Orange Ebisu

Update Mar 12 2026: I got a couple free orange medical bags (empty) off FB Marketplace and moved the decaleur mount off Angelina’s old Police Line Do Not Cross bag/purse. The orange is much redder, but the bag is pretty great. I will figure out how to add a tombstone pocket and mayyybe a half-basket under it. Baskets are more Riv than Jitensha, but so danged useful.

El Patio enchiladas would have probably fit snugly under the flap but I busted the buckle trying to lengthen the straps.

Orange bag don’t match the orange bike, but the 4 is pretty good. The other bag says “First In” but it’s written pretty weak and sloppy.

Last night at the bocce court. I’m enjoying the evening Ebisu spins.

Update Mar 1 2026: first real ride, 16 miles from Windsor to Santa Rosa. Pretty roads, low traffic, ended at Brew. Front bag is an old bag my wife stopped using because the fittings scratched up her Vespa, with the decaleur receiver attached.

Photo by Sid, Resting Bike Face by Meeche

Photo by Sid. Better than the shot I took of the bike.

I bought this pretty bike from a friend at Velo Cosmos in January. Luckily my bonus check came through and I did NOT get laid off the following Tuesday like a bunch of my comrades did.

So I get to keep it. It would have been pretty easy to sell it on if needed, since the next guy in line to buy it was sitting in You Bet when I dropped in for this bar tape, pedals and grips.

It’s a small world if you know what’s good.

I ended up going with my first cockpit plan, the Velo Orange Postino bars, but I didn’t count on You Bet having Orange grips!! The matching pedals also look great.

2” 1up rack on the Kia serving as a bike work stand

Nitto RM-3 dirt drops on the Ebisu in the (very light) snow

I love the Nitto RM-3 (as you’d know if I’d kept blogging for the last 10 years) and I really like the levers Mark had on the bike when I bought it, so I went for this dirt drop build build first. It let me dial in some stuff and gave me something fun to do at the Grass Valley spot. Like ride around!

Orange grips on the Ebisu’s Postino bars. Also orange PNW pedals

I like this bar setup better. The Technomic goes high enough for the dirt drops, but I like angled color matched stems for those, aesthetically.

Note about Jitensha Studio. It recently closed so Berkeley could build student housing in the site. It’s now just a facade, but I haven’t been to see it. There’s a GoFundMe for Jitensha Studio so they can reopen but fuuuck. How likely is that?

Note about You Bet. You Bet is a Nevada City (CA) bike shop that’s… unexpected. They carry Wilde Bikes, the 55mm Rene Herse knobbies I like, and all kinds of neat shit. Nicest folk, they support the local bike scene from the little kids “bike bus” to old potzers like me reconfiguring niche bikes for new lives.

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