Jitensha Studio

I visited Jitensha studio often when I was a grad student. Hiroshi built me two wheels and maintained my vintage bike as well as my cheap commuter bike. His parts prices were competitive with Nashbar, and his labor rates were lower than any other shop in Berkeley. When he didn’t have the rims in stock, he showed me the wholesale catalog and asked me if I wanted him to order them for me. Besides, no other shop was interested in or capable of packing ball bearings neatly into an old hub any more.

This is a bike studio, not a bike shop.
I just took delivery of my first Ebisu, six months after I ordered it, so I know a little about this shop. Hiroshi, the owner, created an absolutely beautiful bike for me, exactly what I wanted and needed. I had a hard time even convincing him that he should make a bike for me, that I would actually ride it.
Hiroshi is not a salesman, he is an bike artisan. Again, this is a bike studio, this is not a place to go if you are looking for a bargain, parts, or if you are not serious about biking. His bikes are works of art. Check out his website
for pictures of some of his creations. He is polite, very reserved, very knowledgeable. This shop is a labor of love, this is Hiroshi. He made the workbench himself, glued all the wood together and planed it himself. My son, a business major at Cal, thought Hiroshi to be a terrible businessman. I disagree. Hiroshi has been in business since 1982, making an incredible product for which people will pay well.
If you are looking for parts or service, this is probably not the place to go. This is a custom bike shop, nothing more, nothing less. That being said, he sells really cool «jitensha studio» 100% combed cotton t shirts, made in downtown LA. So, even if can’t afford his bikes, or convince him to make one for you, you can buy a really cool shirt with a sketch of one of his handmade frames on the back.

I was interested in buying one of their famous $ 1400+ bicycle frames. Drove there all the way from San Francisco during normal business hours on a Saturday to find them closed. We knocked on the door and he came out and said «Sorry closing early today» and shut the door again in our faces without allowing us a word. Gas, bridge toll, time — it’s not worth it. So, yeah, «was» as in past tense.

Maybe you should leave your inferiority complex at home.
I understand how one might feel self conscious in the presence of Hiroshi. This is a guy who has designed beautiful bicycles and keeps a beautiful shop. He maintains an aesthetic. He’s not going to bend over backward to make a sale. Especially if he thinks it’s a dumb idea. If you want to patronize the shop you must know what you are looking for and know what you’re talking about. Time is valuable. This is not a place where you’ll get coddled and supported. Jitensha has plenty of patrons.
There is a six month waiting list for an Ebisu. I’m currently waiting for a frame. A frame I have coveted for many years. When I met with Hiroshi he was perfectly polite. He did not kiss my ass or try to sell me anything extra. I have made extra requests of him and he has been accommodating. His seriousness makes me feel confident in the quality of the product.
I recommend doing business with Jitensha studio, especially if you value high quality products and are willing to pay for them.
If you can’t deal with Jitensha there are plenty of bike shops in Berkeley who are willing to sell you the latest disposable crap with a heaping helping of attitude. Have fun.

I like this shop. Hiroshi has built up a couple bikes for me, and he is a very skilled mechanic. Cool museum-​like interior. Beautiful frames on the walls. Not the warmest and fuzziest place, but so what? Hiroshi is not rude at all; he is just a reserved guy.

I think this place is misunderstood. I went there yesterday not knowing they were closed. I was lucky enough to find someone there doing a quick errand or whatever but explained to me that the shop was closed on mondays. i told him all it was my first time there and that all i needed was there cool nitto flat bar 3t replica. he was cool enough to sell me one at that time. the place looks bare but what they do have up is pretty nice vintage parts. i get the impression that most of there sales are online.

Bicycle vanity taken to an extreme. Yeah, I get it, this place makes beautiful bikes and I admire them. And they have a decent selection of neat vanity parts, like Viva cotton cloth bar tape ($ 12/​set) which I bought the other day. I usually don’t demand that merchants gussy up the market interaction with needless niceties, but I feel like I was treated meanly and condescendingly because I’m young, a little underdressed, and have an old peugeot 10-​speed with paint chips. Or maybe the shopkeep just doesn’t interact well with people, but anyways, I felt unwelcome.
The place also has no bike parking out front, and is kind of cramped inside – I knocked my bike into one of the sterling hanging frames by accident and the guy seemed super wary of me.

This place is neato if they were to let you in instead of leaving a bike blocking the doorway so that you can’t enter. They asked if I wanted to come in but really, why do I have to feel like such a pain?
Like alot of Japanese stuff, this place has good design sense. Beautiful handmade bikes. Clean, sparse shop. Quality parts and accessories. Nitto? But of course!
Too bad you can’t see it any closer than if the store was closed without troubling somebody to drag a big steel bike along the clean white floors. Good luck.

This IS my first review, so maybe take this with a grain of salt, and go to Jitensha to experience it yourself. I walked in, and the gentleman who owns it comes out. I had a few basic questions about a couple products they advertised on their website as having in stock (
). I wanted to check out a particular track stem, but the gentleman didn’t quite understand me, even though I was calling the part by its ‘official name’. Eventually I saw it on the wall behind the counter and I pointed; when I wanted to see the box to see specs, he didn’t seem comfortable handing it to me (as if I would run out of the store with an empty box?) — not sure. I’m an experienced rider looking for that particular piece, he didn’t seem to care. I asked how much if I were to buy it here? He said they’re out and that they run around 75 or so (no exact amount). He said I could buy it on ebay for 125. I didn’t like that, the exact reason I didn’t buy it from ebay is because I wanted to check out his store, support the business. Any way, after a few more minutes of struggle and him staring at me like I was a thief/​unwelcome, I walked out with a ‘thanks — see you next time’ attitude, but I’m not sure how comfortable I am in there, even though they have a few pretty cool things here and there one might want to check out. I give it 3 stars because of the rare/​custom frames, old school feel of the store, and prices being reasonable (for odds and things like bar tape, etc). Judge for yourself, I hope my experience was a misnomer/​misconception. [On a sidenote, they have a few really cool T-​Shirts that I really liked for $ 20 – 25]