by @caustic_custom_anodizing and sold through MASH SF. I laced them to a pair of Zipp 30s a while ago and thought they would fit well with the build. As a good Zipp fanboy, I’m happy with the final result, but I don’t know if I’ll keep the pair on forever. I’ve kinda been thinking about brands, hype, and the incredible stretch of financial efforts we go to get our hands on this kind of gear. And I think I’ll debate about that in a later article, so stay tuned.
A few details worth noting:
This is the Thomson seatpost that I got when I bought my Makino. This thing has traveled on almost all my dailies for the past seven years and will probably outlast me.
The few decals I’ve already sticked on there: The Columbus-style one is from 25las (aka Nickolas), one of my favorite shops ever. And the orange one is from Tempra cycle in Tokyo because it just feels like home to me.
Finally, if you wanna tell all your friends how strong your skid game is, then let me personally recommend this “HELLO, My name is GRAND SKID MASTER” sticker, available as a pack in the shop. （；￣︶￣）
So let’s be completely honest here. Custom-painted parallax isn’t new. You can easily find dozens of them online and I’ve only put my twist on something that already exists. Yet, I truly feel like I took something quite “mainstream” and made it deeply personal. You can do it too with minimal expenses.
Printing custom decals for your wheels
Anodizing/painting something that we have never seen in color before
Tweaking and modding existing stuff by adding your sauce!
Time to turn up your builds from medium hot to extra spicy!
Final thanks go to @ellad.studio for helping me with the fire painting and @lacourselivraison for letting me use their space and spray-paint one of their bike-stand…several times!
