Hey there, I’m a visitor from London, UK. I’m in the fortunate position of being able to fly to a faraway destination to escape the gloom of winter in the UK and do some cycling, and this year I ended up in Okinawa. My partner and I liked many other islands in the Ryukyus and I thought that Okinawa could be a good destination for my solo cycling adventure.
Were it not for the fact that, as I set off for my first ride yesterday, Monday morning, I found that my bottom bracket was making the kind of noises one would expect to hear from a 1972 Zhiguli you left for a decade in a lake (that’s not good).
I then proceeded to do a pilgrimage to four different bike shops, all to no avail. I connected, on this very subreddit, with the owner of Cutty Jungle, and in a classic clutching-at-straws moment I messaged him, and he quickly unleashed his incredible Rolodex of contacts. One of them was Aaron, the owner at Ohana Cycle. They’re in Okinawa City, not too far from Kadena airfield (at least judging by the noise and by the amount of men with moustache I saw).
Anyway, I went in at Ohana today at 11:10. By 11:40 John the mechanic had opened up my bike’s bottom bracket, found the root cause, fixed it and called me to tell me that. I was on my way soon afterwards and it cost me only 4,000 yen, about £20 or $25. He was kind, quick, thorough and professional.
I don’t know if this subreddit allows local recommendations, but it’d be remiss of me not to write this post; (I’ve also written reviews on Google).
If you live in the area, or if you’re visiting, get your bikes checked by these guys. And if you’re into mountain bikes, check out Cutty Jungle up in Yonaguni. It’s been a good 20 years since I did MTB, and I like my bones unbroken, but the owner has been nothing but great. Both Ohana and Cutty do repairs and they do rentals too, so support the business of great human beings.
by are_wethere_yet