Hi! I'm Samba! - BLUE LUG BLOG

Hello! This is Samba, formally from Hatagaya but became a member of the Yoyogi-park store recently.

A lot of things are surprisingly different compared to Hatagaya. Having fun learning new stuff everyday!

Writing this self bike check today. Hope some of you enjoy.

*Black mountain cycles* Monstercross (50)

I already new I was going to buy this bike before it even arrived at the shop.

From this batch, they added size 50, which is the perfect size for me who is 169cm tall. This is probably the biggest reason I bought this bike, but I have always dreamt of this bike before I got this job.

The first time seeing Black Mountain Cycles was on the internet.

Ohh, I love it.

Is that kanji on the top tube? “What is this, a handmade frame from the past?” I had no clue what the bike was, but I knew I liked it.

Then, I saw Max from Space Age Technologies riding the neon green one.

I went through so many IG photos and collected many pics of the bike.

I just love the simple and sturdy looks of this bicycle and how it looks so good with “normal” parts.

The bike looked very practical and fun to ride, so I would have dream of this bike. Now that they arrived to the place where I work, I think it just made perfect sense to build one for my own.

169cm tall, 69cm saddle height, frame size 50.

I was thinking of going with a flat bar build, but after talking to few of my senpais, I decided to go with drop bars with canti brakes, like how it is supposed to be built!

The handlebar I wanted to use had 26.0mm center, so I dug up my parts storage and found this Salsa stem. Love how the gold adds character to this gray frame.

I always tend to choose Chris King headsets.

Astral Cycling Solstice rims laced with White Industries T11 hubs.

These rims are so light, that it feels like my wheels suddenly disappear when I put the bike in low gear.

I originally had knobby tires, but I was surprised by how agile this bike is and got curious how it rides with slicks, so I swapped tires to Ultradynamico Cava tires.

White Industries VBC road cranks.

I got an old road derailleur and cassettes from my colleges, so I made sure that it was a 2x set up with a small inner chainring.

I love that I can use all three cabel guides if I go with 2x set up.

Mini V-brakes on the front and canti for rear.

I can’t remember when I saw this combo for the first time, but I wanted to have more stopping power on the front and I didn’t want the cables to be touching whenever I put a bar bag in the future.

I bought a ti Salsa seat post that was hiding in the shelves of Hatagaya store. The logo isn’t exposed all the way, due to the post being very long but I like it. The set back makes the pedals too far, but I’m keeping them at the moment because I like it.

I chose the WTB Silverado in the Rasta Color. I didn’t want a plain black saddle for this build. I sought some advice from Wentz and he said, “I think Rasta would be pretty sick” so I chose exactly what he said.

Let’s see the whole build one more time.

Pretty good, don’t you think?

I really like the fact the bike doesn’t require any modern parts to build. Mixing old and new parts is a great way to build this bike too.

One more thing I’d like to share…

Hmm…

Ta-da!

I designed a t-shirt!

I actually went to an art school and majored in oil painting. Many of my colleges suggested I should make a shirt, so I drew the very first Blue Lug store I worked at, Hatagaya.