Originally Posted by
Ken Cox
For the best steel bike, I would choose a Japanese-fabricated frameset made of Japanese Kaisei tubing.
Even modest modern steel tubing, such as Kaisei's 4130, has better quality and strength to weight ratios compared to the best of vintage tubing.
I think Kaisei's top end 8630 tubing represents 60% of the tubing used for Keirin frames.
If I had the time to wait and the money (and if they'd make me a threadless fork), I'd go with a steel frame set from a Keirin maker over anything else available.
Kaisei's tubing is directly modeled after the Ishiwata tubing produced in the 70s and 80s -- in fact many former Ishiwata employees are involved in Kaisei.
The Kaisei tubing is fine tubing, but so was was the Ishiwata tubing of the 80s, and the Tange, Columbus and Reynolds tubing for that matter.