Tag Archives: vintage carbon

Bridgestone Anchor Carbon Track Bike – FAPCPT

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Is a carbon bike “vintage” if it’s old enough to buy beer?  This Bridgestone Anchor track bike was born in 1999 (making it technically “Gen Z”) and represents their first foray into monocoque carbon frames.  “FAPCPT” is a convoluted and unfortunate model name, evocative of onanistic internet slang.  It’s all relative I suppose, considering the brand name is “Anchor,” a word that doesn’t convey a sense of lightness or speed (or even motion itself).  Both the brand, and this bike in particular were created for the Japanese market and not with an English-speaking audience in mind.  Silly names aside, this bike is a work of art, with clean, sculptured lines and a svelte profile.  Read on to learn more about this rare early carbon track bike.

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3Rensho Carbon Bikes – SR, Aegis, and Araya

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Photo courtesy the Vintage 3Rensho Love blog

In my last two articles I showed how 3Rensho, a brand synonymous with the finest handmade steel bicycles, added aluminum bicycles to their lineup thanks to third-party manufacturers like SR and Yamakuni.  Now I’d like to take a deep dive into an even more esoteric corner of the 3Rensho story: carbon bikes.  This time around I am relying more than ever on 3Rensho’s catalogs, as it’s been extremely hard for me to find examples of these bikes in the “real world” that have been photographed and shared online.  I’ve identified three models so far: the SR Litage with carbon tubes, and two monocoque designs from Aegis/BIK and Araya.  Read on to learn more!

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Look KG 196 Monoblade

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The Look KG 196 is the bicycle equivalent of techno music: no matter how many decades pass, it still looks like a radical vision of the future.  First introduced in 1993, the Look KG 196 introduced several groundbreaking new developments in the design and manufacture of carbon bicycles.  Most modern carbon bikes can trace their roots directly back to the KG 196, with its monocoque frame design and radical Monoblade fork.  I spent almost a decade searching for one in my size, and finally found one in early 2020.  It took another two years to build it up with a carefully chosen parts kit designed to balance the kind of riding I like to do with components that compliment the aesthetics of the bike.  Read on for more photos and history of the Look KG 196!

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