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Japan’s street trials ninja, Tomomi Nishikubo is the latest addition to the Canyon CLLCTV and for his introduction to the team we wanted to do something special with his prototype carbon trials frame. After chatting to Tomomi to find out what was special to him, it was clear that he was proud of his home, Japan, and its culture so we began looking into using calligraphy as a key element of the design when the Japanese symbol of EN resonated with all of us.

Why the symbol of EN? The Japanese symbol of the circle carries a number of meanings, it was clear that many of them will resonate with the majority of MTBers out there: cooperation, community and the individual development and refinement. These stood both for what Tomomi was passionate about, and what we as a CLLCTV, as one worldwide group of people connected by the love of riding bikes together, stand for.

The final stage of the design was getting Tomomi to sign his name in Japanese Calligraphy to add another personal touch to the frame, the result? This…