I suppose I'll resurrect this thread, as I'm now a member of the Katakura Silk cult. I bought this frame in early May, from a local New Yorker, off the iBOB list. I wanted to bring some Japanese bikes to Cirque, so I gussied this up quick along with a couple of Cherubim-built Echelons. S/N: TS514751, former owner guessed '84-'85, I'm guessing maybe a bit earlier. Decent chrome, decals are fading and peeling, but chrome is chrome...

Just finished Dawes-man's 10pg opus, and I think his period-correct restoration with narrowish road tires is really very lovely. Being able to have Sugiyama-san check and prep the frame 30yrs after it was built was a lovely twist.

I decided to go a different route, looking at the gobs of tire clearance I immediately thought 650b, and I don't do much in the way of period-correct any more. It's got 38mm Col-de-la-Vies now, former owner says Hetres won't fit, prolly won't stop me from trying.

So apologies to those who might find it out-of-synch or garish, but this is how the first build turned out:







She's back in drydock waiting for some slight component rejiggering, I'll shoot some more pix once she's done. Might actually get to ride 'er then, too, didn't manage to get 'er out on the asphalt after Cirque.

Kinda weird, in a way, but after all my years with bicycles this is the first all-chrome frame I've had.