Renovating a full-chrome, 1982 Katakura Silk
03-05-11, 09:24 PM
#1
十人十色
Thread Starter
Renovating a full-chrome, 1982 Katakura Silk
This frame will be familiar to some who saw it when fellow BF'er auchencrow acquired it & asked the forum for any info about it. The thread is here - https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...Silk-quot-bike
As you will know from that thread, I know the man who made the frame. Living in Japan, I have long wanted to ride a Japanese frame but they just aren't available in my size, 61cm. Usually, the biggest you can find here is 56cm. From the 70s, bigger frames were made but invariably for export. If possible, I wanted a Katakura Silk. Over the years Mr Sugiyama, ex-Japan Olympic cycling team member (1968 & 1972) and Katakura Silk frame maker, used to run my LBS and has worked on all of my bikes. Most of my wheels were built by him and to have a frame by him would be great.
As you can imagine, when I happened across this 61cm Silk, my size exactly, I was very interested indeed. I asked auchencrow to sell it to me, a deal was very quickly struck and a week or so later a very out-of-breath looking postman arrived at my 5th floor flat with it. There is no elevator, and the box auchencrow made for the frame was substantial, but as is normal here in Japan it was delivered with a smile.
[IMG]
The box it arrived. Complete protection. by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
From the numerous photos auchencrow had sent me, I knew the frame had areas of rust, particularly behind the seat lug and bb. This a photo he sent me of the back of the seat lug:
[IMG]
Another photo showing the worst area of rust. by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
- so I washed it with soap and water, then gave it an oxalic acid bath, rinsed it with a bicarbonate of soda solution. gave it another wash with soap and water...
[IMG]
Time for the oxalic acid treatment. by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
... and then spent a couple of hours removing any remaining rust with Machinery Cleanery brushes - an invention invaluable to anyone wishing to clean metal:
[IMG]
Machinery Cleanery's stainless steel brushes. by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
These brushes are excellent for getting into hard to reach places, like between the seat stay tops and the seat lug. My experience with oxalic acid is that it's superb for getting rid of all light rust. It turns this:
[IMG]
The seat cluster. by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
... into to this:
[IMG]
IMG_5576 by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
However, when the rust is thick, like behind the seat lug, it cleans up the superficial rust surrounding the area but leaves the thick stuff behind (this might just be due to longer soaking being necessary - I'm not an expert):
[IMG]
I've made a start on the left side with the brushes. by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
This is where the Machinery Cleanery brushes come into their own. You can really get in there with them, with the smallest brush being the only real way to get right into the crevice between the seat stay and seat lug. And the result...:
[IMG]
All rust removed. by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
With all traces of rust removed I applied WaxOyl (a UK product for removing moisture, killing rust and leaving a protective coating of wax inside car chassis) to the areas where removing the rust had exposed bare metal, and carnauba wax to the rest of the frame.
[IMG]
IMG_5574 by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
The frame cleaned up, it was time for it to meet its maker, Mr Kiichi Sugiyama, at his shop in Hachioji in the west of Tokyo. There he gave it the once over, cleaning the seat and head tubes with reamers, chasing the bb threads, fitting the headset I'd brought with me and generally checking the frame for straightness.
This will be continued in my next post...
As you will know from that thread, I know the man who made the frame. Living in Japan, I have long wanted to ride a Japanese frame but they just aren't available in my size, 61cm. Usually, the biggest you can find here is 56cm. From the 70s, bigger frames were made but invariably for export. If possible, I wanted a Katakura Silk. Over the years Mr Sugiyama, ex-Japan Olympic cycling team member (1968 & 1972) and Katakura Silk frame maker, used to run my LBS and has worked on all of my bikes. Most of my wheels were built by him and to have a frame by him would be great.
As you can imagine, when I happened across this 61cm Silk, my size exactly, I was very interested indeed. I asked auchencrow to sell it to me, a deal was very quickly struck and a week or so later a very out-of-breath looking postman arrived at my 5th floor flat with it. There is no elevator, and the box auchencrow made for the frame was substantial, but as is normal here in Japan it was delivered with a smile.
[IMG]
The box it arrived. Complete protection. by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
From the numerous photos auchencrow had sent me, I knew the frame had areas of rust, particularly behind the seat lug and bb. This a photo he sent me of the back of the seat lug:
[IMG]
Another photo showing the worst area of rust. by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
- so I washed it with soap and water, then gave it an oxalic acid bath, rinsed it with a bicarbonate of soda solution. gave it another wash with soap and water...
[IMG]
Time for the oxalic acid treatment. by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
... and then spent a couple of hours removing any remaining rust with Machinery Cleanery brushes - an invention invaluable to anyone wishing to clean metal:
[IMG]
Machinery Cleanery's stainless steel brushes. by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
These brushes are excellent for getting into hard to reach places, like between the seat stay tops and the seat lug. My experience with oxalic acid is that it's superb for getting rid of all light rust. It turns this:
[IMG]
The seat cluster. by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
... into to this:
[IMG]
IMG_5576 by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
However, when the rust is thick, like behind the seat lug, it cleans up the superficial rust surrounding the area but leaves the thick stuff behind (this might just be due to longer soaking being necessary - I'm not an expert):
[IMG]
I've made a start on the left side with the brushes. by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
This is where the Machinery Cleanery brushes come into their own. You can really get in there with them, with the smallest brush being the only real way to get right into the crevice between the seat stay and seat lug. And the result...:
[IMG]
All rust removed. by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
With all traces of rust removed I applied WaxOyl (a UK product for removing moisture, killing rust and leaving a protective coating of wax inside car chassis) to the areas where removing the rust had exposed bare metal, and carnauba wax to the rest of the frame.
[IMG]
IMG_5574 by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
The frame cleaned up, it was time for it to meet its maker, Mr Kiichi Sugiyama, at his shop in Hachioji in the west of Tokyo. There he gave it the once over, cleaning the seat and head tubes with reamers, chasing the bb threads, fitting the headset I'd brought with me and generally checking the frame for straightness.
This will be continued in my next post...
Last edited by Dawes-man; 03-06-11 at 04:27 AM.
03-05-11, 09:44 PM
#2
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Minnesota- the frozen tundra
Posts: 1,947
Bikes: 1977 Raleigh Super Grand Prix, 1976 Gitane Tour de France
Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 2 Times
in
2 Posts
Nice work, that's a gorgeous frame.
03-05-11, 10:12 PM
#4
十人十色
Thread Starter
Mr Sugiyama's once-over...
When I arrived at his shop, Mr S immediately told me that it wasn't a 1976 PX, as I had thought when I saw the original thread, but a later, no-name model made in around 1982. It was most likely made for a US serviceman at the Yokota air base, not far from the Katakura Silk factory. It wasn't made to custom standards but it was nonetheless handmade, rather than 'line-made'. He affirmed it was a good frame, made to last. He remarked that the chrome had lasted well and that it would probably be completely rusty had it spent its life subject to Japanese summers and their very high humidity.
When I got there Mr S was replacing the bearings on a 'mamchari', the ubiquitous Japanese shopping bike. The teenager waiting had ridden it in with a grinding, scraping noise as the bearing cages had disintegrated inside the BB. That finished, Mr S set about giving my frame and forks a very thorough going-over.
On the 40-minute train ride to his shop, with nothing to do but gaze at the frame, I noticed for the 1st time that the left seat stay had suffered a knock at some time and the stay was slightly bent. This had escaped my notice all the time I was cleaning it and had evidently escaped auchencrow's, too.
[IMG]
Slightly bent seat stay. by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
Happily, however, on checking the frame's alignment Mr S found it hadn't affected the frame's alignment, probably due to the wheel having been in place when the knock occurred. Mr S set about it with a large plastic hammer and straightened it somewhat. One of the things my association with Mr S has revealed to me is the place of brute force in the straightening of frames. 'Whack, whack, whack' went the hammer, with me worrying the tube would dent with the force. It didn't.
Mr S next checked the seat tube for size. It was here that he confirmed that the frame was single-butted as the reamer went in quite easily for the 1st few inches but then stopped as it reached the taper inside. When auchencrow acquired the bike it came fitted with a 26.2mm seat post, which he sent with the frame, and I found that it slipped in very easily and that that there was a minute amount of play when it was in the tube. I'd already bought a 26.4mm NOS SR Royal seat post on eBay, buying it as soon as I'd sealed the deal with auchencrow and had spent the morning, before taking the frame to Hachioji, removing the greyish-blue anodisation from it with a drain cleaner available here, called 'Pipe Man'. This in hand, Mr S tried it in the seat tube:
[IMG]
Mr Sugiyama checking the seat post fitting. by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
Finding it was a tight fit he cleaned the inside of the tube with a 26.4mm reamer:
[IMG]
The 26.4mm seat post was a little tight so Mr S used a reamer to clean the tube up. by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
This was quickly finished and he showed me how smoothly the post now went in. Next he set about cleaning up the bottom bracket threads with a tapping tool:
[IMG]
Next, cleaning the BB threads up with a tap. by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
He remarked on how clean and free of rust the frame was inside all the tubes. The BB threads nice and clean:
[IMG]
Nice, clean BB threads. by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
It's always a real pleasure to watch Mr Sugiyama work. Here is a man who has spent his whole life completely committed to his passion. He has competed in international competitions as a track rider, worked as a master builder at one of the most historically important Japanese frame builders (at a time in the 1970s, 95% of all frames on the raceboard at any Keirin race were Silks), he was a trainer for the Japanese mountain bike team at the Athens Olympics and is now a judge at national Japanese cycling events, as well as working as a mechanic for the past 25 years. When he works he is completely concentrated and wastes no time at all as he reaches for the right tool. I hope these photos show this quality...
I shall continue with more photos in my next post...
When I arrived at his shop, Mr S immediately told me that it wasn't a 1976 PX, as I had thought when I saw the original thread, but a later, no-name model made in around 1982. It was most likely made for a US serviceman at the Yokota air base, not far from the Katakura Silk factory. It wasn't made to custom standards but it was nonetheless handmade, rather than 'line-made'. He affirmed it was a good frame, made to last. He remarked that the chrome had lasted well and that it would probably be completely rusty had it spent its life subject to Japanese summers and their very high humidity.
When I got there Mr S was replacing the bearings on a 'mamchari', the ubiquitous Japanese shopping bike. The teenager waiting had ridden it in with a grinding, scraping noise as the bearing cages had disintegrated inside the BB. That finished, Mr S set about giving my frame and forks a very thorough going-over.
On the 40-minute train ride to his shop, with nothing to do but gaze at the frame, I noticed for the 1st time that the left seat stay had suffered a knock at some time and the stay was slightly bent. This had escaped my notice all the time I was cleaning it and had evidently escaped auchencrow's, too.
[IMG]
Slightly bent seat stay. by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
Happily, however, on checking the frame's alignment Mr S found it hadn't affected the frame's alignment, probably due to the wheel having been in place when the knock occurred. Mr S set about it with a large plastic hammer and straightened it somewhat. One of the things my association with Mr S has revealed to me is the place of brute force in the straightening of frames. 'Whack, whack, whack' went the hammer, with me worrying the tube would dent with the force. It didn't.
Mr S next checked the seat tube for size. It was here that he confirmed that the frame was single-butted as the reamer went in quite easily for the 1st few inches but then stopped as it reached the taper inside. When auchencrow acquired the bike it came fitted with a 26.2mm seat post, which he sent with the frame, and I found that it slipped in very easily and that that there was a minute amount of play when it was in the tube. I'd already bought a 26.4mm NOS SR Royal seat post on eBay, buying it as soon as I'd sealed the deal with auchencrow and had spent the morning, before taking the frame to Hachioji, removing the greyish-blue anodisation from it with a drain cleaner available here, called 'Pipe Man'. This in hand, Mr S tried it in the seat tube:
[IMG]
Mr Sugiyama checking the seat post fitting. by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
Finding it was a tight fit he cleaned the inside of the tube with a 26.4mm reamer:
[IMG]
The 26.4mm seat post was a little tight so Mr S used a reamer to clean the tube up. by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
This was quickly finished and he showed me how smoothly the post now went in. Next he set about cleaning up the bottom bracket threads with a tapping tool:
[IMG]
Next, cleaning the BB threads up with a tap. by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
He remarked on how clean and free of rust the frame was inside all the tubes. The BB threads nice and clean:
[IMG]
Nice, clean BB threads. by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
It's always a real pleasure to watch Mr Sugiyama work. Here is a man who has spent his whole life completely committed to his passion. He has competed in international competitions as a track rider, worked as a master builder at one of the most historically important Japanese frame builders (at a time in the 1970s, 95% of all frames on the raceboard at any Keirin race were Silks), he was a trainer for the Japanese mountain bike team at the Athens Olympics and is now a judge at national Japanese cycling events, as well as working as a mechanic for the past 25 years. When he works he is completely concentrated and wastes no time at all as he reaches for the right tool. I hope these photos show this quality...
I shall continue with more photos in my next post...
Last edited by Dawes-man; 03-07-11 at 02:58 AM.
03-05-11, 10:24 PM
#6
Full Member
Awesome indeed. Gotta love the Forum for stories like these. 
03-05-11, 10:28 PM
#7
十人十色
Thread Starter
The BB threads nicely cleaned, Mr S moved on to the alignment of the frame. To check the overall alignment he tied a piece of string around the head tube to the drop outs:
[IMG]
Setting up to check the frame for straightness... by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
He then measured the distance between the string on either side of the seat tube and the seat tube itself. Pretty logical if you think about it but I am quite sure I would have never in a month of Sundays thought of doing this myself:
[IMG]
Checking by measuring between the seat tube and string. No problems there! by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
Everything straight, he set about checking the secondary alignment of the drop outs and fork ends.
[IMG]
Checking the alignment of the rear dropouts... by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
Finding the 2 sides slightly out of line of each other, he straightened them with a well-placed knee and the muscles in his arms:
[IMG]
Ggnnnhhhh... nothing like muscle for fine tuning. by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
This use of brute force came as a complete surprise to me when he first used it on my Hetchins Magnum Opus, and caused me not a little concern. I'd always assumed such work was done using special alignment equipment in laboratory-like conditions. But no, it's all muscle. The front forks followed:
[IMG]
Next, fork end alignment... by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
More ggnnnhhhh but lower level... by Dawes-man, on Flickr
Then it came to fitting the headset I'd brought along with me. It's a cheapo Tange Passage and is temporary until I find something better and period correct, like a Tange Levin or something.
[IMG]
Fitting the headset... by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
More to follow...
[IMG]
Setting up to check the frame for straightness... by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
He then measured the distance between the string on either side of the seat tube and the seat tube itself. Pretty logical if you think about it but I am quite sure I would have never in a month of Sundays thought of doing this myself:
[IMG]
Checking by measuring between the seat tube and string. No problems there! by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
Everything straight, he set about checking the secondary alignment of the drop outs and fork ends.
[IMG]
Checking the alignment of the rear dropouts... by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
Finding the 2 sides slightly out of line of each other, he straightened them with a well-placed knee and the muscles in his arms:
[IMG]
Ggnnnhhhh... nothing like muscle for fine tuning. by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
This use of brute force came as a complete surprise to me when he first used it on my Hetchins Magnum Opus, and caused me not a little concern. I'd always assumed such work was done using special alignment equipment in laboratory-like conditions. But no, it's all muscle. The front forks followed:
[IMG]
Next, fork end alignment... by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
More ggnnnhhhh but lower level... by Dawes-man, on Flickr
Then it came to fitting the headset I'd brought along with me. It's a cheapo Tange Passage and is temporary until I find something better and period correct, like a Tange Levin or something.
[IMG]
Fitting the headset... by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
More to follow...
Last edited by Dawes-man; 03-06-11 at 04:36 AM.
03-05-11, 11:38 PM
#9
十人十色
Thread Starter
With the head and seat tube insides cleaned, the bb threads chased, the frame alignment checked and the drop out and fork ends tweaked and the headset fitted, Hey Presto! there the Silk was, on the stand with everything checked by the man who made it:
And... hey presto! by Dawes-man, on Flickr
I really can't find the words to describe how it felt looking at it there - this frame was made by the man who had just spent a little under 2 hours checking it all over. How much is that feeling worth? It's something beyond words...
It was time to chat. I told Mr S that I'd found a pair of SunTour bar-end gear levers for the Silk but had yet to get the braze-on guides. He went and rummaged in a drawer and presented me with these:
[IMG]
Mr Sugiyama very kindly gave me these... by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
So far, I have got the SR Royal seat post mentioned above, minus its anodised coating:
[IMG]
SR Royal seat post by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
... and this SunTour VX RD, which I think looks just right:
[IMG]
The 1984 SunTour RD looks the part. by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
We moved on to more general things. Like conditions at the factory when he was building frames there. They used a lot of Unno Day2 X Day2 tubing for Keirin machines and after brazing these had to be allowed to cool slowly or else become very brittle. To achieve this they took regular deliveries of truckloads of rice straw, which they burnt to ash in a big pit. They would then place the just-brazed frames into the ash, up to 10 at a time, and leave them overnight to cool down. With the 10th frame added, the ash would get too hot to put your hand in. He also said that if, for example, you were to pour cold water over a still-hot-from-brazing frame it would shatter where you hit with a hammer.
In the bike-boom years, when they started making frames for export they face huge practical problems, like not having anyone around who could test-ride the huge-to-them frames, when anyone at the factory rode a frames somewhere between 49 and 55cms. It also cost a lot to have the extra large jigs made. He said that a normal size table cost around ¥3 million, which is around US$35,000 at today's rates. He said it was like buying a Persian carpet and each added centimetre costs x amount of money. It was for this reason that Nishiki was born. At the beginning of the bike-boom, the makers at the time sinply didn't have the cash to attack the US market on their own so Kuwahara, Katakura and another maker he couldn't remember the name of, agreed to join forces and make frames under the Nishiki name.
I also tried to clear up the gap in T-Mar's understanding of the availability of longer-than-600mm double-butted tubing in the mid-70s and Mr Sugiyama's knowledge but Mr S went off on a highly technical explanation of tapers and steel thicknesses on Unno tubing made for Keirin track use versus thicker, double-butted tubing for road bike use. I got completely lost and gave up. I do remember him saying that Keirin regulations required that double-butted be on a label at the bottom of the seat tube but that they rarely gave the tubing type on bikes sold for non-Keirin use.
He told a story of a musician, a trumpeter, who would use a Silk on mountain roads to improve his lung capacity, and kept braking double-butted down tubes about 5" up from the bb. They tried moving the taper up from the breaking point but he still broke them. In the end, they inserted another piece of tubing without telling the guy and the problem stopped. And other stories. Oh, he showed us this RD with a crack in it:
[IMG]
Cracked RD. by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
He contacted Campagnolo and was upset when they told him that spares were no longer available. Apparently, Campagnolo only keep spares for 3 years. He also showed us a new 11-speed Campagnolo chain, complaining about having to buy tools to work on them that he will only use once or twice a year, if that.
Then it was time to leave. 'How much do I owe you, Mr Sugiyama?' I asked. 'Er... ¥3000.' That's about US$35. 'No, that can't be right! All you did... I'm really happy that you've looked at it...' I replied. 'Okay, then, ¥4000!' So I gave him ¥5000. Cheap at twice the price.
We said our goodbyes and after a photo of Mr S outide his shop, we headed home:
[IMG]
Mr Sugiyama, outside his shop. by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
I got home and took this photo with a saddle (not what I will end up using... just to keep the seat post fitting together) the derailleur and a glove puppet.
[IMG]
The build so far... by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
I will be posting updates as I build the bike up. I've already realised that I have a pair of wheels for it, a pair of Mavic Argent 10 that I bought a couple of years ago and with the right spacing (126mm at the rear/100mm front). I'll fit them for the time being but I have a very nice pair of NJS Araya Gold Label 27" sprints that are more in keeping with the frame, I think, but they're laced up for my girlfriend's Hetchins and it'll be a while before I'll get around to relacing them for the Silk...
And... hey presto! by Dawes-man, on Flickr
I really can't find the words to describe how it felt looking at it there - this frame was made by the man who had just spent a little under 2 hours checking it all over. How much is that feeling worth? It's something beyond words...
It was time to chat. I told Mr S that I'd found a pair of SunTour bar-end gear levers for the Silk but had yet to get the braze-on guides. He went and rummaged in a drawer and presented me with these:
[IMG]
Mr Sugiyama very kindly gave me these... by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
So far, I have got the SR Royal seat post mentioned above, minus its anodised coating:
[IMG]
SR Royal seat post by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
... and this SunTour VX RD, which I think looks just right:
[IMG]
The 1984 SunTour RD looks the part. by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
We moved on to more general things. Like conditions at the factory when he was building frames there. They used a lot of Unno Day2 X Day2 tubing for Keirin machines and after brazing these had to be allowed to cool slowly or else become very brittle. To achieve this they took regular deliveries of truckloads of rice straw, which they burnt to ash in a big pit. They would then place the just-brazed frames into the ash, up to 10 at a time, and leave them overnight to cool down. With the 10th frame added, the ash would get too hot to put your hand in. He also said that if, for example, you were to pour cold water over a still-hot-from-brazing frame it would shatter where you hit with a hammer.
In the bike-boom years, when they started making frames for export they face huge practical problems, like not having anyone around who could test-ride the huge-to-them frames, when anyone at the factory rode a frames somewhere between 49 and 55cms. It also cost a lot to have the extra large jigs made. He said that a normal size table cost around ¥3 million, which is around US$35,000 at today's rates. He said it was like buying a Persian carpet and each added centimetre costs x amount of money. It was for this reason that Nishiki was born. At the beginning of the bike-boom, the makers at the time sinply didn't have the cash to attack the US market on their own so Kuwahara, Katakura and another maker he couldn't remember the name of, agreed to join forces and make frames under the Nishiki name.
I also tried to clear up the gap in T-Mar's understanding of the availability of longer-than-600mm double-butted tubing in the mid-70s and Mr Sugiyama's knowledge but Mr S went off on a highly technical explanation of tapers and steel thicknesses on Unno tubing made for Keirin track use versus thicker, double-butted tubing for road bike use. I got completely lost and gave up. I do remember him saying that Keirin regulations required that double-butted be on a label at the bottom of the seat tube but that they rarely gave the tubing type on bikes sold for non-Keirin use.
He told a story of a musician, a trumpeter, who would use a Silk on mountain roads to improve his lung capacity, and kept braking double-butted down tubes about 5" up from the bb. They tried moving the taper up from the breaking point but he still broke them. In the end, they inserted another piece of tubing without telling the guy and the problem stopped. And other stories. Oh, he showed us this RD with a crack in it:
[IMG]
Cracked RD. by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
He contacted Campagnolo and was upset when they told him that spares were no longer available. Apparently, Campagnolo only keep spares for 3 years. He also showed us a new 11-speed Campagnolo chain, complaining about having to buy tools to work on them that he will only use once or twice a year, if that.
Then it was time to leave. 'How much do I owe you, Mr Sugiyama?' I asked. 'Er... ¥3000.' That's about US$35. 'No, that can't be right! All you did... I'm really happy that you've looked at it...' I replied. 'Okay, then, ¥4000!' So I gave him ¥5000. Cheap at twice the price.
We said our goodbyes and after a photo of Mr S outide his shop, we headed home:
[IMG]
Mr Sugiyama, outside his shop. by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
I got home and took this photo with a saddle (not what I will end up using... just to keep the seat post fitting together) the derailleur and a glove puppet.
[IMG]
The build so far... by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
I will be posting updates as I build the bike up. I've already realised that I have a pair of wheels for it, a pair of Mavic Argent 10 that I bought a couple of years ago and with the right spacing (126mm at the rear/100mm front). I'll fit them for the time being but I have a very nice pair of NJS Araya Gold Label 27" sprints that are more in keeping with the frame, I think, but they're laced up for my girlfriend's Hetchins and it'll be a while before I'll get around to relacing them for the Silk...
Last edited by Dawes-man; 03-06-11 at 04:42 AM.
03-05-11, 11:48 PM
#10
十人十色
Thread Starter
And last, but certainly not least, a very BIG thank you to auchencrow for selling me the frame and making this wonderful experience possible. Thank you, auchencrow
This forum is truly a great place for people like us, who love bicycles!
This forum is truly a great place for people like us, who love bicycles!
03-06-11, 12:07 AM
#12
Decrepit Member
Awesome bike and story. Thanks for posting this!
03-06-11, 12:28 AM
#13
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 2,929
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
WOW! A great story but it's more than a story. Having the guy who built it do some alignment and fitting seems a bit sublime, to me. Maybe one gets complacent after building a bazillion of these. Until I get to that point, this story will continue to resonate with me. Am I jealous? Perhaps, ... in a good way.
Last edited by Mike Mills; 03-08-11 at 12:52 PM.
03-06-11, 12:40 AM
#14
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 313
Bikes: Surly Long haul Trucker with front and rack Nice Racks, 1984 Colnago Sport, 1983 Raleigh Condor
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
+1 to this being a wicked story
03-06-11, 01:10 AM
#15
Bicycle Repair Man !!!
Just wonderful...
03-06-11, 01:14 AM
#17
Insane Bicycle Mechanic
Oh. My. Gawd.
What an excellent story.
What an excellent story.
__________________
Jeff Wills
Comcast nuked my web page. It will return soon..
Jeff Wills
Comcast nuked my web page. It will return soon..
03-06-11, 03:02 AM
#18
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada - burrrrr!
Posts: 11,404
Bikes: 1958 Rabeneick 120D, 1968 Legnano Gran Premio, 196? Torpado Professional, 2000 Marinoni Piuma
Mentioned: 205 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1292 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1,457 Times
in
816 Posts
Now, take some aluminum foil and rub an area on the frame with it. Then feel how smooth the surface feels after. Honestly, give it a try in a not so obvious spot. Then you will want to do the whole frame.
__________________
"98% of the bikes I buy are projects".
"98% of the bikes I buy are projects".
03-06-11, 04:52 AM
#19
十人十色
Thread Starter
I've turfed out the Mavic wheelsets and fitted them to the Silk frame with tubular Vittorio all-black Stradas. Very nice. Un fortunately, it's night time here but I'll take a photo to upload tomorrow.
Finding out that the frame is from 1982 rather than 1976, as I'd mistakenly thought, has one great benefit. I'd wanted to fit all SunTour parts but they only started making anything other than derailleurs from the late 70s. If I wanted to remain period-correct I'd have to start getting my hands on esoterica such as Takagi cranks and Kyokuto pedals and the like. 1982, on the other hand, is dead easy. Lucky!
Finding out that the frame is from 1982 rather than 1976, as I'd mistakenly thought, has one great benefit. I'd wanted to fit all SunTour parts but they only started making anything other than derailleurs from the late 70s. If I wanted to remain period-correct I'd have to start getting my hands on esoterica such as Takagi cranks and Kyokuto pedals and the like. 1982, on the other hand, is dead easy. Lucky!
03-06-11, 05:09 AM
#20
I'm Carbon Curious
Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 2,194
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Cool Pics and story. Got any video? Pic stories like this makes me heart the internet and bikeforums.net
Last edited by 531phile; 03-06-11 at 05:15 AM.
03-06-11, 05:52 AM
#21
Photographer
Join Date: May 2006
Location: The other Cape, Cape Ann
Posts: 3,157
Mentioned: 26 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 104 Post(s)
Liked 97 Times
in
52 Posts
This thread is an example of the the best of C&V!
Scott
Scott
__________________
ClassicFuji.posthaven.com.archive
IG @scottryder.surf.cycle
IG @scottryder.fine.art
ClassicFuji.posthaven.com.archive
IG @scottryder.surf.cycle
IG @scottryder.fine.art
03-06-11, 07:02 AM
#23
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Detroit
Posts: 10,327
Mentioned: 6 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 17 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 29 Times
in
23 Posts
- Can't wait to see the completed project! It's going to be a beauty
__________________
- Auchen
- Auchen
03-06-11, 07:13 AM
#24
Thrifty Bill
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Mountains of Western NC
Posts: 23,497
Bikes: 86 Katakura Silk, 87 Prologue X2, 88 Cimarron LE, 1975 Sekai 4000 Professional, 73 Paramount, plus more
Mentioned: 94 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1213 Post(s)
Liked 899 Times
in
594 Posts
Great job, and great story!
On the oxalic, time is key. I use a really dilute solution, but I leave the item soaking for at least 24 hours, sometimes longer. It will remove all exposed rust, given time. Some push it faster by using higher concentrations. I do not care for the side effects of higher concentrations. And finally, are you starting with pure oxalic, or one of the consumer products containing oxalic? Many of the consumer products containing oxalic also contain various other ingredients, soap, or whatever. No thanks.
On the oxalic, time is key. I use a really dilute solution, but I leave the item soaking for at least 24 hours, sometimes longer. It will remove all exposed rust, given time. Some push it faster by using higher concentrations. I do not care for the side effects of higher concentrations. And finally, are you starting with pure oxalic, or one of the consumer products containing oxalic? Many of the consumer products containing oxalic also contain various other ingredients, soap, or whatever. No thanks.
03-06-11, 07:17 AM
#25
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 16,518
Mentioned: 448 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3446 Post(s)
Liked 5,330 Times
in
2,183 Posts
Great story, Dawes-man. Here's to many miles of adventure with you and your Silk.
Neal
Neal
