The family company Toyo was once one of the most respected and traditional frame manufacturers in the world. With the mountain bike boom in the 80s and 90s, Toyo was degraded to a niche player. Suddenly, exclusive handmade steel frames were no longer in demand and manufacturers turned to cheap, mass-produced aluminium frames.
"Thanks to leaner production methods, we are once again able to offer fine TOYO steel frames at affordable prices in Europe. Of course, everything is still made by hand to the highest possible quality standards. The quantities remain low, thus preserving exclusivity. The geometry in particular has been optimised, and we have also tweaked the weight without sacrificing stability, because a TOYO Samurai is designed for tough off-road use," explains Kornelius Grabher from itech Bikes in Switzerland, who is bringing the bikes back to Europe.
The Samurai model (pictured) most frames are made of steel. The material for the Samurai mountain bike is a 4130 steel, a so-called aluminium steel, known as Chrome Moly. Pure iron (95 %) is enriched with components of chromium and molybdenum (approx. 2 %) and a touch of carbon (0.3 %). The elements sulphur, phosphorus and silicone can also be found in very small quantities.
The designation 4130 was defined by the AISI ("American Iron and Steel Institute") and stands for a high-strength steel alloy with high rigidity that can be used to produce lightweight, thin-walled tubes. Samurai tubes are specially drawn and butted. The tube thickness is 0.9 mm at the tube end points where they are fastened together and thinner in the centre (0.6 mm).
The production of the Toyo Samurai from steel has a long tradition. Ishigaki Yoshiaki, the great master of Toyo, has been working with high-quality steel for over 30 years and is still absolutely convinced of this material. Ishigaki Tetsuya, the son of the frame building legend, has been with Toyo since 1982 and was himself trained as a "master framebuilder". In the meantime, he has taken over the reins and brings many new impulses and suggestions.
The Samurai geometry is designed to meet the latest requirements for suspension forks with 100 to 120 mm travel and disc brakes. The riding position is sporty but still so comfortable that even very long tours are not a torture. Riding comfort is the focus of a Samurai.
The skilfully curved seat stays and the extended seat tube noticeably dampen vibrations. The innovative and torsion-resistant head piece is designed for modern headsets. Here too, every element is joined by hand. To absorb vibrations, various tubes and connections are joined using fillet brazing production technology. "Fillet brazing" is the magic word for the most elaborate way of joining steel tubes together.
The term is derived from the French word for "tape", as the frame builder solders the tubes together with a type of meshing tape. Brazing has various advantages over a conventionally manufactured frame. On the one hand, the tube is only heated up to the temperature at which the added brass solder melts, i.e. 900 degrees, bonds to the base material and thus joins the tubes.
With TIG welding, the tubes are welded at higher temperatures, which results in more torsion-resistant joints. This process is used on the Samurai in the bottom bracket area, for example, where rigidity is required.
A TOYO Samurai mountain bike is not a mass-produced off-the-peg product, which is why it takes some time until the customised bike is ready. The total price for this work of art is, surprisingly but true, not much higher than for a standard bike with comparable equipment. The recommended retail price for a frame with customised paintwork is 1100 Swiss francs, and the bike is custom-built in Switzerland.
INFO
