So I made the mistake of riding a friend's keirin bike (old Panasonic) the other day and loved it, apart from the fact that it was a good 6cm too small for me (I hover around 58-59). I would like something with that feel, and, I'll admit it, I love the looks and the one-of-a-kind individuality that seem to come with the things.

A 58cm keirin frame is going to be about as obtainable as a platinum-plated Phil, right? I have considered custom but my budget does not extend that far at all. So far, I am relegated to trawling ebay, cl and this board on the off-chance that some kind of rare bird will spring up.

Also, I have a couple of friends spending the first half of 2006 in Japan who may well be able to do a bit of used gear shopping for me. I have my doubts that they will turn up anything as big as I need it, though. Maybe I'll just try to get them to scoop up some parts for me.

Should I just suck it up and turn my sights to italy et al? I just switched from everybody's favorite prefab track bike to hate on to a much more city-and-bad-weather-friendly crusty old road conversion but I'm already salivating about building something sparkly, agile and tracky once spring hits.


Thoughts?
-rcc

https://www.e-framebank.com

start checking here, and maybe something will turn up that your friends can bring back.

it's worth a shot

58cm is what i got with my panasonic on ebay...

they are out there...

Nagasawas and Gan Well Pros in your size are in stock at Euro Asia. The EAI website, euroasiaimports.com, is up. It'll be a while before everything's photographed and put on the site. But the track section is available for viewing.

i think shants' makino is pretty big... he got it from eframebank before it closed to the US

its about time they got a friggin website

Oooh, if you have the budget I would recommend the DW custom. Back to back the DW is way more stiff, and lighter than an equally sized keirin bike.

keirin or bust. my makino is 58.5x58.

i ride 60cm. i have a 58cm keirin bike. they are around, just not too many of them. why do you want keirin? lugged steel with oldworld feel? go italian!

No way, keirin bikes suck, we had this discussion dude....

vampires ride italian
ninjas ride japanese....

who wins?

Ninjas, however, my keirin bike (made from Columbus Genius) was built by Kiyo Miyazawa who learned to make frames in Italy from Rossin. So I am a Ninja vampire, the most deadly of creatures.

Yeah, Don, I gotta say, the Walker is definitely stiffer, lighter and therefor, faster than my keirin bike. There, I said it, now everyone can commence flaming me...

Heard those Keirin bikes snap if you ride them too hard...

again with the combo of ninja vamps! unpossible!

its not columbus keirin tubing? that would a total ninj/vamp

MUAHAHAHA!!!

i dunnoooo... a sticker that just says "keirin" over a normal columbus sticker??? looks iffy to me! i'm looking for that damn columbus birdy to be njs stamped right on its little birdy breast. my italian thoroughbred, chesini "la biciprecison", sports superbe hubs and nitto bars/stem... can it be ninja-ish? like, maybe 20%?


is there any difference in that columbus keirin tubing than in columbus genius? wait, am i asking a stupid question? sorry folks.

Well, the frame is definitely stamped, as is everything else on the bike except the Campagnolo aero seatpost, EAI rims, and Vittoria tires...

Let's see, made in Japan out of Columbus steel, by a guy who learned to make bikes in Italy....

NINJA-VAMPIRE!!!

no i know! i know. i am aware that it is totally a ninja'd vamp, or a vamp'd ninja.

but still, is there a diff in that columbus keirin tubing? not that it makes a difference, i just always wonder what the difference is, if any? is it just that one particular set of columbus tubing is njs preferred and stamped?

oohh... resisting urge to make a point that the ninja from japan learned his moves from the italian master..... let it slide, let it slide.

that kiyo is still the freshest, hands down. post more pics of your DW though, i think i've only seen it posted on here like once or something?

I saw a Columbus tube box at Mr. Tanabe's (Kalavinka) shop. it was explicitly marked 'KEIRIN'. I don't know what is special about the tubes but there is definitely something to them.

is the "something" just that those are the approved building materials for njs/keirin bikes? i mean i dont know how costly it would be for columbus to have a special tubing set aside for such a small little niche. i'd imagine it's like: "ok, columbus genius tubing.... thats the one we will use." and boom, njs stamp and keirin approval. then all they do is change the name, or just add "keirin" to it. like how the njs dura ace hubs are exactly the same (mechanically speaking) as the non-njs stamped dura ace hubs with the same amount of spoke holes. you know?

like its not technically any different in any way, or maybe it is? thicker? diameter?

its just hard to believe, for a naive chap like myself, that there is an entirely special tubing - specially designed, specially made, etc - specifically for that market. but, then again, i've been amazed at similar things before. im not trying to argue or anything, i'm just curious because it's a curious subject. i realize the philosophy behind njs approval, and am interested by it. what gains the approval, what is so special, etc. thats all.

Yeah, the guy learned his ish from the Italian master, which makes it more desirable to me than other keirin bikes.

As for the tubing, I know that Mouton's Bridgestone is also Columbus Genius and also has the "Keirin" sticker like mine. Not sure why, but again, the frame is definitely stamped, so I assume that the tubing is keirin approved.

As for the Walker, this is the newest pic I have of it, I'm going to start riding it more, so I'll get more soon. You should come out riding some time, you can check it out...

oh man!!! hold the presses!!!

washer and dryer???? holy crap!

no, i mean i know the tubing is approved, i was just curious about if it's an entirely different thing that columbus developed and made specifically... or if they simply adapted a pre-existing columbus tubing line and said "this is the one we will use".

i like that the japanese masters were trained by italians. that's so fresh. whats the other one? nagasawa? i forget. didn't pogliaghi train someone too? i know little.

i should go riding sometime with you guys. its boring out there alone every night.

nagasawa started at pogliaghi.
and yes, columbus makes tubing unique for the asian keirin market.
e-RICHIE©™®

he was at derosa after he was at pogliaghi.

i'm outa' here.
'cross natz til sun pm.
that's the one where you race
in freezing shizzle and getsa muddy
and all dat. and you gotta pay to do it!

wish us luck!

go get 'em!