The Olympics are over, and to be honest, I didn’t really watch much of it—though social media delivered most of the updates and highlights I needed to stay informed. That’s exactly how I came across the Japanese national cycling team’s new track bike, which reportedly costs a heck of a lot of money. How much, exactly? Enough to buy a brand-new Porsche 911 with a few options—so about $135,000.
As a yearly watcher of the Tour de France, I knew that purpose-built road bikes were expensive due to their advanced frames, race-ready components, and mostly the never-ending chase for lightness, but I never thought an Olympic track bike would eclipse them. It’s common for a Tour-spec bike to cost anywhere from $15,000 to $30,000. That’s a lot of money, but going deep into the six-figure territory is truly wild.
Now, I didn’t want to take some random video on Instagram as the ultimate word on track bikes, so I did a little digging on these Japanese bikes, and what I found out was pretty darn cool. Not only did I confirm the price of one of these—Cycling Weekly puts them at 108,000 GBP, or approximately $137,000—but I learned that the company that makes these bikes is also heavily involved in car racing and aerospace.
The V-Izu TCM-2 track bike is manufactured by Toray Carbon Magic, which is owned by Japanese carbon giant Toray. According to Toray’s official site, they produce carbon components for everything from Super GT monocoques, NASCAR seats, Olympic-grade bobsleds, WEC prototype and Formula 3 body panels, and even competition wheelchairs and winged rockets.
In a blog by the Japanese cycling publication More Cadence, the V-Izu TCM-2 is photographed with some pretty cool cars, including a racing Honda NSX, a Dome S101.5, and some other vintage open-wheel race cars. The photos look incredible. The blog describes in detail how the frame geometry came to be, the tweaks this second-generation bike has over its predecessor, and how its unusual left-sided drivetrain makes it extremely unique. It also mentions that it took two years to develop and produce this bike for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
I don’t believe anyone out there is trying to decide if they should spend their hard-earned $130,000 on a bicycle or a Porsche, but I’m just shocked that such a dilemma could technically exist. These bikes are certainly a work of art and have been developed with the same tech and commitment as cars that go over 200 mph or rockets that go into space. Amazing.
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