Bike Check: Taiga’s Brooklyn Gangsta V4
Time for another bike-check of someone you might have already seen on SSS. Where? Right here! Taiga is a graduate of the Tokyo Frame Building School and worked for Cherubim for a couple of years before starting Flow Lab, which I hope we’ll cover in a future article. He is one of the few to have seen both sides of the coin. Learning with masters with decades of frame-building experience when ir comes to building NJS frames and Track bikes, but riding street is where he excels and where he is driving his focus for his next project,
So today we’ll take a look at his daily, a Brooklyn Machine Works Gangsta V4, and all the little details you can find on it.
This one is directly from the first batch of V4 with original V1 decals, which is my favorite design of all time. The first thing you might notice is this Easton CX carbon fork that is replacing the normal one. Why? Well, according to Taiga, the OG one is heavy but also terribly weak sideways and then not suitable for tricks.
You could definitely argue that it’s kind of a daring choice, but in the end, it rides like a dream, so that’s all that matters.
Taiga describes his bike as something that would be between if Matt Reyes had a Brooklyn and the OG Macaframa Style. Massive risers and Sram Omnium on one side, but classic Velocity deep V laced to Chub hubs on the other. It’s a true mix of generations and it works!
Classic Thomson Stem and Seatpost combo as we like to see, and a thick saddle paired with 32c Gatorskin for the extra comfort. The chainring is a custom AARN anodized by 25las in Tokyo, and you can see the harsh Japanese sun did its job, fading the color by quite a bit.
Detailed Parts List
Frameset
BMW Gangsta V4
Chainring and Cog Anodized AARN 47T,
17T Cog
Crank Sram Omium 165mm
Seatpost and Saddle
Thomson Elite, WTB Volt
Stem and Handlebar
Thomson X4 110mm, Renthal Fatbar
Wheels
Velocity Deep V to Chub Hubs
Tires Gatorskin 32c
All the way down we have sturdy metal BMX pedals and Ynot straps that Taiga has been rocking for the past six years without any issue. You’ll also find a set of V-brakes as any good Japanese commute bike should have for obvious legal reasons that I’ve touched on in a previous article.
Finally, you’ll see some “Flow Lab” details here and there calling back to a special project that Taiga and his business partner are currently working on.
You can find more about FlowLab here —> @flowlab_log
And Taiga’s Instagram here —> @im.not_taiga
More Brooklyn soon?
🎞: Kodak Gold 200
📷: Nikon F100
📍: Tokyo
