Bike Check: Yuki’s Brooklyn Tracklocross Gangta
A few years ago, I posted about Yuki’s criterium machine, her beautiful carbon fiber Kalavinka. Well, time for a change of pace: today, we’re taking a look at her Brooklyn Machine Works Gangsta V4, which she brought to Bike Lore last summer some for gnarly tracklocross.
Let me start with this: while I’m usually based in Tokyo when I’m in Japan, there’s something inexplicably attractive about the “Kansai way” of building bikes.
The messy, sticker-bombed frames, the parts that seem totally random but somehow make sense together, it might just be one of my favorite things in fixed gear culture.
And even though the Brooklyn Gangsta remains relatively uncommon, they’re now regularly produced and available on nearly every continent. So to make one stand out, you need that extra flair, and Yuki definitely has it.
Her tracklocross machine is nothing short of an absolute missile, built solely to tear through trails as violently as possible. Needless to say, she already broke one pair of BMX cranks on this thing, and I was honestly too scared to ask how. The current Resist cranks are a short 160mm to avoid pedal strikes on rocks and path debris and surprises. The 40c tubeless tires push the clearance to its limit and raise the bike as much as possible making sure Yuki can easily go over as much as she can. There is no time to avoid or go around…
Detailed Parts List
Frameset
BMW Gangsta V4
Chainring and Cog Greddy 44T, 17T Cog
Crank Resist BMX
Seatpost and Saddle
Fuji feather seatpost, Selle Italia Turbo Saddle
Stem and Handlebar
Fairweather Bullmoose bar
Wheels Velocity Aileron laced to Cycrok hubs
Special mention goes to the details that make this a true Kansai build: the custom-painted rims by a local artist friend, the overwhelming number of spoke cards tucked into the rear wheel, the Nitto Fairweather bullmoose bar reducing the number of bolts you have to deal with, and, of course, the presence of rim brakes calipers on rims that are disc only…
Clearly saying, “They’re here, but I’m not using them.”
Got brakes? But do you use them?
🎞: Kodak Gold 200
📷: Leica M6
📍: Hokuto
