Bike Check: Toma‘s Suspension Peloton
Your first reaction might be, “A suspension fork on an NJS fixed gear... What on earth is happening here?” Trust me, I had the same thought, but then came the realization, “Hold up, there is probably more to this…” So in today's bike-check, we're taking a closer look at the genius behind Toma's Peloton and all the wizardry that went into creating this setup.
Our story begins like many others: with a retired NJS frame. This silver peloton was lacking a fork, and when it ended up in Toma’s hands, he considered several potential builds before settling down on his concept. Before we delve any deeper, you need to know that Toma, who works at Shuhari, is one of the most intriguing and fascinating individuals I have had the pleasure of meeting. Passionate about art and architecture, Toma perceives things in a way I wish I could. For this bike, he aimed to recreate some architectural standards, maintaining the overall visual balance between sharp angles and a certain “inclusive softness.”
The elephant in the room here is obviously this front suspension RockShox fork. And the reason it's there is simple, yet, perfectly valid. Toma takes the costal bike path to commute from home to his work at Shuhary. This bike path has some truly rough sections, and is always partially covered in sand. (Trust me, this is no place for 25c tires.) Having an NJS build that was just a bit easier to pass through these sections was the goal, and the suspension fork was one solution. Needless to say that in the actual cycling market, literally no one in their right mind is looking for a one-inch threaded suspension fork. So you can find them for $20 if you know where to look.
Detailed Parts List
Frameset
NJS Peloton with Rockshox fork
Chainring and Cog NJS Suntour Superbe 51T, Euro Asia Gold-Medal 18T
Crank NJS Suntour Superbe
Seatpost and Saddle
Sakae seatpost, Joseph kuosac saddle.
Stem and Handlebar
Nitto “Iron stem” and Nitto “High Bar”
Wheels Sansin Professional hubs to Rear Mavic open 4 CD, and Front Velocity Deep-V
Tires Panaracer, Pacela 28c and Gravel king 32c
T&o keep the top tube horizontal, Tomas installed a 650 front wheel and combined this with hi-rise bars, resulting in what is likely the most comfortable NJS setup ever known to humanity. On one bar end, you’ll find the Paul Components CNCed brake lever connected to a stainless steel outer, partially integrated into the bars. Follow along and you’ll see the brass coupler near the bottom bracket serves two purposes. Tomas wanted a gray/silver monochrome build while maintaining contrast with brass/golden accents throughout the bike.
But also: “The very cool stainless outer was too short, but I really wanted to use it… so I just put a coupler in the middle and finished my brake routing with something else”. This succinctly describes the entire build. Despite its complex appearance, it's actually quite simple and well-balanced. My biggest “bravo” for creating something that I would have never thought of in a thousand years.
Stay weird.
🎞: kodak ColorPlus 200
📷: Nikon F100
📍: Okinawa
