This is my “personal” 3Rensho, the one I bought specifically for myself and have spared no expense to restore.  As the article title states, this is a “Modeulo Katana” model, likely from the late 80s / early 1990s.  It has the signature lugs, webbed bottom bracket, 3Rensho “SuperEnds” dropouts, and the same aero fork crown as also seen on my handmade tribute pista.  The straight fork blades are a clue to dating its age, as it is likely inspired by the Colnago “Precisa” straight fork that strongly influenced bikes of the period. It’s built up with a mix of 8-speed Shimano Dura Ace 7400 and 7410 components, with about half of the parts original to bike.

Read on for the full build details and riding impressions!

It’s been three years since I first spotted it on Yahoo Japan auctions and won a heated bidding war to make it mine.  It was during the height of the COVID pandemic, and Japan blocked all exports to the USA, so it sat in a Tokyo warehouse until shipments restarted in 2021.  That’s when I got the bad news that the seller had packed it in an oversized box and Yahoo wanted over $4000 to ship it to the USA.  They refused to re-pack it, forcing me to spend months searching for a bike shop in Tokyo to do the re-packing and shipping to the USA.  Shop after shop declined, worried that I would blame them for any damage to the bike.  Finally the good folks at WBase came to the rescue (shoutout to Shawn at King Kog for the introduction!) and did it all for under $400. 

Above is the original auction listing, showing the configuration of the bike when I received it.  It had a modern FSA seatpost & stem, along with compact handlebars and a Selle Italia saddle.  The wheelset had a pair of Araya dark-anodized tubular rims.

Yuck.

The entire cockpit went in the bin and was replaced with a 3Rensho pantographed Dura Ace 7410 seatpost and a quill stem.  I went with a longtime favorite road handlebar, the NITTO Mod-177 “Noodle”.  The Dura Ace 7400 headset was worn & pitted, so I swapped it for a Dura Ace 7410 model with sealed bearings.  I  switched the rims to a modern set of HPlusSon TB-14 silver clinchers, keeping the original Dura Ace hubs and cassette.  That got it to “rider” condition, but it would take another year before the final details fell into place.  Check out some of the frame details below:

Over the last year, I added the finishing touches.  First was the pantographed stem: I knew I needed an 80mm length, but couldn’t find one anywhere.  I ended up buying an entire additional 3Rensho road bike from Japan, just to get the panto’d stem because it was an 80mm.  Of course, that bike also got stuck in Japan with insanely overpriced shipping, and once again the good folks at WBase bailed me out.  In retrospect, that was not a cost-effective solution, and I wish I’d known at the time that it was possible to get modern reproductions made. The stem was anodized black and scratched up, so I stripped the ano and carefully restored it to a mirror smooth polished finish.  The grand finale was the pantographed crankset that was custom made for this bike by La Vie Velo.  Below, check out the trifecta of pantographed parts:

The little details matter, too: red leather handlebar tape by Brooks England, a white Brooks C17 carved saddle that I spiced up with some red anodized rivets (thanks to Crivets!) and 3Rensho bar-end plugs.  I added a pair of NOS 3Rensho water bottles as well, with a “Kashiwa Sports” logo on one side and the 3Rensho name on the other in Japanese (click the links for photos).  I added modern red tops to them, from Camelbak bottles, to make them easier to use.  I’m curious as to where they come from, as they’ve been making frequent appearances on Yahoo Japan Auctions recently.  Kashiwa is the area near Tokyo that 3Rensho was based in, but I don’t know the story behind the logo.

The bike’s ride is sublime. It is nimble and very quick, to the point that even with a traditional racing cassette on it, it climbs faster and easier than other bikes of mine with much wider gearing.  It’s hard not to go fast on this bike!  The handling inspires confidence on high speed descents, and it was so easy to ride on gravel that I rode on trails for an afternoon before I realized the gravel might scratch up the finish.  At this point, this is my favorite road bike.  I’m enjoying the ride more than any other steel road bike I’ve owned, with the one exception of the Bridgestone RB-1.  This one’s a keeper, and a really enjoyable long-term project.  Below are a few more photos.  Please leave me a comment if you enjoyed this article or have any questions on this bike!