SIMWORKS Super Yummy Tire 26"

Our Friends - Circles/Simworks Japan

We interviewed Makoto, who works as the chief mechanic/wheel builder at Circles, a bike store in Nagoya, Japan. Makoto also builds frames for Doppo, an original frame line for SimWorks, Circles' original brand. Circles and their crew are tremendous supporters of the handbuilt/small brand segment of cycling across the globe and we're enormously thankful for our growing partnership. Without further delay, here's what what Makoto had to say! Tell me about your life in cycling. How’d it start, where’d it take you and what does it mean to you? My first encounter with bicycles was at the age of three when my grandfather bought me a bike. That was the start of my journey with cycling. However, in Japan, due to cultural differences, cycling is often seen as merely a means of transportation rather than something to enjoy. In that sense, I truly began engaging with cycling as a way to enjoy it during my college years. From then on, I was completely hooked with cycling. I started with long tours, using the long summer and winter breaks to travel all over Japan, to the point where I nearly failed out of college. During my studies, I also participated in downhill racing, which led to countless injuries and left my body battered. After miraculously graduating college, I started working at a bike shop where I had been involved during my college years. I continued downhill racing for about seven years while working there. Later, I spent three years as a bike messenger, followed by a year and a half in Whistler, Canada, dedicated to mountain biking. When I returned to Japan, I began working at Circles, where I’ve now been for about 16 years. Cycling is the longest-standing part of my life. It’s one of the few things in my life that I have neither a reason nor the intention to ever quit.
 How about Simworks? Tell us about the origin of the brand both in Japan and USA. I think it would be more correct for my boss Shinya to answer this question, not me. But as far as I am concerned, Simworks, like many other brands, started as a result of a group of cyclists and mechanics getting together and talking about what they would like to see, and then trying to give shape to that idea. The words “sim” and “shim” are used interchangeably, and just as