that could be due to a billion different things. for example, choices said friends have made either in purchasing frames, riding frames, or a disproportionate number of friends riding Japanese frames in general.


man Sashae, I want that M-idea.

Thanks! It's extremely quick and responsive. Quite a diffrent ride from the Bridgestone which has a slacker wheelbase.

If anything Japanese frames should be stronger. Most Japanese track frames are going to be made by Keirin approved framebuilders, which means their building techniques and brazing skill have been tested to the extreme in order to get Keirin certification. They also must use a very standardized, and also very strong, selection of tubing and building techniques in order to stay within Keirin guidelines. If you're buying a used Keirin frame, chances are, it has been crashed, or dented, but even so, it should hold up at least as well as any other bike out there.

Some of the tube sets that Ishiwata (now Kasei?) made/make are insanely lightweight and thin walled and are spec'ed for riders that weigh less than 125lbs. Sort of like the tubesets that Columbus made that were used on bikes that were desinged for things like Hour attempts or what have you - frames that were meant to be used once and then tossed. Given the pedigree of the keirin frames that turn up on this side of the pacific, I wouldn't be surprised if there are people tooting aroud on bikes that were made to be raced once or twice by riders who are techincally too heavy for the bike and quickly discarded before the bike can fail catastrophically. However, it probably has way more to do with people buying frames that are structurally "compromised."

It seems like keirin frames rarely have tubing stickers on them. It's hard to know what you're getting into; ie, most people wouldn't want a frame that's going to see street use that's made out of Ishiwata 015 any more than they'd want a frame made out of Columbus PL or KL.

m.

laying it down

why is that? i've wondered about that.

I can rmember one time when [165] broke a Japanese track frame. But it was only after he stopped beating me about the head and ears for 3 solid hours with said frame. He later used the frame to perform open heart surgery. Here's to Bill Bradsk. . . ..errrr [165]!!!!!

I would guess that since they're custom ordered and the only people who would be close enough to see the tubing sticker would be other racers, there's not much point in putting them on there.

I think they don't have them just due to the culture.

no, it's because there are no NJS approved stickers.

I've seen columbus keirin stickers on a couple of frames.

Different tubing blends, usually. Tanabe-san at Kalavinka builds his bikes out of a mixture of different tubes depending upon the rider's size, riding style, type of track, etc.

As to the fragile tubing thing... not so much so. Apparently the replacement of frames was much more frequent before more stringent rules about rider contact began being enforced (prior to that there were more crashes) so riders tend to keep their frames longer, certainly more than 1-2 races.

The only tubing stickers I've seen have been Tange Pro Special, Ishiwata 019, 3Rensho Super Strong, Kaisei 8630/8630R, Columbus Spirit Keirin and Columbus Genius Keirin.

Something very evil about that bike. . .I like.

I've been beating the sh*t out of the cherubim for months - my fatazz will break
way before that samuri sword of a bike will.

Colour me schooled.

here in s/f i am aware that several people have seperated the lugs on the head tube. really aggressive skidding / torque on parts of the frame that were never meant to see forces in those directions have made frames fail. and by and large it is the japanese stuff. older italian track frames, for example, were somewhat overbuilt, if i understand a local frame builder correctly. these japanese frames, while designed to see massive wattage output on the track, were not designed with hills in mind, and all the pulling and pushing that goes on there, particuarly when slowing down. and they are decidely not overbuilt, and so it goes that they see failure more than others.

Ital track bikes were made with hills and skidding in mind...what?

I thought they were designed for wheelies and endos??

You're thinking of tandem bikes.

in SF the kids design them to do that...you gots to love it

you forgot bunny hops

Not terribly exciting. Stock Mark V with Nitto Bars, front brake, and a Belle Royal Saddle (off my old bike). I love the thing to death, even though she's destroying my knees.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...e/IMG_3252.jpg

concept
 

just began building it up. will finish the concept on saturday :]

http://www.goldeneagletrading.com/on...s/eb/right.JPG

that is so fresh!
leave the bianchi logos off the frame please.

updated pics of the EAI.

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...k/106_0627.jpg

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...k/106_0628.jpg