I bought the Nishiki Competition frame on eBay. Wheels: Formula/IRO hubs with fixed/free rear hub on Velocity rims. The Sugino Mighty Comp crankset with 171mm(!) cranks came with the bike, as did the DiaCompe "Grand Comp" stem. I put on a Nitto Cromolly (NJS) handlebar. Current gearing is 44x18, nice and easy for my first few rides. The brake looks bad but it was my first day on a fixe and a bad day to die stupidly.

The frame has a painted decal that says made in Japan, Double-butted Cromolly...I suspect Tange tubes, but it isn't explicitly indicated anywhere.

very nice
how much was the frame?

Tire budys

I bought the frame built up as a 10 speed with its original components for $100 on eBay + $35 shipping/packing. I hope to make some of that back by selling a few of the parts I took off. The wheels are also an eBay purchase ($185 delivered).

I just took the Grand Compe stem off and replaced it with a much shorter stem (I was feeling a little too stretched out). I also bought a narrower el-cheapo saddle that I find much more comfortable. I took off the new track bar and cut the Randonneuring bar that came with the frame into a set of bullhorns and put the brake on upside down. Looks cool. I will try to post some pictures of the modified bike on Tuesday when I get to work and have a high-speed connection.

Nice looking bike

I like the frame color
nice chrome
nice build
nice job!

Have fun with it!

That's a beauty!!!
There's nothing wrong with running a front brake either.
Some of us like our knees just the way they are.

nice bike, what size is your frame?

Cut Radonneur bars make really comfy bullhorns, IMO.

I really like the cut randonneur bars that I turned into bullhorns, you are right: very comfortable. The frame is a 62cm which is a little larger than my preferred road bike size of 60cm. I have to say that the size seems great now that I have a shorter stem.

Two issues that came up during the build: The Japanese industrial standard for a 1" headset was actually 21.??mm or 13/16". I got very lucky and found a good looking, short headset at Recycle-a-Bicycle in Dumbo (Brooklyn) for $6. Also the standard fork spacing at the time (1974-75) for Nishiki was 96mm, not 100mm. I had to spread the fork a little to get the 100mm front hub into place, but the bike still tracks nice and straight. That kind of stuff makes me nuts, and Hal at Bicycle Habitat told me he can correct the spacing with his fork jig. I will take him up on that soon...being something of a perfectionist.

The chrome was actually kind of rough (rusty) on the non-drive side, I ended up taking off a lot of the chrome and all of the rust with steel wool, then I sprayed the bare metal with rustoleum clear coat.

This was originally a touring bike and unless I am mistaken, they often build touring frames with slightly higher BBs than a road frame, good for longish crankarms. No pedal-strike issues...yet.

Okay, the rain stopped and I had a few minutes at work so hear are the new pictures. Cut randonneur bars made into bullhorns (bull$hit-horns, as I call them). I went with a shorter stem b/c I was feeling too stretched out with the Dia Compe stem on the earlier pics. It took a little hunting, but Recycle-a-bicycle in DUMBO, Brooklyn had a 1" stem that fit the old Japanese Industrial Std. of 13/16" (20.1mm, approx.) and the detailing of the stem looked perfect with the long, pointy lugs.

I think the ultimate compliment had to be Hal at Bicycle Habitat coming down out of his perch to check it out and telling me he thought it was cool.

very nice there's a Nishiki Professional for sale local to me.... Full Campy NR and Columbus SL

nice frame, nice color.