Why is Bianchi so popular in Japan?

Westerners have people obsessed with Japanese culture, Japan is the same but with italy

>>1019070
Define "popular"

It has its cult following but nobody else but those wannabees would buy a bianchi

Becoz japang isu nation ovvu hipusta

thats one ugly bike setup, and whats the average height of a nippon? 3 feet?

>>1019070
Some people like Campy shifters better, and Bianchi makes such a fucking nice looking bike.
I'd love to upgrade to one in a year or two.

>>1019098
Very much this.
Japan has a thing for Italy ever since I can remember.

File: IMG_20161010_142909.jpg (443KB, 1312x984px) Image search: [Google]

443KB, 1312x984px

>>1019116
Yup. My friend is Japanese and he brings a shit ton of Italian cycling gear whenever he visits there. Cycling is really booming there right now.

Pic related, his Colnago bike, Shimano Tiagra groupset.

>>1019105
>It has its cult following but nobody else but those wannabees would buy a bianchi

I see a lot of celebrities (including JAV stars like Mizuna Rei) posting Bianchi on twitter. Some of them own one, the others think it's cool.

>>1019105
Pretty much this, same as in USA. The thing is American brands like Trek, Specialized and Canondale don't have as strong of a strong presence over there. You see a very different distribution of brands in Asia.

>>1019116
Everyone has a thing for Italian bike stuff because of Campagnolo. There would be very little romanticism for Columbus tubing and Colnago bikes is not for the unshakable reputation Campagnolo had in the past. A little bit of it comes from Italian car and fashion fetishism found anywhere.

>>1019119
It's fetishized just as much in the west. It's just that obsession is much more acceptable in Japan so people can justify the extra cost, unlike here where you get called a fred.

What's actually unique is the fetishization of French bikes in Japan. You may not realize this because French rando bikes have been the in thing for the past few years, but the Japanese were obsessing over them way before them. It was the Japanese and Japanese companies like Grand Bois, Heine turned to when he first discovered 650B rando bikes. Toei supplies the emperor with his bike and pretty much only makes rando bikes.

People don't realize this, because rando bikes are French, not Japanese, and after the fixie craze everyone thinks NJS Keirin bikes are representative of Japanese cycling because if you ask the Japanese about bikes, they'll either think keirin or mamachari, since they're much more visible than road or rando.

>>1019144
>fetishization of French bikes in Japan.
It helps because the legends of French bicycle constructeurs of the 30s fits right in the to the continuing culture in Japan of masterful craftsmen and obsession with details, and that Japan is possibly the single most ideal place in the world to do lightly-loaded cyclotouring. Rando bikes are absolutely perfect for riding from town-to-town through the mountains.

>>1019184
>>1019144
too bad you can't get these here - not to my knowledge anyway. think they're 650a and not b but still...

http://www.maruishi-cycle.com/products/emperor/e-tm1.html